Protecting Your Brain - Quercetin, Toxins & Inflammation

Protecting Your Brain- Quercetin, Toxins & Inflammation
Dr. Michael Ruscio

“Hi this is Dr. Ruscio and I wanted to talk with you briefly about the toxin PCB and if that toxin could be damaging your brain. Now PCBs have been proven to cause cancer, brain damage, and mutations. PCBs are a family of toxins that because of this have been banned. They were banned in 1979.

They were used in a lot of manufacturing, heating, cooling, PVC pipe, piping, as a plasticizer for certain paints and because of their wide spread use they were able to infiltrate a lot of the environment and to this day still cause a lot of environmental pollution. They still contaminate our water, our oceans, and our soil so people are still being exposed to PCB so doing whatever you can do to limit the damage associated with this exposure can be helpful.

Now, a group or researchers asked the question “Could we do something to protect from exposure to PCBs?”  They took a group of rats, and they injected some rats with PCB, and then some rats with PCB and an antioxidant called quercetin. What they found was that the rats that were injected with the toxin PCB and the quercetin actually had a relative decrease in brain inflammation.

So essentially what these researchers found was that the antioxidant quercetin can help protect your brain from the damage and inflammation that can occur from exposure to PCB which we’re all exposed to in varying levels. Quercetin is an antioxidant found in apples, onions, citrus fruits, parsley, red wine, tea, just to name a few, so a healthy diet is certainly going to be the foundation of achieving this.

Now, I myself take a broad spectrum antioxidant supplement that contains quercetin in it, because I want my brain to be functioning for as long as I can. I try to take extra steps to protect myself, my brain specifically, from all the environmental toxins that unfortunately we’re exposed to every day. So the take home is a diet high in antioxidants and also maybe some additional supplementation with antioxidants can help protect your valuable, precious brain tissue from the inflammation that can be caused by some of the toxins that we’re all exposed to.

This is Dr. Ruscio, I hope you found this helpful.”

Quercetin & Brain Inflammation Study

Is depression causing damage to your brain?

Depression could be more serious than previously thought.  This is because a new study has shown some cases of depression may involve damage to the brain.


This study showed that 54.1% of people with depression had autoimmunity against their brain tissue (serotonin receptors) while only 5.7% of non-depressed had autoimmunity against their brain tissue.

Again,the damage occurs in the form of an autoimmune attack against your serotonin receptors.  Autoimmune attacks are when your immune systems produces white blood cells that attack and destroy your own tissue, in this case brain tissue.  Specifically, your serotonin receptors become damaged in this condition.

Serotonin in your brain is known as your happy mood chemical and low serotonin levels have been correlated with depression and other mood disorders.  The most common treatment for depression is anti-depressant medications.  Most medications act to move serotonin from one part of the brain to another and can provide symptomatic relief but also can have substantial side effects.  What medication will not do is fix this problem if present.  Why does this matter?  Because if you have autoimmunity against your brain (serotonin receptors) and take a pill to mask your depression symptoms, you will have done nothing to stop the underlying damage to your brain that is occurring from the autoimmune attack.  In my opinion, and many others in healthcare, standard management of depression (medications) does little to treat the cause or fix the problem.

In functional medicine we take a cause-based approach to depression.  If you see my video here, you can learn more about what the most common causes of depression are.   The good news is if you have depression with autoimmunity the functional medicine approach has shown excellent results with stopping the autoimmune process.  It is possible to be depression free and feel great without medications.

Click here to read study
J Affect Disord. 2012 Feb;136(3):386-92. Epub 2011 Dec 12.  

PMID:

   22166399


I hope this info helps,
Dr. Michael Ruscio
office@DrRuscio.com  (925) 705-7454

Feel sleepy after meals? This could be an Alzheimer's risk

Do you feel sleepy or have intense cravings for sugar after meals? Are you a woman whose hair is thinning, yet you’re growing facial hair? Are you a man who cries at movies and has “moobs” (male breasts)? If so, you probably suffer from insulin resistance. Not only does insulin resistance gender bend your hormones, research shows it also raises your risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s.

What is insulin resistance?

A high-carb, high-sugar diet consistently raises blood sugar levels, which in turn requires the body to secrete high levels of insulin to lower blood sugar. Eventually these insulin surges exhaust the body’s cells, which then refuse entry to the insulin, causing insulin resistance. Insulin resistance brought on by high blood sugar arises from eating a diet that is high in sweets, soda, and starchy foods such as breads, pasta, rice, corn, potatoes, etc.; a habit of overeating; and living a sedentary lifestyle.

The link between insulin resistance and Alzheimer’s

Insulin resistance has long been linked with many common health conditions, including obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and hormonal imbalances. More recently, researchers have discovered that it also increases the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s. In fact, the link is so well established that some researchers refer to Alzheimer’s as “type 3 diabetes.” This is because a high-carbohydrate diet has the ability to accelerate brain degeneration and cause dementia.

Insulin necessary for brain function

Insulin does more than regulate blood sugar in the body. Appropriate levels of insulin in the brain manage glucose levels for sustained mental energy. In turn, this regulates inflammation and helps produce brain chemicals that regulate mood.

The insulin surges and insulin resistance that result from a sugary, high-carbohydrate diet raises inflammation in the brain and disrupts the brain’s ability to perform even simple operations.

For many people, insulin resistance eventually becomes type 2 diabetes—the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar has broken down. Moreover, studies have demonstrated a clear link between diabetes and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Don’t wait until it’s too late

Both insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes often can be reversed by changing your diet and lifestyle. So, it’s best not to wait until you have developed dementia or Alzheimer’s to take action. While a low-carb, ketogenic diet has been shown to be beneficial to those with dementia and Alzheimer’s, it is also key to prevention.

Reversing insulin resistance to prevent Alzheimer’s

Some of the most powerful tools to prevent dementia and Alzheimer’s are, unsurprisingly, the same tools that can reverse insulin resistance. These include:

• Ditching all sweets, sugars, desserts, and sodas. Beware natural sweeteners, such as honey, maple syrup, and agave, as they still raise blood sugar and insulin. Also, avoid over-indulging in sugary fruits.
• Adopt a lower-carb diet. Some people will need a low amount of carbohydrates—coming primarily from leafy green vegetables—for optimal function, some will need more. Ask our office for guidelines to get started.
• Exercise regularly. Studies show a combination of both aerobic and weight lifting exercises offers the best brain protection. High-intensity interval training and weight lifting have been shown especially effective to reverse insulin resistance (but do not derail your progress by overtraining). Even just a half-hour walk daily can be extremely beneficial.
• Eat healthy, natural fats instead of processed vegetable oils. Coconut oil has been shown to be especially beneficial for brain health.

Autism is often an autoimmune brain disorder

The rate of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has increased 78 percent in the last decade, with autism now affecting a staggering 1 in 88 children. While parents scramble for answers, researchers increasingly find a common denominator: inflammation affecting brain function.

While some children withstand the assaults of modern life relatively unscathed, the child with autism has neurologically-based reactions to foods, vaccines, viruses, environmental chemicals, or other immune triggers. Some studies show this imbalance in immune function can begin in the womb, often influenced by the mother’s health. The question, of course, is why.

Children born to moms with autoimmune disease more likely to develop autism

For starters, recent studies show that autoimmune diseases run in families, and children born to mothers with autoimmune diseases, such as celiac disease, type 1 diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis, are three times more likely to be born with autism. Researchers say the mother’s circulating autoimmune antibodies may create an abnormal immune environment that can affect the developing fetus.

Maternal obesity and diabetes raise autism risk

An autoimmune disease isn’t the only risk. Any kind of maternal immune imbalance can affect the immune health of the fetus. For instance, women who are obese are 67 percent more likely to have a child with autism. Women with diabetes are also more likely to give birth to a child with autism. Both obesity and diabetes keep the body in a state of chronic inflammation, which can affect the immune health of the developing fetus.

Leaky gut and fetal immune health

Another risk factor that can pass to the fetus is intestinal permeability, commonly referred to as leaky gut. Excess sugars and starches in the diet (i.e., gluten and junk foods) along with chronic stress can inflame the gut and cause the intestinal lining to become porous, or leaky. Because some 80 percent of the body’s immune system resides in the gut, a leaky gut triggers a cascade of inflammation that extends beyond the gut and into the brain and body, including the placenta of a pregnant woman.

Damaged gut walls will allow undigested foods, bacteria, and other pathogens to escape from the intestines into the bloodstream. These circulating pathogens affect the fetus by stimulating an immune response that may affect the development of the fetal brain.

Immune health affects the developing brain

Since we know the immune system affects the developing brain of the fetus, it’s important to approach conception and pregnancy with immune health in mind. This will not only reduce the risk of autism but also make the child less susceptible to other immune disorders, including asthma, eczema, food intolerances, allergies, and other brain developmental disorders (e.g., Tourette syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, ADD/ADHD, etc.)

You don’t HAVE an immune system; you ARE an immune system

Regulating immune health requires a whole-body approach that addresses diet, adrenal health, hormone health, gut health, food intolerances, and the autoimmunity of both parents—though the mother in particular. An anti-inflammatory diet is foundational to a healthy immune system. Studies have shown the effectiveness of a gluten-free and dairy-free diet or, more ideally, the immune balancing autoimmune diet. Not surprisingly, many children see symptoms of autism resolve through a similar whole-body approach.

Of course, most children born to a parent with an autoimmune disease do not get autism, however properly managing an autoimmune disease not only reduces the risk of autism, but also makes the pregnancy and postpartum period easier and more enjoyable.