Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life (Genius Living Book 1)

5 To prevent this, a hormone called growth hormone becomes sharply elevated when the body is fasting. Growth hormone serves many roles, but its main function in adults is to preserve lean mass in a fasted state—that is, to stop the breakdown of muscle protein for glucose. After just twenty-four hours of fasting, growth hormone can shoot up as high

sense. Leptin works with insulin to paint a picture for your brain of the state of food availability—and when food is scarce, this likely tells the brain to alter behavior in a way that conserves energy.

To start, check the label to make sure that the cocoa has not been “processed with alkali,” also known as Dutch processing (usually it will say on the ingredients list, right next to the cocoa). Such processing greatly degrades the phytonutrient content of cocoa, taking what would otherwise be beneficial and turning it into empty calories.

While EPA is a whole-body anti-inflammatory agent, DHA is the most important and abundant structural component of healthy brain cells. Another form of omega-3 found in plants is called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). ALA needs to be converted to EPA and DHA to be utilized by your cells, but the body’s ability to do this is highly limited and varies in

Reducing frequent, prolonged insulin spikes by minimizing concentrated carbohydrate consumption is one of the top ways of preserving and enhancing insulin sensitivity, thus minimizing inflammation and fat storage. Insulin is a one-way valve on your fat cells, preventing the release of stored calories for fuel. Many organs enjoy using fat for fuel,

Certainly, these are incredible and exciting life milestones, but as sure as you are human, your level of happiness regressed to baseline after the initial buzz wore off. This “tolerance” to dopamine, especially when achieved by any short-circuiting of the stimulus/reward pathways in the brain, can result in “anhedonia,” or a pathological inability

For a fat-adapted low-carb dieter, the occasional high-carb, low-fat “cheat day” can help to increase leptin levels, which will encourage fat burning and enhance mood. Stress management is paramount to health—chronic stress grows our waists, shrinks our brains, and creates performance-zapping inflammation.

but aerobic exercise in particular has been found to be one of the best known means of boosting brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF.

Sitting in a hot sauna imposes a certain kind of stress on your body called—wait for it—heat stress.