Q: How does exercise “build a bigger brain”?

A: Well, it doesn’t necessarily build a “bigger” brain, although some structures like the hippocampus which play a major role in learning and memory have shown to grow in volume, it does increase brain growth elements like Brain-Derived-Neurotropic Factor (BDNF), growth of brain cells (neurons – neurogenesis), increase blood flow and vessels in the brain, and promote detoxification and cleansing of the brain. 

Q: How important is BDNF?

A: Extremely, BDNF is essential for healthy cognition because it’s directly involved in how long cells survive, plasticity (how the brain adapts, grows, and learns new functions), and the growth and development of neurons (a process called neurogenesis). BDNF is the fountain of youth of the brain, the more you can produce and preserve the better for you. 

Q: What are the best ways to increase BDNF?

A: Exercise is the fastest and most effective way to boost BDNF. In just 5 weeks, mild-intensity exercise significantly increase BDNF levels and reversed cognitive decline. Another study found that it significantly improved memory and learning in young sedentary men. Other proven ways are Intermittent Fasting (between 12-16hrs), 30min of sunshine per day, and deep sleep (at least 7hrs per night)

Q: Any foods or nutrients increase BDNF?

A: Whole coffee fruit extract, which is the fruit of the coffee bean, Turmeric (specifically the curcumin, so look for the highest concentration), Green Tea, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Resveratrol, Bacopa, and L-Theanine.

Q: What exercises are the best for brain health? 

A: Research has shown those that are complex, involving multiple muscle groups and involve certain coordination. Running, swimming, dancing, walking, research has shown longer period, sustain movements that involve multiple muscle groups at the same time. What’s important to note is that “sustained” meant only 30-40minutes, so not a long time, however it was consistent, 3-4x per week. 

Q: What about high-intensity interval training or weightlifting?

A: Not so much in HIIT, the levels of BDNF stayed the same regardless of volume or intensity. But a study was done using weightlifting exercises that were complex; squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc.. and found BDNF was 3x more than at rest. This patterned continued after 8 weeks of training. 

Q: So in summary…? 

A: Exercise, specifically those ones that involve the whole body, moving as much of it at one time as possible, and that involves some level of coordination/rhythm/pattern, is going to increase hormones that build, repair, and recovery the brain and allow it to function at a high capacity. The key is consistency (e.g. walking for 30min every day) is more important than intensity (e.g. sprinting).  EVERYONE can build a stronger, bigger, better functioning brain. 

You’re late, the kids are late, you forgot about the deadline, your bestie is having a meltdown, whatever it is, the body sees it all as one thing…STRESS.  And as all these stressors start piling up, the body sends out an ALERT to gather the immunity troops, the troops start their RESISTANCE, and if they get overwhelmed you fall into EXHAUSTION.  Stress compromises your immune system, creates excess inflammation, reduces brain function, and does not allow you to manage your emotions…hence the anxiety, nervousness, depression, EXHAUSTION! 

Rather than slugging down some more coffee, pounding down some comfort food, or swallowing some pills…let’s see if Adaptogens can be the answer. 

Q: What is an adaptogen?

A: They’re a class of non-toxic plants, mostly herbs, that help the body resist various types of stressors. Basically, when they’ve been taken, the body creates less of an inflammatory response, immune factors are not as compromised, and the ability to recover from the stress is quicker.  For centuries they’ve been used in Chinese and Ayurvedic healing as a way to manage stress and preserve immune health. 

Q: What are some examples?

A: Turmeric, Ashwagandha, several Ginsengs, Goji Berry, Licorice Root, are some of the popular ones. But others such as Cordyceps, Astralagus, Tulsi/Holy Basil are gaining some attention because they deal with mental/cognitive performance.  Some say the most powerful adaptogen is Hemp, due to it’s direct work on the Endocannabinoid System. 

Q: What is it actually doing?

A: Adaptogens do for your adrenal glands, as exercise does for your muscles.  When you exercise, it’s stress on the body. But as you continue to exercise, your body gets better at dealing with all the stress.  Not only does the exercise get easier, but you’re able to handle more stress/exercise and deal with that even better.  Same thing here, when you take adaptogens, it allows your entire system to handle stress better and become stronger after. 

Q: How does it do it?

A: Mostly by interacting with the hormones released by the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis and sympathoadrenal system.  Basically, the body’s innate system to that handles stress. Adaptogens manage hormonal responses, like Cortisol – stress hormone, and physiological responses, like your nervous system, so everything is functioning properly and in harmony.  Bringing the body back into balance after a stressor.   

Q: Who is it good for?

A: Everyone.  Adaptogens help us react and recover from short-long term physical or mental stress. Whether you’re an elite athlete, weekend warrior, board room chief, or household CEO, if you’ve got stress of any sort, Adaptogens can be key to enhancing and maintaining your health. 

Q: Why do you call them a “Mini Stress Vaccine”?

A: Having a bit of fun (but still serious) with the word vaccine.  Vaccines do the same thing, they help protect us from stressors by managing them (not neutralizing/breaking down). They allow our body’s to adapt to the pathogen, bacteria, virus, and deal with it according.  Same with adaptogens.  But one difference is, adaptogens are working to create greater strength and resiliency IN the immune system, so you’re not just protected from today’s issues, but potentially tomorrows problems as well! 

Q: Why did you formulate SHIELD as an Apoptogenic Blend?

A: I look at the Immune System as a muscle.  If you want a muscle to get stronger, you don’t take away stress – which is what antioxidants do, you allow the muscle to experience just enough stress so it can recover.  When it recovers, it’s not only healed, but most importantly, it’s stronger.  Ready to take on more force.  When you take SHIELD you take the most powerful adaptogens in clinical quantities – Ashwagandha, Reishe Mushroom, Turmeric, and Rich CBD Hemp Oil to provide true strength to the Immune System by allowing it keep building higher and higher levels of RESILENCY. 

Q: SHIELD also helps with Anxiety/Nervousness?

A: Yes, it’s because the strength and resiliency of your immune system is directly related to your emotions.  80% of your immune system is in your gut, there is a direct link (vagus nerve) from your gut to your brain, and what/how you feel, is based on what signals get to the brain. Handling stress, calming your nerves, and having proper hormone function allows you to manage your emotions. 

If you haven’t heard of Ashwagandha, read on, no longer will you be the last one to know  

Q: What exactly is Ashwagandha?

A: It’s a plant that is native to Indian subcontinent, that’s why you haven’t heard of it in the U.S. It looks like an small evergreen shrub and you take the leaves and flowers and grind them up.  You can also extract out the oil within the plant, which is how you get the most potent, concentrated phytochemicals in the plant. 

Q: Why has it become so popular?

A: All herbs are beginning to get their well-deserved fame.  People are beginning to understand that natural nutrients can be powerful therapeutics. Ashwagandha is one of the oldest, most used, and centers on a fundamental concept – allowing the body to ADAPT to stresses you create or the environment.  If you can manage stress properly, that’s the key to overall health and wellness.  

Q: How does Ashwagandha help your body manage stress?

A: Ashwagandha (along with Hemp) is considered one of the most powerful “adaptogens”. Herbs have to meet (3) specific criteria developed by Russian scientist N.V. Lazarez – 1) be non-toxic 2) reduce and regulate stress by helping the body adapt 3) benefit overall-well being.  It seems to modulate and balance multiple different systems of the body, it’s like a manager, making sure there is not little or too much of a particular response. 

Q: What’s the research?

A: 2000 study suggested that Ashwagandha had a comparable anxiety-reducing effect with Lorazepan, suggesting it might be effective for reducing anxiety. 2019 study found taking Ashwagandha significantly reduced peoples stress levels compared with placebo. It also reduced levels of cortisol. Another 2019 study showed subjects reported lower self-reported stress levels and lower cortisol. All of this directly links to a stronger, better, more effective Immune response. 

Q: How much should I consume?

A: In the dry form, dosages between 250-600mg can reduce stress. It’s key to be consistent, giving it 30-60 days, because you may not feel immediate benefits. With oils, such as SHIELD, you may, because the oil extract is much more potent and goes directly into the blood stream. 

Q. Why did you choose Ashwagandha for SHIELD?

A: SHIELD primary benefit is to support the Immune System.  I look at the Immune System as a muscle, if you don’t stress it.  Most immune products are just neutralizers, they “antioxidant” out the stress, that’s not good. You need your body/immune system to face stress head on, adapt to it, figure out how to manage it, and then mount a full response.  This is what SHIELD does and Ashwagandha is a major part of that! 

Millions of adults throughout the United States suffer from some form of stress. Afflicting 18% of the population, these disorders are treatable yet only a little over a third of people receive any treatment. Here’s the thing, if you are having any sort of anxiety and not working to treat it, you are not going to be able to perform at your best! You know here at PRōZE we simply can’t abide that! 

Students and Stress

Students, in particular, are under all sorts of pressures that generate stress. For many college students their lives revolve around two things: their grades, and their peer groups. It’s their first time living away from home, in an unfamiliar place and having to navigate all of the new challenges that come with it socially. All the while trying to ensure that their time in school is well spent, that they are learning the material and can prove it on tests.  Social and test stress may not be quite the full-blown anxiety disorders but they are stresses nonetheless!

Using CBD for Stress

Several studies have been done that link CBD as being a useful measure in treating various forms of stress. Stress and it’s symptoms have been measured after administering CBD and while the signs of stress were decreased, the traditional behavioral signs of stress (such as an increased heart rate) also improved! 

A 2011 study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that patients with SAD who were given a 400mg oral dose of CBD experienced a significant decrease in their anxiety. The researchers suggest that the CBD’s effect on activity in the limbic and paralimbic brain areas (these are the areas responsible for controlling emotions, memories, arousal, and fear detection as well). 

CBD’s properties can help students reduce their general stress, providing a calm, peaceful state of mind so that they can be active in-class discussion, prep for the exam without their nerves getting in the way, and generally perform at a higher level.

If you’re a student and looking to tackle your stress woes, see if CBD is right for you! GUMEEZ is packed with 25mg of pure CBD isolate which may be just the thing you need to crush the test, deliver a great presentation, or any over the other thousands of things asked of you in university!

What is Emotional Balance?

Emotional balance is your mind and body’s ability to maintain equilibrium in the face of change, adversity, and challenges. It is about keeping yourself centered when life tries to knock you off your path. It is keeping an even head, even if you want to blow up. It is a cornerstone of growth, wellbeing. Emotional balance is the ability to deal with pain – not avoid it, and not dwell on it.

How to Find Yours?

Awareness

First, you need to practice awareness. Be aware that you are feeling something. You might not know exactly what you are feeling, that’s okay – you first just need to acknowledge that you are feeling.

Then take a moment to identify the specific emotion. Are you nervous or worried? Are you hurt? Sad? Close your eyes and focus inside yourself and seek out where you’re feeling it. Believe it or not emotions can manifest as different sensations in different parts of your body! Follow your feelings and identify what you are feeling.

Now, speak it into being! ‘I am feeling worried.’ You have felt it, you have identified it, now you can address it intentionally, not subconsciously where the feeling might not be properly handled. 

You are now on your way to finding your emotional balance! Here are a few tips that you can put into your every day routine to help you find and maintain that balance.

Balancing Acts

Reflect and Appreciate

Take some time in your day to reflect on the good things. Whether it’s an ongoing thing, a one off, or a state of being – pay attention to the things you have going for you and take a moment to appreciate those. Having appreciation for all the good things not far from your mind will help keep you from spiralling when something negative happens.

Create the Energy You Need

Feeling sluggish? Held back? Stagnant? Put a burst of movement into your day to get your body pumping, your blood flowing and your mind energized. Take a quick trip up and down a flight of stairs, stretch at your desk, — even standing at your desk for a few minutes adds an extra effort that your body will need to energize to meet. All of this is important because emotional balance needs energy to maintain! If you are too tired, you will have a harder time adapting to the challenges in your way – physically and emotionally.

How Can CBD Help

CBD has a ton of beneficial effects for the body, including for emotional balance, here’s how. CBD works with the ECS fueling and firing signals across the body in a way that helps regulate many of our bodies’ natural systems. Part of that involves the hippocampus, one of the most important parts of the brain for memory and emotion. When someone’s hippocampus isn’t working like it should, they may suffer from memory troubles or emotional imbalances. With a properly supported one – like through using CBD, the hippocampus generates memories properly and healthy emotions.

Life can be hard but we have to endure it. Finding your emotional balance will help you take the lumps that life deals you and power through! Use these tips, find your balance, support yourself and perform your best. After all, you are a PRō!

Feeling stress IS natural. Yoga, breathing exercises, consistent exercise, meditation and optimized sleep can help combat these feelings of anxiety. However, when anxiety becomes a problem that is affecting your life in multiple ways, it can become a disorder that may require treatment. The NIH and CDC report that over one third of people in the U.S. deal with anxiety disorders in their lifetime. The numbers are even higher among adolescents and young adults.

Traditional pharmaceuticals treatments include anxiolytics and antidepressants like Lexapro. Many of these medications have unpleasant side effects and patients become dependent or addicted to them. This has led to one of the gravest issues in America today- the opioid crisis.

The opioid crisis has become an epidemic in America resulting in over 130 deaths every day. Mixing opioids and alcohol has become a dangerous mixture that has resulted in many deaths- including 4 that I have personally known. Many times, the result of an addiction has come not from individuals seeking drugs, but instead being prescribed pain medications for a procedure they have undergone.

Qualified therapists do the difficult job of managing depression and anxiety as best they can. Talk therapy and monitored use of these medications are the standard, however, both have mixed results when patients are already addicted to these medications.

So can another substance, a natural substance, actually be used to help improve the symptoms of stress and anxiety? CBD. CBD has been used around the world since the 1500s helping support the Endocannabinoid system to treat anxiety and depression. However, little CBD research has been done in the US because of its association to marijuana. Hemp-plant derived CBD has been  “lumped in” with THC (the psychoactive compound in the marijuana plant). Hemp based CBD can have trace amounts of THC, but can also be isolated to where it has no THC. Nonetheless, because of its overall association to marijuana, clinical research is just starting. There are several studies of note that would be relevant to our discussion of CBD as an asset that supports the Endocannabinoid System in the battle against anxiety and stress.

An activity that is known to cause anxiety and stress is public speaking. Measuring the amount of anxiety that is produced in an individual is relatively straightforward. Studies have shown that CBD, given prior to the public speaking event, reduces the subjective feeling of anxiety and increases speech performance. The Journal of Neurophyschopharmacology in 2011 published a study showing how anxiety was affected when taking CBD and a placebo.Those who took CBD showed a significant reduction in anxiety and a significant improvement in performance over those who took a placebo. This finding was validated by another study which looked at brain imaging along with objective measurements. The same conclusions were published: pretreatment with CBD, increased performance, decreased anxiety and decreased discomfort and was as effective as pharmaceuticals commonly used to treat this issue like Diazepam.

Animal studies have also shown that CBD can actually improve the brain anatomy in stressed mice. The reduction in anxiety in the animal model is consistent among multiple animal studies. The fear response is a very important survival adaptation. When this response becomes exaggerated or as an inappropriate response to normal activities, anxiety ensues. Animal studies, preclinical evidence, supports the use of CBD as an acute treatment of General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), OCD, and PTSD.

While more research is being done on how the Endocannabinoid System plays a role as the body’s homeostatic regulator. What we do know is that it functions to keep us “smooth”. The system is the natural regulator of many of the most important functions in our bodies ( sleep, appetite, pain, attention and focus, inflammation, etc.) and has receptors for its unique neurotransmitters, anandamide being the most important. Our body produces anandamide, a cannabinoid. CBD is called a phytocannabinoid because it is produced in plants. There are over 100 different phytocannabinoids with different properties.CBD does not actually bind to the CB1 or CB2 receptors but actually functions to modulate anandamide. These receptors are located throughout our nervous system and brain.

All in all, what an amazing opportunity. A natural, plant based compound that has a excellent safety profile and is not addictive. This compound has the potential to benefit people dealing with stress and anxiety, the most common psychiatric issue we face today. 

Sources:

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml
            2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5938896/
            3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21307846
            4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/

That is what your mom tells you when you tell her you might have anxiety. Anxiety that makes your stomach hurt when you travel. That makes you twist your hair frantically whenever a big event comes up. That makes you cry when you  get too overwhelmed because the feeling of being suffocated in your own body arises. Apparently, anxiety is so common now that having it just makes you like everyone else, and since others have found ways to get over it, you should, too. However, this is not an attainable solution for many American people who suffer with debilitating anxiety without a little help from western medicine or mother nature.

anxiety

According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 18.1% of Americans suffer with Anxiety. And although it is treatable, only 36.9% get treated. [1] Various treatments exist, yet the self-perceived severity of one’s anxiety is often what determines whether or not treatment is sought. For those who believe their anxiety is not worth the medication or those that flat out don’t know where to begin, CBD may be the answer.

but how can it help me?

CBD [1] or cannabidiol, is derived from the cannabis plant and is a non-psychoactive molecule that indirectly reacts with signaling pathways inside the body. Amongst the various things CBD can do to help the body and mind, one possible benefit is its ability to lower or relieve anxiety. This property is largely postulated and still needs some testing to prove for certain its ability to treat anxiety, yet many past studies on mice models have provided positive affirmations.

to understand how cbd could treat anxiety, one must understand how cbd affects the brain. 

CBD is thought to work directly in the brain. One of its possible roles is to promote neurogenesis, meaning regrowth of neurons in the brain. [2] This is specifically important in the hippocampus, which is revealed to be smaller in patients suffering with anxiety. Regrowth of the hippocampus is important in encouraging memory formation and cognition.

Another possible role of CBD in the brain is related to a specific receptor in the brain. 5-HT1A is a receptor for serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is the molecule that acts as an inhibitory molecule in the neurons. This means that it inhibits excitatory synapses that may trigger anxiety or other feelings of alertness. A study on mice found that CBD may encourage more serotonin signaling between receptors within the brain. [3] This allows the body to more efficiently utilize serotonin when it needs it and when it doesn’t. This discovery is important in that CBD can allow serotonin to regulate anxious feelings so that the body can more often relax. Serotonin is also related to melatonin, which allows for more sleep. Thusly, efficient use of serotonin could result in better sleep, something that those with anxiety might not get much of.

In understanding how CBD can interact with your brain, human studies are necessary to see if CBD could work for you. A study done by Scott Shannon and colleagues in 2019 found that, after taking CBD, 79.2% of participants reported a decrease in anxiety. [4] Another study, performed in 2010, [5] found that CBD, when administered to people with social anxiety disorder, reduced associated symptoms. [6] Granted, these studies and many others have yet to ascertain for certain that CBD can relieve anxiety in everyone. Nevertheless, the positive results that have come from these studies could suggest a usefulness for CBD on anxiety-ridden patients.

let’s recap