The Healthy Brain Book

With noted neurologist Vincent M. Fortanasce, a follow up to Dr. Sears's T5 Wellness Plan that focuses on brain health, geared toward helping readers of all ages manage anxiety, depression, and ADHD, and even prevent conditions like Alzheimer's.

William Sears

Contents
AN OPENING NOTE FROM DRS. BILL AND VINCE AND COACH HAYDEN Brain-Health Problems-Now the Top Medical Concern KISMIF: Keep It Simple, Make It Fun Play Show and Tell
PART I: AN ALL-AGES, ALL-AILMENTS PLAN FOR BRAIN HEALTH
CHAPTER 1: GROWING YOUR BRAIN GARDEN Our Healthy Brain Plan at a Glance * Take a Smart and Fun Trip through Your Brain * Birth of the "Fathead" * Neurotransmitters: The Neurochemical Basis of "You" * Your Brain-Garden Parts * Where in Your Body is Your "Mind"? * Six Smart Facts You Must Know About Your Brain to Keep It Healthy * The Brain Is Your Fastest Growing Organ * Eye Feel Safe * Smartness Means Having the Right Connections * The Aging Brain: Older but Wiser * Age Well: Have a Happy Hippo * A Smart Health Plan For All Organs * The Broken Brain * You Hold the Keys to Brain Health in the Palm of Your Hand
CHAPTER 2: EAT SUPERSMART FOODS: MEDICINES FOR YOUR MIND How Food Affects Your Brain: An Overview * The SAD Diet Makes You Sad * Eat a Smarter Diet * Eat the Smart Seven * A Smart Seafood Match * Dr. Bill's Heart-Smart Fishing Trip * Eating Seafood to Prevent Degenerative Diseases * Smart Fats Go to School * Seafood Is Seefood * Our Tasty Fish Tip * Measure Your Omegas * Science Says: Cholesterol Is a Smart Nutrient * Science Says: EVOO Is Smart * Eat Smart Seeds * Your Personal Farmacy * What the Happiest People on Earth Eat * More Smart Nutrients Your Brain Needs * Selecting Smart Supplements * Check with Your Doctor First * How to Eat Smart * "Instant" Isn't Smart * Science Says: Grazing Is Good for the Brain * Take Time to See and Smell the Meal * A Big Fat * Shake Mistake * The Neurotoxin Naughty List * Enjoy Home-Meal Advantage * "Comfort Foods"-Not So Comfortable!
CHAPTER 3: BE GOOD TO YOUR GUT-YOUR SECOND BRAIN Your Two Brains Are Connected * Gut Brains, Like Head Brains, Leak * Autism: Another Gut-Brain Connection? * Meet Your Microbiome * Welcome to the World of "Biotics" * Your Mind-Microbe Connection * Is Your Gut Brain Also Depressed? * The Seven Smart Gut Changes for Your Brain Health * Best Foods For a Better Bowel Brain * Blend, Don't Juice What Your Poo Tells About You
CHAPTER 4: MOVE SMART! Why Movement Is Smart Medicine * Move More, Make More Blood Vessels * Move More, Make More Brain-Garden Fertilizer * Move More, Make More Personal Brain Medicines * Opening Your Brain's Personal Pharmacy-A Visual Guide * View It, Move It! * Move More, Make More Natural Mood Mellowers * Move More, Age Less * Move More, Sleep Better, Stay Smarter * Make Beautiful Moving-Brain Music * Best Movements for Your Brain Health * Move More, Fall Less * Trees Trump Treadmills * HIIT Your Brain Health * The Smartest Exercise? * Moving in Nature: Exercise Squared * Brain-Healing Benefits of Nature Therapy * A Peek Inside Your Brain in Nature * Go Outside and Play: "Re-create" * Tired While Multitasking? * Take a Think-Walk * Motivation to Move
CHAPTER 5: THINK SMART: EIGHT STRESSBUSTERS TO THINK-CHANGE YOUR BRAIN Your Brain Needs Balance: The Neurochemistry of Calmness * Sleep Stress Away * Smart Stress, Dumb Stress * Don't Worry, Be Happy: How Stress Bothers the Brain * Martha Sears's Stressful Story * How Chronic Stress Causes Chronic Diseases * The Older You Are, the Less Stress You Can Handle * You Can Change Your Brain * Your Belief Effect * How To Think-Change Your Brain from a Negative to a Positive Person * Looking for the Positive * A Smart Trip Through the Thought-Control Centers in Your Brain * What Neuroautobiography Do You Want in Your Brain? * Enjoy Nine Stressbusters to Balance Your Brain * Pills Sometimes Help Your Skills * Dr. Bill's Happy Story * Breathe Better to Eat Better * Five Things I Like About Me * Cry Out Your Stress * "Inflamed with Anger" * Young Adults Need Meditation, Too * Meditation: Medicine for the Aging Brain * Your Brain on Music * Dr. Bill's Top Morning Stressbusters * You Can Regrow Childhood Spiritual Roots: Dr. Bill's Spiritual Journey * Dr. Vince's God-Healing Story * The Four Top Mental and Physical Effects of Growing Your God Center
CHAPTER 6: SLEEP SMART: HOW TO GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP Opening Your Sleep-Well Pharmacy * Sleep Away Depression and Anxiety * Sleep Away Toxic Thoughts * Sleep Well, Detox, and Prevent Alzheimer's * More Health Benefits of Sleep * Sleep Cancer Away * Enjoy "Beauty" Sleep * Enjoy Smart Sleep Stages * Your Sleep-Stage Pharmacy * Welcome to Sleep Symphony Hall * Sleep Disrupters * How Sleep Changes As You Age * Our Sleepy Seven Rules for Formulating Your Personal Sleep Recipe * Clearing Caffeine Confusion * Breathe Better, Sleep Better * Picture Your Happy Path to Sleep: Inside Dr. Bill's Sleep Sanctuary * Modern Sleep Aids * Mind Your Melatonin * Wake Up Refreshed * Journal Your Personal Sleep Recipe * Book It! * Ease Yourself to Sleep * Designing Your Sleep Sanctuary * Our Sleepy Seven Keys to a Nice Nap * Additional Sleep Resources * A Tale of Two Sleepers: Sleepless Sam and Sleepy Suzy
PART II: HOW TO USE THE SMART TOOLS TO HEAL
CHAPTER 7: HOW TO HEAL FROM ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION Depression, Anxiety, and Your Cerebral Symphony * "Bipolar" and the Balanced Brain * Becoming Resilient * The Anxious Body * High-Performance Anxiety * "Oh, Just Give Me a Pill!" * The Grateful Brain * Your Step-by-Step Plan to Alleviate Anxiety and Depression * An Important Note from Dr. Vince * Let the Sunshine In * The Depression-Infection Connection * Nature's Antidepressants * How to Get the Best from a Therapist * Get a Skills Coach * More Money for the Mind * The Brain and Thyroid-Partners in Health * Behavioral Risk Factors for Depression and Anxiety * Adding Pills to Skills * Skills and Pills-Sometimes Perfect Partners for Brain Health * Pill Power and Willpower * Kristen's Story of Healing from Depression and Anxiety
CHAPTER 8: PREVENTING AND REVERSING ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND OTHER NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES Clarifying AD Terms * Alzheimer's Disease: No Longer a Medical Mystery * Seeing Is Believing * The Alzheimer's Gene * The Earlier You Start Prevention, the Slower Your Progression * Are Women More Likely to Get Alzheimer's? * AD Can Be a Sneaky, Creepy Disease * Diagnosis Denial * Dr. Bill and Dr. Vince's "Selective Forgetfulness" * A Note for Caregivers * Ten Tools to Prevent and Reverse Alzheimer's * Smart Eating Advice to Keep from "Losing Your Mind" to Alzheimer's * Dr. Bill's Brain-Saving Daily Diet * Science Says These Foods Have Been Shown to Reduce AD * Say Alumin-No to AD * More Motivation, Less Procrastination * Fine Motor Movements Are Fine for Your Brain * Balance Your Blood Pressure * Toothbrush Alzheimer's Away * Proven Resources to Prevent and Reverse AD * Don't Be a Scary Statistic
CHAPTER 9: ADHD: CELEBRATING THE "DIFFERENCE," HEALING THE "DISORDER" Scary Statistics * ADD/ADHD Is a "Difference," Not a "Disorder" * Inside the "ADHD" Brain * Channeling the Ability to Hyperfocus * Why Some Teens "Grow Out" of Their ADHD * Framing Difference Positively * Tips for Teacher Talk * A Step-by-Step Plan to Alleviate ADHD-At All Ages * Other Hidden Causes of "ADHD" * More Changes Yield Faster Results * Dr. Bill's First Teacher-Therapist * Dr. Bill Prescribes a "Forest School" for Tommy * Become a "Student" in Your Child's Classroom * A Smart Visit to an ADHD Specialist * Focus Tests for Kids: Yes? No? Sometimes? * Is the Behavior Problem Trans-situational? * Smart Use of Pills and Therapy for ADHD * Is It the Pills or Your Wish That Works? * Neurofeedback in a Nutshell * Reframing Therapy for Kids * ADHD Updates
CHAPTER 10: DRINK SMART: PREVENTING ALCOHOL DISEASE How Smart Do You Drink? * Your Brain on Alcohol * Is Alcohol a "Health Drink"? * Doubly Depressing * High-Functioning Heavy Drinkers * Other Ways a Binge Bothers Your Brain * But I Don't Remember . . . * Unsound Mind, Unsound Body * Dr. Bill's Early Lesson on Dumb Drinking * Sleepless on Alcohol * The Morning After * Is Overdrinking Worth It? * Seven Rules of Smart Drinking * Different Shots for Different Folks * How Much Alcohol Is Safe to Drink? * Keep Alcohol Out of Sight * Parental Guidance Recommended * Alcohol Is Not Female-Friendly * Who Should Not Drink? * When Drinking Regresses from Smart Use to Abuse-How to Tell? * A Concluding Thought about Drinking Smart
PART III: MORE QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE ABOUT BRAIN HEALTH Pediatric Air Pollution and Inhalational Alzheimer's * Why Children Are So Vulnerable to Dirty Air * A Green Environment * Endocrine Disruptors * Heavy Metal Testing * Blood Tests for Brain Health * Ketogenic Diets * Vegan Brain * Is Dairy Smart? * Grow Your Garden, Grow Your Brain * Designing A Greener Office * Dr. Bill's Office Design Story * iBrain * Cellphone Use Safety Tips * The Healing Power of Touch and Hugs * Coach Hayden Talks About Hugs * Traumatic Brain Injuries
APPENDIX: YOUR DAILY-DO LIST TO ENJOY A CALMER, HAPPIER, SMARTER YOU GRATITUDES
REFRENCES AND ENDNOTES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR