Cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Hill is our guest today in Episode 1008 of “The Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb Show.”
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As much as people look at a low-carb, high-fat, ketogenic diet for weight loss purposes, one of the greatest health benefits of this way of eating are the positive effects it has on brain health. This is something that has become abundantly aware to a UCLA-based cognitive neuroscientist named Dr. Andrew Hill. Through his extensive education and experience looking at how the brain operates to help slow down the aging process, Dr. Hill has come to some incredible conclusions about how to best optimize the brain to function as it was intended. Here is the bottom line question he asks about himself virtually daily: Do I really think we can change our brains?
Listen in as Jimmy and Dr. Hill discuss his interest in cognitive neuroscience, how the brain is tractable to change, why a low-carb, high-fat diet could be a good hack for improving brain health, how the brain has an insulin system and the intricate role it plays in the function of the brain, whether you can slow the degradation of brain cells as you age, how lowering inflammation and blood sugar spikes are critical to maintaining optimal brain health, how mindfulness and meditation builds brain tissue, whether prayer would provide the same brain benefits as meditation, why working memory is an indicator of the state of your brain health, his thoughts on the recent study using Tetris to reduce cravings, how eating low-carb, high-fat can offset the typical decline of the brain, how the omega-3 fats are the holy grail for the brain, why saturated fat is the truly healthy fat for the brain, how ketones make your mood stable, how sugars don’t burn cleanly and change how we handle fat, the dangers of low cholesterol and oxidation on the brain, why the ultra-homogenized dairy can be harmful to your health, the plethora of negative health effects of the statin drugs, eating high-fat and dropping sugar can normalize your cholesterol and inflammation levels, why he doesn’t believe you necessarily need to be in ketosis to get all the benefits from low-carb, why some insulin resistant people can have an insulin spike even from a sugar-free food or beverage, how liquid carbs are especially harmful, the critical role the gut flora plays in your body, the role of nootropics in improving brain health, and why he doesn’t think anyone should go below 20g carbohydrates daily.
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– Dr. Andrew Hill bio
– Dr. Andrew Hill on Twitter
– The Alternatives Brain Institute
– TruBrain.com
After listening to Dr. Hill talk about how ultra-homogenized dairy can be harmful to your health, I’m real concerned that I may be doing the wrong thing. In the mornings, I’ve been using a generous amount of heavy whipping cream in my cup of coffee primarily for the high saturated fat content. The brand of cream I’ve been using is ultra-homogenized. Should I cease and desist immediately and look for another saturated fat additive? I’d love to learn more about this!
I’ll ask him to chime in.
Hi Brad,
I don’t think there is yet any science behind my concern about ultra-homogenized dairy, but I don’t like the idea of breaking down those fats and proteins in the cream to that degree, when we know that it’s the smallest fat molecules in our cholesterols (VLDL) that are responsible for the most trouble with oxidation and inflammation.
All that being said, I doubt a few tablespoons of heavy cream are giving you much risk, if your lipid and sugar metabolism is generally getting what it needs.
We cannot be orthorexic about this stuff – I think it’s important to know the rules we want to adhere to and then shoot for them for better than 80%.. letting our body and available resources inform how closely we try to adhere.