- Site: HumbleDollar - By: John Lim - Date published: 2024-09-19 - Date read: [[2024-09-24]] - [Read Original](https://humbledollar.com/2024/09/feed-your-brain/) - [Read on Omnivore](https://omnivore.app/me/feed-your-brain-humble-dollar-192231ccb31) - Tags: #Aging #Better_Living #Dimentia #Health #Healthier_Living #Retirement - Notes: **Note:** Below is the text from the article, with any ==highlights== done by me. None of the writing below is by me. # Article text <DIV id="readability-content"><DIV data-omnivore-anchor-idx="1" class="page" id="readability-page-1"><div data-omnivore-anchor-idx="2"> <p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="3"><strong data-omnivore-anchor-idx="4">HUGE AMOUNTS OF TIME</strong> and money are spent planning for retirement. The focus is almost entirely financial—running the numbers, so to speak. How much do I need to save to retire by age 65? Can I retire with my current nest egg? What are the chances I’ll run out of money?</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="5">No doubt these are the sorts of questions that keep <em data-omnivore-anchor-idx="6">HumbleDollar</em> readers up at night. And, yes, the numbers are important. In essence, it all boils down to two key questions: How many years will I live and how long will my money last? We have little control over the former, so we focus intensely on the latter.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="7">But dare I suggest that one issue too few of us consider is the <em data-omnivore-anchor-idx="8">quality</em>, rather than the quantity, of years we have left? Do I really want to live to 100 if I’m saddled with chronic, debilitating illnesses for the final two decades of my life?</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="9">One of my greatest fears about aging is developing dementia. Today, over 55 million people live with dementia globally, and that number is expected to reach 78 million by 2030. The economic cost of dementia may reach $2.8 trillion by <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="10" href="https://www.alzint.org/about/dementia-facts-figures/dementia-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2030</a>. And this doesn’t include the enormous emotional toll on loved ones.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="11">But what scares me most about dementia is that it robs us of our very identity—what makes us human. If we lose our minds and our memories, what’s left?</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="12">There’s some good news on this depressing front. Whether or not we develop Alzheimer’s disease—the most common form of dementia by far—is to a large extent under our control. A recently published randomized, controlled clinical <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="13" href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381279226_Effects_of_intensive_lifestyle_changes_on_the_progression_of_mild_cognitive_impairment_or_early_dementia_due_to_Alzheimer's_disease_a_randomized_controlled_clinical_trial" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trial</a> showed that lifestyle changes can lead to improvement in those with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. This offers hope that Alzheimer’s disease, at least early on, may be reversible through simple lifestyle changes. What’s even more amazing is that the beneficial effects were seen after just 20 weeks of intensive lifestyle intervention.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="14">And since an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, these same lifestyle changes may prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease in the first place. What are these lifestyle changes? They’re fourfold: a whole foods, plant-based diet; moderate exercise; stress management techniques; and support groups. Furthermore, there was a statistically significant “dose-response correlation” between the degree of lifestyle change and measures of cognition and function. In other words, the more intensely patients modified their lifestyle, the greater was their cognitive improvement.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="15">The medical evidence is mounting that Alzheimer’s disease has much in common with chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. As the saying goes, what’s good for the heart and blood vessels is good for the brain. This makes perfect sense when one considers that the brain receives 15% to 20% of the body’s blood supply.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="16">While exercise, lower stress and social support are all important, I believe that what we eat may be the single most important determinant of our health, including whether or not we develop dementia. In short, we are what we eat. In another study, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease was 38% lower in those eating high vs. low amounts of vegetables, whereas consuming saturated fat and trans fats—so prevalent in the typical American diet—doubled the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="17">As with other interventions, particularly medical drugs, there are side effects to the lifestyle changes we’re talking about. In two earlier studies, the authors showed that these same lifestyle changes caused regression of coronary artery disease and improved heart function. Implement these lifestyle changes, and your heart will heal alongside your brain. I’ll take that side effect any day.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="18">One of the authors of the new Alzheimer’s study, Dr. Dean Ornish, wrote the <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="19" href="https://www.amazon.com/Undo-Lifestyle-Changes-Reverse-Diseases/dp/052547997X" target="_blank" rel="noopener">book</a>, <em data-omnivore-anchor-idx="20">Undo It! How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases</em>. If you want to understand why the four lifestyle changes are so important in preventing chronic diseases that lead to so much morbidity and mortality in modern life, this is your book. Ornish shows you how to implement the lifestyle changes of eating well, moving more, stressing less and loving more.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="21">Nor are your genes your destiny. Eating the right foods can increase the expression of “good” genes and lower the expression of “bad” genes. But don’t expect too much advice along these lines from your doctor. Truth be told, modern medicine focuses mostly on treating the symptoms of disease, not the root causes. I was taught very little about the importance of diet in medical school and things haven’t changed much since.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="22">Let’s face it: A long retirement is not really the end goal. What we ultimately desire is a long, healthy and active retirement. And more than anything else, this depends on having a healthy brain. Dementia is not an inevitable consequence of aging. You have far more control than you ever imagined.</p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="23"><em data-omnivore-anchor-idx="24"><img data-omnivore-anchor-idx="25" data-omnivore-original-src="https://humbledollar-cfc8.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/pic-1-150x150.jpg" decoding="async" src="https://proxy-prod.omnivore-image-cache.app/150x150,s1pfDC0aGdtPpS4PqXbwse7lv0AtVzT3aR0C-kN-5JwQ/https://humbledollar-cfc8.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/pic-1-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://proxy-prod.omnivore-image-cache.app/150x0,sg71_c7r0agBh3C2b64NNa9v53szlsLuABFSQ16wv4bE/https://humbledollar-cfc8.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/pic-1-150x150.jpg 150w,https://proxy-prod.omnivore-image-cache.app/261x0,sCYMFIg8WWPlyag2JPaB4N6IEH_GQVnFc2N0zWSMFumU/https://humbledollar-cfc8.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/pic-1.jpg 261w," sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px">John Lim is a physician and author of “How to Raise Your Child’s Financial IQ,” which is available as both a <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="26" href="https://humbledollar.com/iqbook/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">free PDF</a> and a <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="27" href="https://amzn.to/39nnXKm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kindle edition</a>. Check out John’s earlier <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="28" href="https://humbledollar.com/author/john-lim/">articles</a>.</em></p><p data-omnivore-anchor-idx="29"><b data-omnivore-anchor-idx="30"><i data-omnivore-anchor-idx="31">Want to receive our weekly newsletter? <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="32" href="https://humbledollar.com/weekly-newsletter/">Sign up now</a>. How about our daily alert about the site's latest posts? <a data-omnivore-anchor-idx="33" href="https://humbledollar.com/daily-alerts/">Join the list</a>.</i></b></p><div data-omnivore-anchor-idx="34"><h2 data-omnivore-anchor-idx="35">Free Newsletter</h2></div></div></DIV></DIV>