Alzheimer’s Prevention & Knees Over Toes Lunges

Weekly Resource Roundup

#1 Way to Prevent Alzheimer’s

Exercise. As if we needed another reason to exercise. Dr. Attia interviewed Dr. Issacson, a neurologist that studies the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and discussed the five steps someone can take to help reduce the risk of AD. They are:

1. Educate yourself on brain health (alz.org is a great resource)
2. Know your numbers: Cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, body fat percentage.
3. Exercise: High intensity interval training (HIIT) is a great way to maintain brain health. Maintaining lean body mass and reducing fat mass through resistance training is another way to help the brain stay healthy.
4.  Nutrition: Lower carbohydrate diets with green vegetables is best. Studies have found the flavonoids in berries may help reduce cognitive decline.
5. Manage stress

Women & Alzheimer’s Disease

About two thirds of the people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are women. Why is it more prevalent in women?

Women living longer than men is one factor that makes them more susceptible to AD. Other important risk factors include:

1. Perimenopause: Dr. Issacson calls perimenopause a brain disease due to the dramatic drop off of estrogen, a brain protective hormone, resulting in cognitive decline.
2. Widowhood: Research has found a sharp cognitive decline in women that lose the companionship of a spouse.
3. Abdominal fat: Women with an enlarged waist circumference are at increased risk of dementia. As the belly gets larger, the memory center in the brain gets smaller.

Movement to Try

Knees over the toes lunges. It was believed that lunging with the knees over the toes put too much stress on the knees but that stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Allowing the knees to go over the toes is a natural movement and happens any time we go up or down stairs or get up from a chair. Doing a split squat/lunge with the knees in front of the toes, works on foot stability, puts more emphasis on the VMO muscle (important for maintaining strong knees), and acts as a loaded stretch for the hip flexor muscles. Knees Over Toes Guy, Ben Patrick shows how to scale the movement depending on your current level of strength and range of motion in the knees.

Article Worth Reading

15 Things You Can’t Control and What You Can Control Instead. It’s an important reminder of focusing on what we have the power over so we don’t get anxious and stressed over things we can’t control.