Thoughtful Thursday…Improve your brain energy…improve your life...

Welcome to Thoughtful Thursday. This GreenNote Fitness newsletter mindfully gathers and distills useful information that is supportive to our journey. It is my mission to educate, inspire, and propel you into action that moves you towards your goals and life of purpose. Take control of your journey today.

If I told you that you could improve your memory, focus more, not be controlled by food cravings, and have more energy and mental clarity, would you be interested? Count me in! That is why I’m currently reading Dave Asprey’s, Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster - In Just Two Weeks . That’s a tall order for sure but when we start to understand our biology we see how things can be possible. It’s part of ‘training for longevity’. So why focus on energy? One quote in the book that gave me pause, “When you have limitless energy, you stop needing to try to be a good person.” Limitless energy would be awesome. How does that involve the brain? For starters, the brain uses up to 20 percent of your body’s overall energy. 20 percent! That’s a big deal. Where does this energy come from? Inside almost every cell in your body are mitochondria, the ‘powerhouses of the cell’. These powerhouses are very important to the quality of your life. "The number, efficiency, and strength of your mitochondria dictates whether or not you’ll eventually develop cancer or a degenerative disease, as well as how much brainpower you have right now.” Yup, a big deal. Interestingly the brain has the most densely packed mitochondria of any part of your body (except for the ovaries). “That means that your mitochondria contribute more energy to your brain’s performance than your heart, lungs, or legs. Your brain gets first dibs on mitochondrial energy, and your eyes and heart are right behind it in line.” With that said, you can guess that Asprey’s book focuses greatly on mitochondria and the brain. He points out weaknesses in the brain and the steps in growing a stronger brain. Below is a high-level look at both of the aforementioned; the book goes into detail. There are five brain weaknesses: 1.) Forgetfulness 2.) Cravings 3.) Inability to focus 4.) Low energy 5.) Moodiness / anger There is a four step process to grow a stronger and more resilient brain: 1.) Stop doing the stuff that makes you weak 2.) Add more energy 3.) Increase the efficiency of energy production and delivery 4.) Strengthen your mitochondria What’s great about this book is that it goes deep into the science and studies behind all of this. If that is not your thing or if you just want to get to the action steps, then you can easily do that too. One area of the book I will be doing more research on is the impact that inflammation has on our brains. “Your brain is actually the first part of the body to suffer when you are chronically inflamed. This is because your brain is sensitive to inflammation anywhere in the body. It doesn’t matter if the source of the inflammation is your heart, stomach, or left pinky toe - if any part of your body is inflamed, it will release chemicals called cytokines that negatively impact your brain.” This provides a good reason then to address inflammation we are experiencing in any part of the body. It is why I’m looking at different avenues to nip inflammation in the bud. These could include certain inflammatory foods, water quality, and even light. More on this next time. Improved memory, more focus, not being controlled by food cravings, more energy and mental clarity - all by taking care of our mitochondria. I’m going to delve further into this research. I don’t view this as information overload, rather more tools to put into the longevity tool kit. I need to begin work on the brain weaknesses and the process for growing a stronger and more resilient brain. Call it...training for longevity. Until next time. Enjoy your journey, Lisa Schaffer GreenNote Fitness You wouldn’t happen to know just one person that would benefit from this information? Please forward it to them! Did you miss last week’s newsletter on a world without chronic disease and increased health-span…? P.S. Check out my Facebook page for inspiration. P.P.S. Discover GreenNote Fitness recommendations for books, podcasts, and more on body, mind, and spirit.