All nicely tucked into your skull, weighing in at a mere three pounds, your brain is essential to every breath, heartbeat, thought, memory, emotion, touch, motor skills, vision, the temperature you feel; internally and externally, every hunger pang and every single process that regulates your body, yep, it’s controlled by your brain.
Think of the brain as the most complex computer that controls all bodily functions. Along with the brain, there’s a network of messages that run to the body and back to the brain via the spinal cord, that’s the nervous system. Messengers called neurons relay information to each other through a complex electrochemical process, making connections that affect the way you think, learn, move, and behave. The autonomic nervous system takes care of all bodily functions that you don’t think about like breathing, digestion, sweating, and shivering.
The sympathetic nervous system is what is involved in all the stress that we perceive, which these days are just about everything and the parasympathetic nervous system does the opposite: It prepares the body for rest. It also helps the digestive tract move along so our bodies can efficiently take in nutrients from the food we eat. In episodes 86 and 88 we talked about the importance of the Vagus Nerve which is a part of the parasympathetic nervous system and as with all oversees a huge array of crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, and immune response, digestion, and heart rate. We know that there are many influences on the brain – stimulus from light and sound for instance. We talked about blue and red lights in episodes 99 and 126. And there is also stimulus from sound, the frequencies that come from sound, and that sudden noise that makes you jump and your heart rate speed up.
There are brain waves like theta, beta, and alpha, that I’ve heard our guest today eloquently say that a symphony (of brainwaves) is what we need, and while many of us live in a city, not up in the mountains, the influences on us and our brain are almost unimaginable.
The layers and complexities of the brain, how it works, and what we can do to make it better are vast, and a worthwhile conversation to have with the rise of cognitive decline, increased mental health and illness, the never-ending stressors that don’t seem to happen from sun up to sun down and of course understanding your brain is a key to unlocking your full potential to carry on the conversation of biohacking since introducing you to this topic in episode 125.
Today I’ve invited a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Interdisciplinary Association of Functional Neurosciences and Rehabilitation (IAFNR), who has a career spanning more than three decades. Dr. Patrick Porter has been on the cutting edge of brainwave entertainment technology. He is the co-developer of the first personal light & sound brain training machine, voted “Best New Gadget of the Year” at the 1989 Consumer Electronics Show. His newest brain-training platform, BrainTap, is distinctively designed to activate the brain’s neuroplasticity. The BrainTap headset uses light & sound technology in combination with Dr. Porter’s proprietary guided visualization audio sessions to help people achieve brain fitness, overcome stress, lose weight, stop smoking, manage pain, accelerate learning, enjoy superb sleep, and make any number of lifestyle improvements.
Dr. Porter is widely recognized as an award-winning author, educator, consultant, researcher, entrepreneur, and speaker. We are thrilled to have you Dr Porter, so welcome to EAT THIS with Lianne.
Well when Dr Brockenshire shared his experience in episode 127 on pain about when he flew on overnight on a red-eye flight and arrived the next morning and went straight to work to treat his patients feeling like he had a great night’s sleep, I now understand why!
Because this podcast is called EAT THIS, let’s talk about food and nutrients that are like fertilizer for your brain.
Sadly the foods that taste good to most of us, yes sugar and alcohol can be the most detrimental to the brain. Depressive disorders and sugar, processed food, and most packaged foods consumption do not help your brain. A diet that’s high in plants; greens is at the top of the list along with any other colourful fruit or vegetable like berries, cherries, beets, peppers, zucchini, green beans, and sugar snap peas…. I just got plums from the market that are delicious and I know I don’t have the extra chemical sprays because I asked.
Supplements that you need are my Take this by Lianne Kid Boost, so your brain acts more like when you were a kid, you need more magnesium Bis-Glycinate, Liposome B Complex that has B6 and B12 in it for methylation; a key biochemical process essential for the proper function of almost all of your body’s systems. You need essential fats from omega-3 fats so eat all the clean fish that you can and go for it with avocado too. And last but not least, my Take this by Lianne Bio Boost because of the impact of the microbiome on your brain. We’ve talked about the gut-brain axis many times and its importance, so start with cleaning up your gut – that means less sugar and refined foods, less booze or stick to the clear spirits and no mixer but soda water, eat more fiber and sort out your gut bugs which can start by taking a probiotic. I do have a BioHacking Boost bundle on sproutright.com now to wrap up the series on biohacking and all that you can do. If you’ve come to this episode first, then head back to 125 and start again.
Interested in BrainTap yourself? I know that I’m going to dive into it over the next couple of weeks while I take some downtime – Chris you have time away with your wife and family coming up? I’m going to take a breather and give myself the space to let things unfold and get creative with a few things that I’ve been wanting to – oh and sail more too. I’m going to commit to listening in the morning and evening and maybe during my lunch break and I’ll report back after our two-week break. The links for you to try are over in the show notes on liannephillipson.com and of course, you’ll find all my supplements on sproutright.com too.
Thank you to the brilliance of Dr. Porter, and all the guests that we’ve had since January, and even before that. Thank you to our lovely loyal listeners for showing up to better your brain, better yourself, and be an inspiration. I’m truly grateful that you’re here, that you’ve subscribed and rated this podcast and that you show up for yourself every time you listen.
