Brain health, good health?

Does our brain activity have anything to do with our health? I think we've all heard the saying, toxic emotions can produce toxic health. Having recently read a life changing book " Who switched off my brain?" by Dr. Caroline Leaf (who has studied the human brain since 1981, and developed Geodesic Learning and Metacognitive-Mapping approach), I knew that it was very important to address the brain when dealing with improving health.

In her book, Dr Leaf explains to great detail the scientific and medical aspects of how the brain operates. "Every thought has a corresponding electrochemical reaction in your brain. When you think, chemicals course through your body in magnificently complex electrochemical feedback loops. At any moment, your brain is creatively performing about 400 billion actions of which you are only conscious of around 2,000. These actions have both a chemical and electrical component that is responsible for triggering emotions. Therefore one would conclude that when you feel happy, your brain has released chemicals or neurotransmitters called endorphins or "feel good" chemicals. When you feel sad, afraid, angry you will release chemicals that can actually harm you and create conditions for a host of health problems that will manifest in both the body and the mind."

Research shows that around 87% of illnesses can be attributed to our thought life and approximately 13% to diet, genetics and environment. And studies link chronic diseases to an epidemic of toxic emotions in our culture. The outcome of toxic emotions can cause a myriad of illnesses such as hypertension, strokes, cancer, skin problems, diabetes, infections, migraines, just to name a few.

In dealing with improving health, you cannot separate the thought and emotional aspect of your life. Mind and body and spirit are integrally connected. In his book "Stress Less", Dr. Don Colbert tells of how people were healed of cancers by having several deep belly laughs everyday. He urges his patients to watch decent funny videos that will produce these deep belly laughs. Scriptures tell us that "A merry heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones". Play and laugh often. Play brings laughter, which is referred to as "internal jogging" because it can literally let peptides flow thus increasing good chemicals to the immune system.

As we sometimes use a cleanse or detox for our body, it is also vital to evaluate and "cleanse" our thought life. We can do a brain detox also. Dr. Leaf recommends the following to detox the brain. Use your brain's natural "strainer" to increase awareness of your thoughts and feelings. Make a conscious decision to accept the thought (if it's good for you) or to reject it (if it's bad for you). Correct, positive thinking is also shown to "grow" your brain. Even as you get older, you can continue to increase your intelligence without limits, as long as the input is positive and healthy. Deal with emotional strongholds and build strong memory. Express emotions appropriately, in an environment that is safe and don't deny your feelings. Repressed emotions are toxic to your health and in time will suddenly come pouring out. Take responsibility and take control, you can literally grow new memories over the old ones. Writing down emotions and past experiences. Once you have done that, start to replace negative statements with positive ones. Start speaking positive words and you can grow a beautiful new memory over the painful and oppressive old one. Another step to detoxing the brain is choosing to become a person of integrity and honesty. Being congruent- what you do and say on the outside must reflect what you think on the inside. Not being sincere causes stress and affects the way information is processed and memory is built. Some other very important crucial steps to brain detoxification are forgiveness. It's a choice and an act of free will. It will enable you to release all toxic emotions that can hold your mind into a nasty, vice-like grip. Next step is tune into Love. Studies show that clear changes in the patterns of the autonomic nervous system, immune system, hormonal system, brain and heart when you experience emotions such as appreciation, love, care and compassion therefore improving health and increasing longevity. In addition to this list Dr. Leaf writes about human touch. She states research done proves over and over again that touch, hugs, releases those endorphins and enkephalins from the area of the brain called the PAG which break the negative feedback loops. You also need to eat well to feed your brain properly. To experience brain detoxification one must address spirituality. We are spirit beings and to ignore this aspect of life is to miss a link in attaining overall wellbeing. Science is not antagonistic to spirituality. Science only proves that we are intricately formed by an Intelligent Designer. And last but not least, relax. In this busy, rush, rush world, we must find time to relax. The busy-rush syndrome can cause disruptions to the autonomic nervous system that lead to erratic heart rhythms among other problems. When the heart rhythm is off, other parts of the body don't flow as they should. Practice deep breathing which restores oxygen and blood flow to organs and glands. Stretching, meditating on something positive and prayer will help bring on relaxation. Get a massage or Reflexology as this is all part of touch therapy. Get a good night's rest at least 7-9 hours a night. Following these steps and understanding the brain will lead to your better health and enjoyment of life.
Excerpts are taken from the book “Who switched off my brain” by Dr. Caroline Leaf.

It's D day, Vitamin D Day, that is.

The weather has been simply beautiful. I say it's a Vitamin D Day. The sunshine has once again managed to raise our vitamin D levels. Today we reached highs of 27 degrees celsius and for us that's a treat! I won't mention the other things that accompany the nice weather after much rain. They are pesky and cause itchiness.

Back to sunshine and the sunshine vitamin. Sunlight contains ultraviolet (UV) rays that come in three different lengths: UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. UV-B rays are the ones that are capable of producing vitamin D in your body by acting on the cholesterol found in your skin. Vitamin D is produced in the body when sunlight comes in contact with the skin. Vitamin D promotes the absorption of calcium in the body which is essential for the development and maintenance of teeth, bones along with kidney and liver health. It helps your body regulate blood sugar levels. Vitamin D also contributes to thyroid function as well as raise the immune system. Calcium and phosperous levels in the bloodstream are maintained by vitamin D. Vitamin D helps in the absorption of these nutrients during digestion. Vitamin D is only found in a few foods such as fortified milk, wild salmon, cod liver oil, egg yolks and sardines and other fish oils. According to Dr. Mercola and the Vitamin D council, if we have enough skin exposed for 20-30 minutes a day, our bodies can produce 20,000 units of vitamin D. Sunlight is our most effective source of vitamin D. Sunlight can actually help fight off cancer. Many studies have shown that moderate sunlight exposure has lowered cancer mortality and aided in cancer prevention. (mercola.com) Research shows that sunlight is extremely important to cancer treatment. For years we have been told to avoid sun exposure and to apply sunscreen at all times. That has contributed to vitamin D deficiencies in people and because vitamin D is needed for healthy bone formation and repairs, there is an increase in osteoporosis, as well as less healthy gums and gum tissue, along with cancers.
For those of us who don't live where the sun is always shining, we can easily get depleted of vitamin D. Using a safe tanning bed, once a week can help and taking a vitamin D3 (colicalciferol) supplement and or using full spectrum lights .The recommended daily dosage of vitamin D is 1,000 IU, it's estimated that people with low levels of vitamin D in their blood would need to take in 3,000 IU to raise their levels. This can be accomplished during the summer months with daily sun exposure but in the fall and winter a supplement can be taken. It is always safest to get your vitamin D levels checked. Please note that sunburns are not good for your skin and can cause permanent damage to the cell structures. Limited sun exposure several times a day is the best way to increase vitamin D levels.

A word of precaution: Certain medications can cause a sensitivity to the sun, resulting in rashes, burns or other skin eruptions. It is best to read the side effects of the medications you may be on and limit prolonged exposures to the sun as well as check the UV index daily.