Change Your Brain Every Day - Can Walking Really Reduce Your Risk for Dementia?

Episode Date: May 17, 2018

Recent research suggests that being able to walk at just 3 miles an hour significantly raises the likelihood an 80-year old will live at least another ten years. Even for those much younger, making small adjustments in the way we get from point A to point B will result in substantial health benefits. Dr. Daniel Amen and Tana Amen provide additional insight into the way we exercise.

Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I'm Dr. Daniel Amen. And I'm Tana Amen. Here we teach you how to win the fight for your brain to defeat anxiety, depression, memory loss, ADHD, and addictions. The Brain Warriors Way podcast is brought to you by Amen Clinics, where we've transformed lives for three decades using brain spec imaging to better target treatment and natural ways to heal the brain. For more information, visit amenclinics.com.

The Brain Warriors Way podcast is also brought to you by BrainMD, where we produce the highest quality nutraceutical products to support the health of your brain and body. For more information, visit brainmdhealth.com. Welcome to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. And stay tuned for a special code for a discount to Amen Clinics for a full evaluation, as well as any of our supplements at brainmdhealth.com. Welcome back. Today, we're going to talk about walk like you're late. But before we get to that, we have this great review. I'm so glad to found the Brain Warriors Way podcast. I used to listen to Dr. Amon's work and I've seen him speak live, but I just listened to

five episodes back to back while doing something else that didn't require my full attention. So many reminders of simple choices that can make a big difference in my performance and life, business, and as a parent. This is a podcast that I set to don't delete episodes I've already listened to so I can go back and listen to them again and get more ideas to implement. Well that's one of the things we often say is that you know when you hear something repeatedly it becomes you know you're more likely to start taking it on. It's a message you know what you hear on a regular basis is what you're likely to then begin to process.

So it's really important. That's awesome. You're so smart and so freaking cute. 12 years. 12 years. Isn't that crazy? 12 and a half. All right.

So a new study revealed that older adults with slower walking speeds are at an increased risk of developing dementia. Because there's currently no cure for dementia, it's important to know about the risk factors that may lead to developing it. So for example, researchers have learned that older adults with slower walking speeds, and the research was if you're 80 years old and you can walk three miles an hour,

you have a 90% chance you will live to 90. But if you're 80 years old and you can only walk a mile an hour, you have a 90% chance you will not live until 90. And initially you said, well, why would we talk about this and not give people hope? No, that's not why we talk about it. We have to give them hope in the message though.

We have to give them something they can do. Walk like you're late. Walk like you're late. My concern is that there are older people. I'm a nurse. Okay. There are older people watching this who have trouble walking at that pace. I know this. I actually married you because you were a nurse. Yes. I never knew that. I would have dated more nurses because they like taking care of people. You know, I really don't need to know that. I don't need to know that. Anyways, there are elderly people out there who have trouble walking at that pace. You know, they have got a walker or they've got a hip problem.

And we never want you to do something that will increase your risk for head injury. And now you just made them feel terrible. Don't you feel terrible for that? Absolutely not. Well, you should. Because what I want you to do is don't be lazy when you walk. So number one, I wear Fitbit every day. And since January 1st, I've been better than ever.

Okay. I'm sorry. So, 10,000 steps for me. But what I notice is if I'm doing something else, if I'm on a phone call or whatever, I'm not as focused as I could be on moving it out. Okay, now you need to stop. If it's a matter of priority and you're not doing it because you're doing something else,

then yes, start focusing on it. If it's a matter of you're not walking faster because you just don't feel like it, then start to pick up the pace. But we never want you to do something that's going to hurt you. Okay. If you are, we don't want you to start thinking you have to walk faster, but you can't because you've got a walker or a hurt hip or a hurt knee. And then all of a sudden you trip because you just told them to walk faster because they're going to get dementia. And now you fall and you can't walk at all.

That's sort of not the point. It was the point. That's what people hear. Okay. So going to the negative. So do the best you can. Going to the negative. With what you have.

If you can't, walk like you're late. Thank you. You got to do everything else right. And do the best you can. Right. But if you can, it's important to not stroll. And Aslan and I are white shepherd. He wants to sniff everything and stop every two seconds.

He wants to smell the roses. He does. And that's not the point of the walk. The point of the walk is to stay healthy. So I can- He's trying to help you- Torture you for a longer period of time. I don't ever want to be a burden

to my wife or to my children. And if that's you, then, and plus, I never want to live to my children. And if that's you, then, and plus I never want to live with my children. I love them dearly, but I don't. I just don't. I completely understand. I just don't. And I know a lot of you listening, you don't want to live with your kids either.

Although I kind of don't mind. Well, she's awesome. Gotta take care of yourself. And one of the ways is consistent exercise. So we haven't talked about exercise in a long time. What are the things people should be thinking about as far as exercise on a weekly basis? So one thing, I know the new study is out now for heart health, and what's good for your heart is good for your brain,

is 150 minutes of cardio. So that doesn't mean not the high intensity where you can't breathe type of, but just where your heart rate is up at a good level. So at a good pace, like walking like you're late or even a little bit faster than that. Okay, so if you're lifting weights, but you keep moving. So circuit training, that type of a thing, but 150 minutes a week. And they didn't really specify that it had to be for a certain amount of time at once. So if you can only get 20 minutes in one day, and then you get 40 minutes in the next day, the point was to total 150 minutes a week. So if you're going to do weights, so sometimes I split my walking for almost an hour, three times a week. Right. Or so for me, like I like to do karate.

So that's an hour that I do one day. And then the next day I might do my elliptical trainer for 20 minutes and lift weights for 25 minutes. And then the next day I might, you know, whatever. So I might go for a run with Chloe on the beach. But I try to like get that 150 minutes in. Okay. So you also said weight training. Because the stronger you are as you age. Okay. So you also said weight training because the stronger you are as you age, the less likely you are to get Alzheimer's disease. And the planet does not have your

best interest at heart in this matter. You will begin to naturally decline in muscle mass as your hormones go down. But if you want to be healthy in older age, be less insulin resistant. If you want to have your, your muscle is your protein storage. So if you do get hurt, if you do go in the hospital, that is, that's basically your protein storage, your reserve, right? So you want to have more muscle mass on your body. Otherwise you begin to like atrophy and get sick faster. But what if you're a girl and you don't want to have big biceps? Yeah, sadly that is rarely, that's very, very, very unlikely to happen

unless you are just genetically a freak and blessed. So it's just not likely to happen. So you don't see it. Well, especially because women don't have high testosterone. Right, I had high testosterone and I still wasn't like huge. So, um, it's really hard to get your muscles to be that big. Okay. So twice a week lifting weights.

Yes. At least two to three times, two to three times. And you don't have to do it forever. It's like 20 to 30 minutes. And if you're going to walk like you're late, take four or five minutes during those 50 minutes or an hour. Right. And walk as fast as you can. Right. Right.

It's called burst training or high intensity training. And if you're worried about falling, you can get a treadmill with the rails on it. It's got safety features on it, you know, where you're holding on and if you start to trip it shuts off. All right. So just like you said, number one principle always with exercise is safety. Yes. Safety.

But if you can, walk like you're late. Yes. Burst and lift weights a couple of times a week, never more than you can. We're definitely not fans of the guy in the gym screaming at you, you can do it, you can do it. I used to do that, yeah. Yeah, no, that's no. But it was more just a lifestyle. We want to keep your muscles healthy. Yeah, so one thing I really like,

especially as you get older, is this idea of just like we like functional medicine, I like functional training. And what functional training means is you're focusing on doing movements that they're not so much for to put you on the cover of muscle and fitness, okay? It's functional training is a way of training that really enhances your movement as you get older. So when you do squats, do them safely. But the whole point is, okay, I'm a nurse,

so I'm gonna say this. It's to help you. If you can't squat down and sit on a toilet safely, you're likely to fall. Okay. If you can't move in certain ways, if your body doesn't function in certain ways, then you're going to end up having to have help as you get older or you're going to get hurt. Right? Do you think they'd put me on the cover of muscle and fitness squatting so you could sit on a toilet do you remember when i did change your brain change your age and i did uh what i do 10 pull-ups with 22 pounds of weight oh yeah that was really cool yeah that that was really awesome. You can do this. It doesn't take much. You just need to be committed to exercise if you want to keep your brain healthy, because ultimately your brain uses 20% of the blood flow in your body.

And really, you know, besides keeping muscle on your body, the reason to exercise is optimize the physical health of your blood vessels. That's what keeps your brain healthy. The number one brain imaging predictor of Alzheimer's disease is low blood flow to your brain. You do not want that. Stay with us. Use the code PODCAST10 to get a 10% discount on a full evaluation at amenclinics.com or on our supplements at brainmdhealth.com. Thank you for listening to the Brain Warriors Way podcast. Go to iTunes and leave a review and you'll automatically be entered into a drawing to get a free signed copy

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