Effective strategies for stress and depression

About 20% of adults in the US are suffering from anxiety disorders, and I feel as though stress, anxiety, and depression are not talked about enough.

In this week’s episode, I want to talk about the importance of brain health (especially when you age) and effective strategies to optimize your brain health.

First things first, “Why brain health matters”?

Maintaining good mental health and brain function is crucial, especially as we age. Many of you face challenges like stress, anxiety, and depression, which can significantly impact our quality of life.

Effective Strategies for Brain Health:

Exercise: One of the big things you can do for your brain health is regular exercise. It’s a powerful tool for reducing symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Activities like walking, swimming, and yoga are excellent choices that can easily fit into your daily routine.
It's been proven to reduce your stress and depression by 50%

Meditation and Mindfulness: There are a bunch of different parts to this, and a bunch of different types of meditation. But when we look at the group of research around that, we know that regular meditators reduce stress, they reduce anxiety, they have lower levels of depression, and they have better emotional balance.

Nutrition and Supplements: When you look at the research around caffeine and stress response, it’s not good. Moderate caffeine consumption can improve our alertness and our mood—this is like one to two cups per whole day that falls into this area. 

Many people who are getting into this like six to eight cups a day can actually be increasing their anxiety, and it can be disrupting their sleep. A balanced diet and key supplements are essential for regulating stress hormones and neurotransmitters. Personalized micronutrient testing can provide tailored solutions to your specific needs.

Modern Technologies and Therapies: This is an area that I think needs to be kind of handled with kid gloves. And that's not really what this is like, what are the actionable things that people have access to. 
Wearables and virtual reality technologies offer new ways to monitor and improve mental health. Additionally, emerging therapies like psychedelics and transcranial magnetic stimulation show great promise.

Additional Tips for Mental Well-Being: Alternative activities such as cold exposure, forest bathing, and art therapy have been shown to reduce cortisol levels and improve mood. I have had patients who went and did some of these different types of ceremonies and used a very good administrator, therapist, shaman, if you will, to go through this and had good results.
​
Incorporating these strategies into your daily life can significantly enhance your brain health and overall well-being. 
Click HERE to watch the full episode for more in-depth information on brain health.