[Source: Straightthrough 990]
Summer
07
22
Monday
Straight through 600
World Brain Health Day
"Can you make up for what you eat"?
How to make children's little heads more "bright"?
Can meditation improve our ability to focus and resist stress?
Today is World Brain Health Day
Is your brain "sub-healthy"?
Moderator: Kazuno
Interview
Shanghai Mental Health Center
Researcher and doctoral supervisor Cui Donghong
World Brain Day 2024
01.
Dangerous! When there is a problem with the brain,
Other organs are also on the alert!
When you turn around, you forget the trivialities; When I try to relax and don't want to think, my mind is constantly disturbed and full of distracting thoughts.
Such a state is actually a signal that the brain health lights up red.
In an interview, Professor Cui said that whether the brain is healthy is not only a matter of the brain, but a systemic problem. Brain health requires enough energy, and 20-60% of the body's energy is supplied to the brain. The source of energy requires balanced nutrition, a healthy intestinal environment, and balanced metabolic and immune functions, otherwise it will not be able to produce enough energy to supply the normal function of the brain.
Mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and even bipolar disorder are not just brain problems, but are often accompanied by metabolic immunity problems. Professor Cui believes that depression is a disease of energy exhaustion, and energy depletion is mainly due to insufficient energy production and excessive energy consumption. Lack of energy production is mainly due to nutritional, intestinal, and metabolic abnormalities. Excessive energy consumption is due to excessive work on the one hand, and excessive internal consumption on the other hand.
Crankiness is a typical drain on the brain's energy. Frequent thinking activity requires high-frequency work of neurons. The job of neurons is essentially the transmission of signals, which involves frequent transitions between chemical and electrical signals, and the signaling molecules and ions in the conduction process are derived from the energy provided by our bodies through nutrient intake and metabolism.
Therefore, when there is a problem with nutrient metabolism, the signaling of neurons is disturbed, which in turn affects the function of the entire brain.
Based on his research over the past decade, Professor Cui has come to realize that improving nutrition and metabolism, and even focusing on the health of gut function and spinal meridians, may be of some significance in addressing brain-related mental health issues. From an integrative perspective, the various organs in the human body are influencing each other.
02.
Eating walnuts? Go for exercise?
How to make the brain healthier?
Some netizens asked on the spot, there is a folk saying called "what to eat to make up", so is eating animal brains useful for supplementing human brains?
Professor Cui responded that this concept is misplaced. When food enters the human body, it is not directly transformed into a specific part or function of the body, but is converted into substances required by the body through complex metabolic processes of the body.
The success of this process depends first and foremost on the functioning of the gut, especially the health of the intestinal flora. In addition, the delivery of nutrients is crucial. They need to be transported throughout the body, including the brain, through blood, lymphatic and other systems. The meridian system proposed by traditional Chinese medicine also plays a role that cannot be ignored.
——
Professor Cui reminded that if there are already problems with brain health, such as mental illness, in addition to targeted treatment, we can also find out intolerant food, insufficient application substances and intestinal problems through accurate medical testing, and give nutritional support, "what is lacking, how much is missing", so as to solve the problem of insufficient energy sources.
Based on this, Professor Cui's research group has created an integrated intervention method for the treatment of mental illness based on precision medicine testing, and summarized the 5R principles of brain health rehabilitation:
Remove
Removes toxins that cannot be metabolized
Replace
Replenish insufficient nutrients
再接种（reinoculate）
Revaccination with intestinal flora
Repair
Repair of intestinal tract, spine and meridians, mental function
重建平衡（rebalance）
Rebuild physical and mental balance
03.
The Science Guide to Meditation is online!
In recent years, "meditation relaxes and relieves anxiety" has become popular among urban white-collar workers, so what is the use of meditation in clinical practice?
Professor Cui said that meditation training has both physical and mental effects, and the relevant research results have been published in international authoritative medical journals. Physically, meditation improves metabolic, immune, and cardiovascular function. Psychologically, meditation has a mood-regulating effect by improving the emotional and attention networks that promote memory, learning, and sleep.
In addition, studies have found that meditation has a certain alleviating effect on depression, schizophrenia, addiction treatment, anxiety and insomnia.
Based on this, Cui Donghong's team edited "Fundamentals and Applications of Meditation Science", and established the "Meditation Advanced Instructor - Mental Health" project at the Institute of Translational Medicine of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to provide professional guidance on meditation.
The brain is the master of life, and the brain is the source of innovation
Give your brain a little more care
Let's love the brain together
——
• END •
Intern Editor: Wang Xinran
Editor in charge: Xiao Bo
Producer: Meng Chengjie, Zhu Ying
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