Do you ever wonder what it's doing to your brain?

For some reason, we remember to look after our skin,

our appearance and our fitness,

but we never think to look after the thing

that we actually rely on most,

the thing that makes us human.

So I've been diving into the science of brain health

for a while now to build the ultimate brain care routine.

Because firstly, I wanna minimize the risk

of cognitive decline as I age.

Our brain is our single biggest asset.

And so for me, I wanna improve my own focus

and reduce brain fog

and just generally increase my mental performance.

But even as a former doctor

who's literally studied this stuff for years,

it can still get pretty confusing

with all the different evidence, supplements

and everything else that's out there.

So after going through a ton of research

from papers and books and podcasts,

I've kinda realized that there are five key areas

that we need to focus on

if we wanna optimize our brain performance today,

but also our brain health in the long term and the short term.

Part one, the fuel.

Now, as with lots of self-help advice,

there is usually an old Greek dude

who said it first a thousand years ago.

One of the great scientists of the Middle Ages,

Maimonides, said,

"'No disease that can be treated by diet

should be treated with any other means.'"

And our brains are no different

because what we eat makes a huge difference

to our brain health and performance.

And even though the brain is only 2% of our body weight,

it actually uses up and consumes around 20%

of our total energy expenditure.

Now, through what's known as the gut-brain axis,

our brain and our gut are closely connected

and they're in constant communication.

And I recently interviewed

one of the UK's leading dieticians on gut health.

If you wanna learn more about that,

that'll be linked down below.

But the moral of the story

is that taking care of our brain

really begins with paying more attention to what we feed it.

Now, back in the day, I used to eat really terribly,

especially as a student and a junior doctor

where I didn't really have the time or the motivation

to cook for myself,

and I couldn't afford to have healthy takeout meals

all the time.

And this is actually largely known as the

"Western diet"

Now, the Western diet is low in fruits and vegetables

and very high in saturated fat and sugar and salt.

And it's basically poison for our brain.

And on top of increasing the risk

of cardiovascular disease and obesity,

there are studies that show that the Western diet

leads to decreased cognitive function, brain damage,

and can even contribute

to neurodegenerative conditions like dementia.

So taking a look at my dietary intake

was the obvious starting point

when building a brain care routine.

This meant putting an end to the burgers and the soft drinks

and the other tasty stuff

and transitioning to what is known as the Mediterranean diet

as much as I can.

Now, the Mediterranean diet is unsurprisingly inspired

by the food habits of people

who live in and around the Mediterranean.

And actually when researchers have looked

at the so-called blue zones,

which are the areas in the world

that have the highest proportion of centenarians,

i.e. people over the age of 100,

and then they analyse what they're doing

in terms of their diet and their activity and everything,

they find that broadly all of these people

are basically following a Mediterranean diet.

And the Mediterranean diet consists

of a lot of fruits and vegetables,

whole grains, nuts, fish, olive oil, beans, lentils,

tofu, chickpeas, eggs, oatmeal, avocados,

and other generally plant-based foods.

And in complete contrast to the Western diet,

the Mediterranean diet has actually been linked

to a host of health benefits,

including reducing the risk of diabetes and cancer.

But the cognitive benefits

are what make the Mediterranean diet

the ultimate brain care fuel.

And following the Mediterranean diet

is associated with better memory,

lower risk of neurodegenerative conditions,

and improved cognitive function all around.

It's kind of like premium oil for your brain,

which improves your brain performance in the short term,

and it fights off cognitive decline,

hopefully in the long term as well.

And initially when I discovered

this Mediterranean diet stuff, I was like,

hey, cool, I'm gonna make a list of all these foods,

I'm gonna make sure I eat all the foods.

But broadly, we all know what healthy eating is.

We all know what eating like an adult actually is.

And so the simplest heuristic that I've found

when I go to a restaurant or when I order takeaway

is just do I in my heart of hearts

know that this thing is broadly healthy?

If the answer is yes, I'll order it,

and if the answer is no,

then I will broadly try around 80, 90% of the time

to not order that thing

and go for a healthier option instead.

Now, this is a bit anecdotal,

but I found that, for example, for lunch,

I've noticed a significant difference

in the way that I feel when I eat something

that's broadly Mediterranean versus something that's Western.

So sometimes, for example, for lunch, I'd be like,

you know what, I'm gonna have a banter,

I'm gonna go for a burger and chips,

and then I have this like brain fog and tiredness

for the rest of the afternoon.

Whereas if I go for something like a chicken

or a fish salad, then generally,

I'll just feel way better throughout the day.

Now, when it comes to diet,

a lot of people have questions around supplements.

In the US in particular,

supplements are an absolutely huge industry.

And the general idea behind supplements

is that yes, of course, it is better

to get everything from your normal diet.

But if we look at studies in the UK, for example,

they show that like 99.9% of people

do not follow the gold standard Mediterranean diet.

And I know I certainly don't 100% of the time,

which is why I personally take some supplements in my life.

And the evidence-based one that I recommend

is in fact Heights,

who are very kindly sponsoring this video.

Now Heights is a fully evidence-based

brain care smart supplement.

It's two capsules that you take every morning.

And in those two capsules is a ton of micronutrients,

like vitamins and minerals,

that are associated with improved brain function.

But also a few more things that you might not be familiar

with like blueberry extract,

and it's got some algae-based omega-3 oil in it as well,

which again has loads of evidence.

Now I've been taking Heights for over two years now.

I've interviewed a bunch of their team,

the scientists behind them on my podcast.

And what I love about them is that they're so evidence-based

in everything they do.

Like on their website, they literally have an article

for every single ingredient that's in the smart supplement.

And it tells you exactly what the evidence-base is.

It tells you how strong the evidence-base

for that particular recommendation is.

And it explains and justifies

why they've picked the particular dose of micronutrient

that they've got in the smart supplement.

And for the last few months,

I've also been taking their smart probiotic,

which is for gut health.

And again, on the website,

they've got tons and tons of evidence

and papers and links and everything.

They've got experts behind it around like

why this is actually a really good thing to take.

And if you decide you wanna sign up

and you use the coupon code at checkout,

then you will get an extra 15%

off the already discounted quarterly subscription.

Anyway, if you're interested in potentially trying out

a smart supplement or smart probiotic,

or if you just wanna see the evidence-base behind it,

then check out the link in the video description.

And thank you so much Heights for sponsoring this video

and let's move on.

Part two, the body.

So we've cleaned up our diet at this point,

and now we need to get our brain

and our body working together.

And it's really all about movement.

And we usually think of our mind and body as separate,

but they actually affect each other quite a lot.

Studies have shown that physical activity

strongly affects your cognitive function.

So taking charge of our bodies

can help our brains operate better.

Now, the science of the effects of physical exercise

and brain health are actually pretty well understood.

But in short, physical exercise literally changes

the neuronal connectivity of your mind.

And this happens through a protein

that's produced in the brain called BDNF,

brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

And this little molecule is active

in the key areas of the brain,

which are involved in learning, memory, and higher thinking.

And BDNF also modulates some of the pathways in the brain

that regulate the structure

and the function of the neurons themselves.

Now, what a bunch of studies have found

is that physical activity increases the production of BDNF,

which is probably why physical activity

has been found to improve cognitive function

and memory acquisition and retention and learning.

Now, the amount of BDNF produced

is actually a function of the volume of physical activity.

And this is the maths equation that works this out.

Essentially, the exercise volume

is a function of the intensity of exercise,

the duration of exercise, and the frequency of exercise.

So all of those things are important

for boosting up your BDNF.

And there's also some literature that suggests

that exercises that include open skills, like badminton,

where you're sort of reacting and responding to things,

increase BDNF more than closed skills like running,

where you're kind of repeating the same action

over and over again.

So if you're thinking of exercises being like,

oh, I've got to go for a two-hour run,

no, you don't necessarily need to do that.

You actually can just play football or badminton

or do whatever sports or basically do anything

that moves your body that gets you this exercise volume.

And so for me, what this looks like is that,

firstly, I try and lift weights about three times a week.

And I do that with a health coach called Dan.

I'll link him down below if you want to check him out.

And then on top of that,

I've recently started taking kickboxing lessons,

which I do a couple of times a week.

And on top of that, I'll have the occasional game

of squash or badminton with a friend,

and I'll try my best to get that magical

10,000 steps in every day.