BDNF – Keeping Your Brain Healthy

• BDNF stands for Brain-derived neurotrophic factor and it is a protein found in the brain.

• BDNF is important for long-term memory because it creates new neurons in your brain. 

• BDNF is also found in the retina, kidney, saliva, prostate, motor nerve cells, and muscle.

• It is very important to our brain health and low levels of it can lead to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Dementia, and Depression.

• Listen to this podcast to learn some of the different ways to improve your body’s production of BDNF. 

Here are some links to additional information that I mention in the podcast…

Some ways to hack your sleep:

1) Listen to my podcast about sleep and read the 2 blogposts (How to sleep better and How to sleep better 2) I wrote here on my website to get a lot of additional information about improving your sleep.

2) You’ve probably heard about blue light (the sunlight spectrum). Too much blue light during the evening hours makes your brain think it’s still daylight which and so your brain will try to stay awake instead of going to sleep. Your electronic devices all emit high levels of blue light, but you can get an app that will change the lighting on any device you upload it onto. That app is called f.lux and it’s free. Go to this site where you can download the f.lux app and get it set up in minutes. You can also get blue-blocking glasses and light bulbs at Amazon. 

3) If you toss and turn at night try making some of these changes to your routine:

–  Don’t drink caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, etc.) after 3 pm

–  If you keep going over (i.e. obsessing) the issues or events of the day or what you need to do the next day then start a journal where you write down what happened during the day and your feelings about it or write a to-do list for the next day or week. Your brain will let go of those thoughts and you can deal with it after your next day begins.

–  Do some meditation, yoga, and/or stretching before you get into bed. Do it every night and your brain & body will automatically start relaxing as soon as you start your chosen activity.

There are additional products I recommend on the Resources Page.