14 Secrets to a Healthy Brain Part 3

10) Sunlight – We are very dependent on sunlight.  We need an hour of sunlight a day to have a proper level of serotonin in the brain.  We are wired such that we need unfiltered sunlight to hit our optic nerve. If you wear sunglasses you are preventing your body from obtaining maximum serotonin levels.  What are serotonin levels for?  Serotonin is what puts us in a happy mood, it’s what responsible for producing restful sleep. Unless you have exceptionally sensitive eyes, ditch the sunglasses.

The second part of this is that your skin makes vitamin D3 in response to sunlight.  It really isn’t a vitamin at all, but more a hormone.  Vitamin D3 is critical for sex hormones, growth hormone, a healthy heart, proper blood sugar, degenerative disease, etc.  In the summer, we need to be out in the sun, storing up D3 in our fat cells for winter.  Sunscreen is really good at taking out UVB, which your body needs to make vitamin D3.  So, most people are now vitamin D3 deficient in the summer and when winter comes around are completely wiped out.  Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is vitamin D3 deficiency.  People who were supplemented with vitamin D3 had a 60% reduction in depression, a 60% reduction in heart disease, 60% reduction in colon cancer, prostate cancer, and breast cancer.  Osteoporosis is completely dependent on vitamin D3.  If you don’t have at least a light tan in the summer, you need to be supplementing with 2,000 I.U. of vitamin D3 per day.  A healthy tan is 2 shades darker than what you normally are.

So, how do you protect your skin?  First, go natural as long as you can.  If that is 15 minutes, then put sunscreen on before you reach that point.  Depending on the pigment of your skin you will get enough vitamin D3 within 20 minutes to an hour.  Since sunscreens are incredibly toxic, you need to pay attention to what you are putting on your skin.  One option is a sunscreen called UV Natural and another one is called Badger’s, which can be found online. Isagenix also makes a really good sunscreen. All other sunscreens  have been shown to cause cancer. Not just skin cancer, but other forms of cancer.

11) Meditation – Rarely, do we ever take quiet time for ourselves.  Think about it.  When you are not doing anything, you are usually doing something.  Watching tv, reading a book, etc. might be down time, but they don’t allow you to go inward and connect with yourself.  You get two changes with meditation.  One is better concentration of feel good brain chemicals, and the other is that you start to wire your brain differently.  This re-wiring process takes about 4 weeks to begin.  Meditation helps your mood, sleep, deal with stress, and gives you a better healthier brain.  And….it’s FREE!

However, meditation can be challenging. Let’s face it, we as a society just aren’t used to this type of activity. Luckily, technology has made some amazing strides in helping us out. The Zen Frames literally guide the brain into the correct brain frequencies. 20 minutes a day will help you make tremendous strides in your brain health and fitness.

12) Proper sleep – You cannot underestimate the power of sleep.  You need to sleep to have the proper levels of growth hormone, which is your anti-aging hormone.  If you don’t sleep enough, your growth hormone peaks will drop and you will actually age rapidly.  You need to sleep enough hours that are right for your body.  For most people this is 8-10 hours, some less, some more.  And, you can’t wake frequently in the night.  If you are waking more than once per night you are not sleeping deeply, and you are definitely not making enough growth hormone.

A few tips to help you sleep better at night:

* Don’t eat after 6 o’clock at night

* No caffeinated products in the evening

* No tv in the bedroom (no news!)

* Make sure you have absolutely no light in the room

13) Wild game – What we are really talking about here is getting enough omega-3 fat.  Wild game is high in this, along with bison, grass fed beef, pasture raised chickens and pigs.  The animal needs to be raised on its natural diet.  Not only are conventionally raised animals low in omega-3 fats, but they also have a 6-fold lower level of L-tryptophan.  L-tryptophan is needed in our diet to make serotonin, a feel good brain chemical.

14) IsaDelight Chocolate – The icing on the cake.  Was designed to give a boost to feel good chemicals.  It took 3.5 years to get the formula right, and 2.5  years to get the taste just right.  If you like dark chocolate, you will love IsaDelight.  Works remarkably well on cleanse days to balance your mood and control cravings, and on non-cleanse days helps to stop the craving for junk food.

Well, there you have it. Some of these things you can implement right away and are free. These 14 steps powerfully complement your program here at NeuroCentric Chiropractic. We want to see you get the best results, in the shortest amount of time possible. And of course, your Neurologically Based Chiropractic care is changing your brain in amazing ways.