December 2nd is Women’s Brain Health Day!
There’s so much talk about improving your heart health, bone health, and even increasing muscle mass to look better, but there seems to be a bit of a gap when it comes to talking about brain health.
When it comes to brain health, most of the promotion goes toward more the psychological aspect of it - improving your mood, dealing with depression, anxiety, etc. This is a huge component, and one we’ll touch on later.
We’re going to talk more about the functional aspect of brain health.
Here’s something that might grab your attention: the weaker you are, the more likely you are to get dementia.
Some of you might read that and get a bit freaked out, but let’s take a look.
Brain Health
Dementia is a chronic condition that affects people’s memory, thinking, reasoning, and can cause changes in behaviour. There’s many different types of dementia, the most common one being Alzheimer’s.
About 70% of Alzheimer’s sufferers are women.
Read that again.
70%.
That’s a number too big to ignore.
There are so many factors that play into dementia. Some you really don’t have much of a say in like age and genetics, but there are several factors you do have more control over that you can use to your advantage to keep your brain working as best as it can.
These include:
Exercise levels
Nutrition
Stress management
Sleep
Mental Stimulation
Social Activity
There is a fantastic resource available: womensbrainhealth.org is an organisation that covers all things brain health related and it’s targeted towards women. Take a look through their articles and initiatives to get some great information that you can put to use in your own life today.
The Connection Between Muscle Mass & Brain Health
Let’s get back to muscle.
Muscles do way more than you think. Apart from moving you up the stairs, helping you lift some heavy furniture, and making you look good in the mirror, muscles actually helps your brain out. A lot.
When 10-40% of older adults live with sarcopenia, aka low muscle mass, this can pose some issues.1
Think of muscle as armour for your brain.
When you exercise, your body releases all sorts of chemicals as a reaction. One of these substances are called myokines. These myokines help regulate brain functions, like mood and learning, and they also have a protective effect on the brain.
The amount of myokines released and circulated in the blood is also directly tied to how much muscle you have.
One myokine that has been looked at is called Brain-Derived Neutrophic Factor, or BDNF.
BDNF is responsible for neuron growth, neuronal synapse plasticity, neuronal network development… essentially, it fights against neural degeneration, so it has a huge protective effect.2,3
What happens if you have low levels of BDNF?
Low levels are linked to accelerated cognitive decline.
There’s an area of the brain called the hippocampus that’s mainly responsible for memory consolidation, and this is precisely one of the areas that BDNF influences the most.
One Canadian study looked at over 8000 adults aged 65 years and older and recorded their body composition and cognitive function over a period of 3 years. The people who had a lower starting level of muscle mass saw an acceleration of cognitive decline compared to those who had higher muscle mass at the start.4
Executive function, which is responsible for problem solving, attention, task initiation, organisation, working memory, among other things, was found to be affected by levels of muscle mass independent of other related factors such as strength and body fat percentage.
Meaning, you could be strong and lean, but if you don’t have enough muscle mass on your bones, you’re at a higher risk of having these vital functions negatively affected.
Final Thoughts
Building muscle and staying in shape is not just for vanity. It’s not just for meatheads. It’s not just for athletes.
It’s for everyone.
It’s for everyone who wants to stay sharp. It’s for everyone who wants to be able to do their day to day chores. It’s for everyone who wants to live an independent life.
Muscle is armour for your brain.
If you’re looking to take charge of your present and future health, get in touch with us today. We’ll help set you up with a program that aims to build muscle and strength so you can maintain your freedom, independence, and cognitive health.
Remember, your health is priceless. Get strong, stay strong.
References
Tessier, A. J., Wing, S. S., Rahme, E., Morais, J. A., & Chevalier, S. (2019). Physical function-derived cut-points for the diagnosis of sarcopenia and dynapenia from the Canadian longitudinal study on aging. Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle, 10(5), 985–999. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.12462
Walsh, J. J., & Tschakovsky, M. E. (2018). Exercise and circulating BDNF: Mechanisms of release and implications for the design of exercise interventions. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme, 43(11), 1095–1104. https://doi.org/10.1139/apnm-2018-0192
Molinari, C., Morsanuto, V., Ruga, S., Notte, F., Farghali, M., Galla, R., & Uberti, F. (2020). The Role of BDNF on Aging-Modulation Markers. Brain sciences, 10(5), 285. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci10050285
Tessier A, Wing SS, Rahme E, Morais JA, Chevalier S. Association of Low Muscle Mass With Cognitive Function During a 3-Year Follow-up Among Adults Aged 65 to 86 Years in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(7):e2219926. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.19926
Comments