Patrick Holford, BSc, DipION, FBANT, NTCRP

Upgrade Your Brain

Aired on: June 14, 2024

Episode Description

In our mental health, memory and intelligence are deteriorating. One in six children is now diagnosed with mental health issues, and anti-depressant prescriptions have sky rocketed. The incidence of Alzheimer’s and dementia, which are largely preventable, is on the rise. However, we can take action to stop this decline in its tracks. In Upgrade Your Brain, Patrick Holford, founder of the food for the Brain foundation, takes a deep dive into why this is happening and, more importantly, what you can do to improve your brain function. He unravels how and why our modern diet and lifestyle have inevitably led to this brain-health meltdown. More importantly, he discusses how turn these events around and improve brain health

Upgrade your Brian with Patrick Holford

Book: Upgrade Your Brain

Website: Foodforthebrain.org

Our brains are shrinking; our IQs are falling
- A Norwegian study showed that the IQ for each decade for those born between 1962 and 1972ed 7 % per generation.
- If this drop continues 1/3 to ½ will be severely mentally impaired (i.e., IQ between 70 and 90)
- A 5 point difference gets children classified as special education needs.
- In the UK children used to be given cod liver oil
- Patrick points out that without omega 3, children have difficulties controlling their emotion
- A recent study of adults shows that an omega 3 deficiency an lead to emotional instability, anxiety, and depression
Patrick did a study that students on vitamins had a ten point increase in IQ vs 3 points for the students on a placebo.
There is evidence of our brains shrinking in adolescence
Rates of mental illness such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, and autism are increasing
In the US, one out of six children are neurodivergent
- People who process information differently
- One out of 36 have autism, an increase of 20 fold sine the 1970s
25 % of people over 80 have mild cognitive impairment (pre dementia)
- 800 people in the UK are diagnosed with dementia daily
For some memory starts to decline in their thirties.
According to the WHO, this is the greatest health crisis that we face
Depression is the leading cause of disability
- In the UK one out of six persons are prescribed antidepressant medications
Murders from hate crimes, mass shootings, suicide etc. exceed those killed in all the wars
Is the final frontier between our ears?

His path

He was interested in psychology and schizophrenia
He came across an article by Dr. Edwin Hoffer studied treating schizophrenia with B vitamins
- Dr. Hoffer had 85 % success in a “cure” (recovery to the point that they paid income tax.
  - These were drug naïve patients. It is harder to get this improvement if on drugs for a while
  - Bill W (Bill Wilson) who started Alcoholics Anonymous, had success with Niacin (vitamin B3) and vitamin C.
- Patrick started the Institute of Optimum Nutrition, while Dr. Bland started the Institute for Functional Medicine where they pushed nutrition as therapy

Darwin Puts Health Policy in Perspective

Darwin had two driving forces in evolution
- Natural selection
  - This does not kick in until the conditions of existence have changed
- Conditions of existence
  - The more important
How did we become homo sapiens
- We share 99 % of the genes with apes and gorillas
- Our brain size grew while theirs stayed the same
- We gains a lot in brain size but lost 20 % in the last 20,000 years
- Our brains grew because we started to explore wetlands
  - We have an insulating layer of fat
  - We have a nose for diving
  - Babies have a diving reflex
  - We have bone extrusions called exostoses that come out in the ear
    - EMTs can tell if a person is a diver by looking at these protrusions
  - Sir David Hassenbrook pointed out that when a human baby is born, it has a white waxy layer called the vermis. This was not seen in a land based mammal. A seal has an identical vermis so we were headed in the same direction
  - A dolphin has every single bone that we do. They have the same bony protrusions in their ears which block their hearing. They developed sonar
  - So what were our ancestors eating?
    - marine food, omega 3, phospholipids, iodine, zinc, selenium, vitamin B 12
      - vitamin B 12 is a driver of dementia because they don’t get enough vitamin B 12 into their cells
        
        it Is a question of absorption

Antidepressants

after two years use, brain serotonin levels have been depleted
trying to quit antidepressants results in weird effects
- need a strategy to rebuild the brain, and its neurotransmitters
the medications we use scramble our brains
he did an experiment giving patients IV drips (medications) and a package of amino acid/ mineral supplements for one month
- out of 23, 21 were sober in one year- an unheard of success rate
some autistic children don’t look people in the eye due to the black and white receptors in the eye (called “rods”). They have to use their peripheral vision
- Rods are packed full with retinol, (animal omega DHA such as in cod liver oil)
- When these autistic children are given cod liver oil, many of them start to look at people in the eyes and report that they can now see their hands

Hoffer and Osman developed the Hoffer/Osman scale of perceptions

Schizophrenia, body dysmorphic disorder, depressed thoughts are all perceptions not working

His book Upgrade your brain is a manual to get your brain optimal

This will result in less depression, easier sleep, better memory, less stress

Nutrient Levels

Dan Kitrich of the Bionutrient Research Institute in Massachusetts found
a forty fold difference in the nutrients values in carrots
There is a 34 fold variation of the selenium in Brazil nuts.

His Program

When someone’s memory gets bad, patient should be referred to a memory clinic
- They will run cognitive function tests which have four components
- Patrick got permission to digitalize this functional cognitive test
- They validated this test and provide it online for free at foodforthebrain.org
  - This test will highlight current cognitive functioning and predict future dementia index risk.
  - It show what is driving that risk
    - E.g., lack of antioxidants, polyphenols, herbs and spices, lack of brain fat, too much sugar, smoking
  - Scores
    - Antioxidant score
    - Healthy gut
    - Active mind
      - If a person retires at age 66 v 61 they have 2/3 less risk of dementia
    - Active body
      - Exercise gets blood, nutrients
      - Have 400 miles of blood vessels in the brain
    - Stress (sleep and calm)
    - B vitamins connected with homocysteine
  - His book, Upgrade your brain shows what actions to take to increase function in each area. His book goes into detail in each of these areas
  - This test can be taken every six months to assess progress and to make future adjustments

Four biological drivers of dementia, ADHD, depression

Brain fats (omega 3), vitamin D, phospholipids
B vitamins related to homocysteine
Sugar (has a detrimental effect)
Anti Oxidants
He developed a single finger test to simultaneously measure these four categories
- Omega 3 index, vitamin D for brain fats
- Homocysteine for B vitamin status
- Hemoglobin A1c for sugar
- Glutathione index to measure anti oxidants

Homocysteine

Related to hypertension and every chronic disease’
It is predictor of over 100
- Includes heart attacks, pregnancy problems, osteoporosis, cancer. metabolic syndrome, macular degeneration, tinnitus, Parkinson’s, motor neuron disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis, depression, bipolar disease, schizophrenia,
Homocysteine is causal for Alzheimer’s
Homocysteine levels above ten have brain shrinkage
Taking vitamin B, would save the British health service 80 million. Dollars per year
People with Alzheimer’s disease had high levels of the amino acid, homocysteine in their brains
- A study on pre-Alzheimer patients, giving vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid, lowered homocysteine by increasing methylation
- The brains shrank by 53 % less in one year for persons on the B vitamins
- Brain cells are made of omega 3 (DHA)
  - The DHA has to attach to phospholipids on the brain cell membrane
  - This attachment is done by methylation which depends on B vitamins
  - B vitamins did nothing for those with low omega three levels
  - Those with sufficient omega three ad B vitamins had 73 % less brain shrinkage within one year. This brought the brain shrinkage down to those who appear normal
- 30- 50 % of Alzheimer’s risk has to do with B vitamins and omega 3s
- Omega 3 does not work without the B vitamins: the B vitamins don’t work without the omegas
- Chia seeds, flax seeds, and walnuts give a little DHA

Addiction

Sugar alone is not addictive
Fat alone is not additive
Sugar with fat is addictive
Food and drink have been designed so the customer buys more
the effects of this hijack knocks into anxiety, depression,
alcohol
- drinking promotes GABA, an amino acid that switches off adrenalin so go get some sugar, coffee, and brain kind of comes back to life
  - after repeating this cycle, brain receptors become blunt
- sleep is how brain recovers
- Have to have the right structure of the brain (omega 3, b vitamins
- Need to have the right brain function (sugar and ketones)
- Sleep is how we recover
- Drinking too much alcohol meese up GABA so can’t relax or go to sleep

Sugar

Eating a lot of sugar, leads to insulin resistance which makes it difficult to get glucose into the brain cells
- This leads to brain fog
- The body begins to crave sugar
HbA1c > 6.5 is diabetes
HbA1c > 6 is prediabetes
He is finding cognitive decline in teenagers with HbA1c of 5.4; imaging show their brains shrinking

Ketones

Brain cells also like ketones (made from medium chain triglycerides (MCT)) fat in the liver)
Babies build a million connections per minute
- 75 % of babies’ energy goes to building the brain most of which is based on ketones
Ketogenic diet promotes GABA
- GABA can help with any excitatory state, mania, epilepsy, schizophrenia, ADHD
- Epilepsy has been treated with a ketogenic diet
C-8 fat
- Is a sub fraction of coconut oil
- Coconut oil is 7 % of C 8
- Study giving 2 T of C-8 affects brain
- Does not affect glucose usage
- Using C 8 fat will have sugar cravings decrease

Music

Silence of peace music helps get a person into alpha wave level

Recommendations

Low glycemic diet (sugar is detrimental to health
- It uses up magnesium stores
East your fruits, don’t drink it
- Eating three oranges is. Equivalent to a glass of orange juie
- Nature does not give you sugar without fiber.
Keep an active body and active mind
Have a good relationship with stress

Summary

His free online test will show
- Where your cognition is currently
- Where cognition is heading
- Assistance in “hacking” / improving these measures
The result i=of his program are
- Better mood, better sleep, less anxiety, sharper memory and will dementia proof person
30- 50 % of Alzheimer’s risk has to do with B vitamins and omega 3s
- Omega 3 does not work without the B vitamins: the B vitamins don’t work without the omegas