In an earlier post, I mentioned how a large amount of new research shows that chronic stress plays a major role in destroying the memory engine (hippocampus) of your brain.

Additionally, I’ve also pointed out how many studies now implicate stress as playing a major role in:

• Diabetes
• Atherosclerosis (which leads to heart attacks and strokes)
• Cancer

Now new studies suggest it actually causes premature aging of your immune system. From a recent article in Forbes:

Research suggests that stress can shorten the chunks of DNA at the tips of chromosomes in cells, making it harder for them to work properly, according to the Elissa Epel, a psychologist at the University of California at San Francisco. The bits of DNA “are like the plastic caps on the ends of our shoelaces. They prevent the ends from fraying,” she said.

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Would you like to live longer AND maintain superior brain health? Then you need to learn to raise & increase to your HDL cholesterol levels…

Interestingly, in what has been referred to as the "Methuselah Syndrome", people with very high HDL levels tend to have exceptionally long, healthy life spans (greater than 100 years), with amazingly intact brain function.

As most of you probably already know, there is a "good" cholesterol, and a "bad" cholesterol. LDL is generally considered to be the bad, while HDL is considered to be the good.

Many scientists believe HDL removes excess cholesterol from your blood vessels and helps keep them open. How does this relate to brain health? If you’ve been reading the Smartkit site from the beginning, you’ll know that one of the key concepts for preserving intelligence and brain power as you get older is: Keep the blood vessels open and free of atherosclerosis. As the brain’s pipes clog and get more narrow, blood flow diminishes, and brain cells don’t work as well as they should. Memory, concentration, creativity, and problem solving ability all plummet.

Therefore, for those interested in extending lifespan AND keeping their brains and hearts healthy, I figured I’d put together an updated list on 13 ways you can increase your HDL naturally, without any prescription drugs:

• Eat more curry (Curcumin is the effective agent). One study noted a 29% increase in HDL
• Grape Juice significantly increases HDL, according to a study out of Boston University School of Medicine
• Eat foods high in Vitamin B3 (Niacin). Extended release niacin supplements also work. A recent study in the American Journal of Cardiology shows it can raise HDL by almost 8% in just 3 months time
• Eat more oranges. A study out of the University of Western Ontario showed a 21% increase in HDL
• Aerobic exercise has been shown to significantly raise HDL levels
• Decrease the amount of refined sugars and carbohydrates in your diet
• Eat more raw yellow or white onions. Dr. Victor Gurewich of Tufts University found that a raw onion per day can raise HDL as much as 30%
• Avoid trans fats
• Macadamia nuts. One study out of the University of Newcastle showed an HDL increase of 8%.
• Polyphenols in Olive Oil. One recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed the higher the polyphenol content in olive oil, the higher the HDL is raised.
• Eat more fish. Fish oil supplementation has also shown to work
• Cranberries may increase HDL. A recent study published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed cranberry juice significantly boosted HDL
• Stop Smoking. In just 8 weeks, your HDL will begin to significantly rise.

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Bombay, Shanghai, Delhi, Beijing, New York, London, Los Angeles, Tokyo are some of the most populated cities on earth. It turns out living in these sorts of places may be really bad for your long term brain health. A new study out of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California indicates that smog may speed the development of atherosclerosis.

Nino Kuenzil, an associate professor of preventative medicine at USC notes: “If confirmed, the public-health relevance would be enormous. Atherosclerosis plays a major role in a broad array of diseases, and almost everybody is regularly exposed to ambient air pollution, 24 hours a day, over a lifetime.”

As I’ve commented on in several earlier posts, the ability of your brain to function well is critically dependent on its blood supply. The better the blood supply, the better your brain will function as you get older. Since atherosclerosis cripples the blood supply to the brain, avoiding atherosclerosis is incredibly important when it comes to maintaining brain power.

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