Max Lugavere explains how exercise changes your brain. It boosts BDNF, a protein that strengthens neural connections, increases neuroplasticity, and can reduce your risk of mild cognitive impairment. Exercise also supports the pathways that make serotonin, melatonin, and endorphins.
Questions this episode answers
February 8, 2021.
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About 150 minutes of exercise per week.
A four-time New York Times bestselling author.
Chapters
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What does Exercise do for my brain? This is JJ Virgin, four time New York Times bestselling author, celebrity nutrition expert, and fitness hall of famer. I've been on a lifelong quest for answers to the toughest health questions and now I'm sharing what I found with you. Welcome to Ask the Health Expert. Sarah from Twitter asks, what does exercise do for my brain? Hey, it's jj and today I have Max Lugaver, the author of the New York Times best selling book Genius Foods, here with me to answer this question. Now, besides being an author, he's also a filmmaker and a health and science journalist. He was pre med in college, then he took an introductory course in filmmaking and literally fell in love with storytelling. And lucky for him, found a way to merge all those interests. And on the side he also sings and plays the guitar. He even released an album in 2012 called One Year later and went on tour. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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Exercise is medicine for the brain. It's one of the best ways to boost neuroplasticity, which is the ability of your brain to change over time. And it is also one of the very few treatments that can actually protect your brain and even minimize your risk for a condition called mild cognitive impairment, which is often thought of as a sort of pre dementia. And there is no FDA approved drug that can do the same. So exercise is a potent way to really boost the health of your brain. Also of course, to boost mental health. Whatever exercise modality you most enjoy, just do it. Just make sure that you're exercising regularly without overtraining and going overboard of course. But when you exercise you boost all kinds of great neuroprotective chemicals like BDNF or brain derived Neurotrophic factor, which literally is like a miracle. Grow protein for the brain. It promotes the survival of your existing neurons while also encouraging the growth of new neurons, ie brain cells, particularly in the vulnerable memory center of the brain, also known as the hippocampus. It can boost levels of serotonin by allowing serotonin's precursor amino acid tryptophan, easier access into the brain. So by exercising, you allow greater tryptophan to enter the brain where it can be converted to serotonin. And then in the evening hours, melatonin, it boosts endorphins. And it really is just sort of the one stop shop. And unlike supplements or pharmaceutical treatments that work on singular chemical pathways, exercise boosts the integrity, fortifies the integrity of the entire system. And so this is one of the reasons why we know that greater activity is linked with having better brain health. Bigger, stronger muscles has been linked with having more robust brain health. So whichever way you most enjoy exercising, just make sure that you do it and you do it at a level of sufficient, a sufficient level of intensity. Because a lot of people, what they do is they go to the gym and they throw around a few dumbbells, they do bicep curls and tricep push downs and things like that. But you really want to challenge your body. That is the key to boosting your brain health with exercise. You really want to challenge your body, whether it's with high intensity interval training or, or vigorous resistance training. Yeah, there's no one size fits all approach, but we definitely know that exercise is one of the best things that you can do for the brain, almost trumping even eating a healthy diet. So just make sure that whatever it is that you're doing, you're giving yourself a good 150 minutes of exercise every week.
This is JJ with Ask the Health Expert. I do this five times a week, so make sure you never miss a show by going to subscribetoj. Com.
