Brain health is often overlooked and undervalued in the wellness world. At least, until it’s too late.
Young, healthy adults may workout or think about sleeping better, while the health of their most important asset flies under the radar.
Then, at 50 or 60 they realize: I’ve been forgetting where I put my keys more often.
“Well, that’s just part of aging.”
No. It’s not. And it doesn’t have to be.
The sad news is that by the time you notice symptoms your brain is slowing down, it’s been declining for years. Decades even.
Now, this isn’t a reason to panic. Research is showing Alzheimer’s and dementia are not only preventable, they’re also reversible.
In fact, this same research shows that the best way to keep your brain healthy is to start young.
Which actually means, start now.
Whatever your age, it’s not too late or too early to think about brain health. True, you may not be dealing with dementia. Yet. But everything that helps prevent Alzheimer’s also helps you perform at your absolute best.
Increase your IQ? Yep.
Think faster? Yep.
Stabilize your mood? Yep, that too.
So, how do we invest in our brain health?
As a society we have just accepted the fact that our brain function decreases with age. There is something you can do to decrease the risk of dementia and age-related brain disorders. While also pushing your brain into the next level of performance. And it may not be what you think…
Mushrooms To Support Your Brain
When we consider brain health, we often think of things that help us stay “mentally fit” such as limiting how much we multitask or playing games that are said to benefit brain health.
While these are worthy things to keep in mind, what is often missed is the nutrients the brain needs in order to function at its best.
Medicinal mushrooms have been widely researched and shown to have a dramatic effect on brain function, memory and mental health.
Research supports the role of mushrooms for people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) dealing with symptoms such as brain fog, memory loss, and spatial orientation.
Studies on older adults also show significant brain health improvement when consuming mushrooms on a regular basis.
Let’s look at some mushrooms that help with brain health.
Lion’s Mane
As we get older, the brain-body connection starts to deteriorate. Because of this, the rate of accidents related to balance and proprioception go up. Lion’s mane is known to help repair nerve growth factors and improve how your brain communicates with your body.
This fluffy white mushroom might look playful, but it is serious about its health benefits.
Lion’s mane is a great starting point for most people because it’s easy to find and has fantastic benefits for your brain. Many healthy grocery stores carry it in their produce section.
In one study, lion’s mane was found to slow and potentially even reverse brain cell degeneration. Lion’s mane extract can also help the brain regrow neurons and cells and lead to improved brain function, memory, and focus. It does this by boosting Nerve Growth Factor.
There was a myth that went around for a while that your brain can’t grow new nerves. That’s not true. Science has debunked this myth.
If you’re interested in growing new nerves in your brain, lion’s mane is a great mushroom to add to your medicine cabinet.
Check out our lion’s mane gummies
Chaga
Let’s talk inflammation.
Inflammation in the body can accumulate from certain types of foods, toxins in the environment, and the amount of stress experienced daily. These everyday encounters start to overload the body’s immune response and inflammation takes hold.
Left unchecked, chronic body inflammation can lead to inflammation in the brain. Symptoms of mild brain inflammation can include:
– Brain fog
– Slow thinking
– Fatigue
– Depression
– Changes in vision
– Anxiety
Many of these symptoms can be passed off as the wear-and-tear of the daily grind, and are commonly mistaken for just feeling “off”. After feeling that way for days, weeks, or even years without assistance, decline in brain function becomes a risk factor.
For this reason, it is crucial to decrease inflammation in the body to have better brain health.
How do we do that? Chaga!
Chaga is a medicinal mushroom that is mainly found on birch trees in Siberia and Canada. It’s a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune booster. It has been used for centuries as a healing mushroom in the most barren parts of the world where antioxidant-rich plants are slim pickings.
Chaga also boosts energy metabolism, which means your brain has more brain power.
All this from one mushroom? Yes, please.
Defend your brain health with chaga mushrooms.
Reishi
Stress is one of the biggest factors negatively impacting our brain health today.
Yes, the body was built to handle stress. But only specific amounts for specific durations.
Think about our hunter-gatherer ancestors. They did a lot of laying around and a lot of walking. They went hunting occasionally. They ran from danger occasionally.
Notice: they were stressed occasionally.
Now think about your day. Maybe your boss is angry about something. Your phone pings and dings telling you about everything that’s going wrong in the world. Difficult conversations. Deadlines. You name it.
And it gets worse.
When your boss comes into your office and tells you she needs that report by 3 PM and you haven’t started it, your brain thinks your survival is at risk. “Oh no! What if I get fired?”
As far as your brain is concerned, you’re face to face with a tiger. It can’t tell the difference between your boss firing you and a tiger eating you. And when you read about something terrible happening on the other side of the world, your brain thinks it’s at risk of that happening to you.
That’s a lot to carry. No wonder stress is impacting people so much.
So, what can we do about it?
Step 1: Decrease stress in your life.
Step 2: Check out reishi mushrooms.
The healing powers of the reishi mushroom make it king in the world of medicinal mushrooms.
As an adaptogen, reishi helps combat stress by supporting our physical and mental reactions to stress. This is incredibly valuable for our brain health because when we are overrun with stress, the continuous flow of signaling to the brain takes a toll on our body and mind.
Reishi helps normalize our stress response. Instead of seeing your boss come into your office and feeling like you’re facing a tiger, it helps your system chill out.
Studies have also found that taking Reishi supplements can reduce fatigue in people experiencing chronic fatigue in just four to eight weeks, depending on the study.
This mushroom also has incredible neuro-regenerative properties (the regrowth of brain nerves, cells, and tissues) that help fight against cognitive decline.
Because medicinal mushrooms are so helpful for brain health, we use them in our supplements to help you feel your best.
Click here to see our Daily Hero gummy that helps you have the energy to take on your day. (And, it supports your brain health, too.)
