Don’t let “sitting disease” destroy your brain

With the population getting older and living longer en masse, it’s more important than ever to keep your brain active. And in my experience, most patients are eager to follow any advice that promises to keep their minds and memories sharp.

I’m really hoping that the news I share today doesn’t come as a complete surprise. But if it does, consider this your call to action.

And I mean that quite literally. Because a recent study showed that long periods of sitting during middle age — a condition that’s known as “sitting disease” — is associated with a wasting brain.

This study featured 25 women and ten men — all of whom received MRIs to assess the size of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) — the area of the brain that typically reflects the earliest signs of cognitive decline.

The subjects also reported on their exercise levels — including the average number of hours spent sitting every day.

Unfortunately, results weren’t the least bit surprising: Even after adjusting for other age-related factors, researchers associated the number of hours spent sitting daily with significant MTL thinning. And that’s not the only concerning finding…

Results also showed that physical activity didn’t mitigate this effect at all. Which means that even daily trips to the gym weren’t sufficient enough to offset the harmful effects of an otherwise sedentary day on your brain. More on how to remedy this in just a moment…

I have to admit though, that last finding was a little hard even for me to swallow. After all, we know that regular exercise slows cognitive decline. Either way, one message is clear: A lot of sitting is deadly—not just to your body, but your brain, too.

Now you may be thinking, “So all I have to do to keep my brain in tip-top shape is stand up, right?”

That’s certainly a great start, but of course, it’s not quite that simple. Especially since most illnesses have been brewing for ages before they’re discovered.

So, the best plan of attack to prevent cognitive decline (or any type of bodily decline) is to stop it before it starts. That’s as true for brain health as it is for any other concern. And that means moving more now—not waiting until your memory’s already in trouble.

Granted, it can be easy to overlook the importance of these little changes when the reality of dementia isn’t staring you directly in the face. That’s why I encourage my patients to set an alarm on their watch or smart phone, so they make sure they get up and move around each and every hour for at least five minutes.

Movement disarms just about every top killer in the book. And trust me, once it becomes part of your daily routine, you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sooner.

In the meantime, perhaps we need to have a warning on every seat and sofa: Sitting kills. And that’s no joke.

Fore more all-natural strategies to protect and restore memory, strengthen focus, and build a brighter brain, check out my Drug-Free Protocol for Reversing Alzheimer’s and Dementia. You can learn more about this learning tool or enroll today by clicking here.

Source:

medscape.com/viewarticle/895272