How exercise reprograms our brains

The Scientist has another article about the importance of exercise. This one explains how exercise reprograms our brains! Ashley Yeager reports that

Physical activity increases the volume of the brain’s hippocampus and improves learning and memory in mice and humans. Mouse studies have linked these effects to the growth and maturation of new neurons. Now, researchers are beginning to unravel the molecular mechanisms that connect exercise to these cognitive benefits.



Exercise leads to the secretion of molecules by muscle and fat cells that affect levels of growth factors in the brain, influencing the shape and function of the hippocampus by accelerating new neuron growth and increasing the volume of the brain region.

Paying it forward

As early as the 1990s, studies started to show indirect links between pregnant women’s physical activity and the brains of their gestating babies. For example, a 1996 study showed that at age five, children of moms who exercised regularly during pregnancy performed better on tests of general intelligence and oral language skills than children whose mothers had not exercised much (J Pediatrics, 129:856–63). And research backing this association continues to accumulate. In 2016, for instance, one study showed that boys born to physically active mothers had higher scores on math and language tests than boys from sedentary moms (J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med, 29:1414–20).

Read more here.

Exercise!

Do you want to remain healthy for your entire lifespan? Then, commit to a regular program of exercise! That's the best recommendation four scientists can come up with in an article in The Scientist. This isn't a shallow article. Lots of big words are used to explain the latest research. In the end, the conclusion is exercise! Each of these scientists have a specialty. One studies neuromuscular diseases and gene therapy. Another studies muscle regeneration in health and disease. Another studies muscle aging. The fourth studies age-related muscle disease and gene therapy. Read it here and then go exercise!

There is no such thing as healthy aging

P.D, Mangan writes at roguehealthandfitness.com,

The four pathologies of aging

Aging can be defined as a breakdown of homeostasis; that is, the organism as it gets older finds it increasingly difficult to regulate itself and to maintain all systems in a state of balance and of health.

A more practical way of defining aging is as increasing susceptibility to disease. Aging is the prime factor in disease risk.

There are four main cellular derangements of aging: increased inflammation, increased oxidative stress, increased mitochondrial dysfunction, and lower levels of autophagy. They are all related and linked through cellular sensors and pathways, most notably through the cellular energy sensor AMPK, which regulates aging. Improving the parameters of one of these factors also improves the others. Lowering oxidative stress, for example, also entails lower levels of inflammation and better mitochondrial function.
Autophagy

Autophagy, from the Greek for “self-eating”, is the regulated process through which the cell breaks down parts of itself and by sequestering them into vacuoles and digesting them. Those parts that are broken down are mainly organelles and proteins that have passed their expiration dates. In this way, autophagy provides for a continuous process of self-renewal by breaking down older structures, allowing for new ones to be built in their place.

One characteristic of aging is the accumulation of damage, and this is largely due to the failure of autophagy to attain normal functional levels. From this statement, it can be seen that bringing levels of autophagy to youthful levels can ameliorate aging by clearing out damaged parts of the cell.

There is no such thing as healthy aging. Aging means increasing susceptibility to disease and the breakdown of the organism. Being healthy when older requires retarding the aging process.)

Before we get to ways to increase autophagy, how can you completely screw up the process and ensure that your autophagy levels decline and that you get old and unhealthy in a hurry? First of all, eat all the time: graze, eat snacks, never let your body out of the fed state. Second, be sedentary and gain weight. Doing this increases levels of inflammation and oxidative stress and causes a decline in autophagy. Third, make sure all your food is processed and that you never eat a vegetable.

1.Exercise induces autophagy in peripheral tissues and in the brain.

2. Fasting: Autophagy is “a process that is potently triggered by fasting.”

3. Chemical autophagy boosters: See my article “Intermittent Fasting Boosters / Autophagy Enhancers”. These chemical autophagy boosters include resveratrol, hydroxycitrate, nicotinamide, curcumin, lithium, and EGCG (from green tea). These are all readily available over-the-counter, and are cheap and safe.

Insulin signaling from food could override the autophagy-boosting effects of these supplements, so take them during the fasted state.

4. Ketosis. Ketosis results from relatively prolonged abstention from dietary carbohydrates. It stimulates autophagy (JBC) and promotes autophagy in the brain (Medical Hypotheses), which is likely important to the neuroprotective effects of the ketogenic diet.

Please read more here.

Let's go get some exercise!