Every year in the U.S., there are as many as 3.8 million concussions in sports, so it’s no wonder that 89 percent of American parents worry about their children getting hit in the head. Baltimore’s Sports Medicine Research Center reports that sports-related concussions climbed by nearly 16 percent in the ten years from 1998 to 2008. Emergency rooms saw a 60 percent rise in traumatic brain injury visits for kids and teens from 2001 to 2009, even as youth sports participation dropped overall.
A pair of MIT researchers carried out a study to look at how modern brains are healing after such injuries. Senior Research Scientist Dr. Stephanie Seneff and Nutrition Specialist Wendy Morey determined that our modern diets are to blame, with environmental toxins and a serious lack of nutrition reducing our brains’ resiliency.
How does Roundup affect the brain?
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, can affect the brain in many ways. It depletes the stores of sulfates in neural tissues, leaving them particularly vulnerable to being jostled in a sudden impact. It also disrupts your body’s absorption of nutrients. For example, it interrupts the synthesis of B vitamins and glutathione, a major brain antioxidant.
In addition, it destroys the balance of good and bad gut flora in the digestive system, spurring the formation of formaldehyde that can breach your blood-brain barrier. It is also believed to help aluminum cross this essential barrier, allowing it to enter the brain, where it makes it harder for concussions to heal and causes neurological damage. It also prevents the liver from detoxifying properly, weakening the vital organ.
This inability to recover from traumatic brain injury in a rapid manner is leading to what the researchers termed a “downward spiral of neurological demise” that is putting us on the path to dementia, cognitive decline, depression, and a higher risk of cancer. A study published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, for example, noted a positive correlation between traumatic brain injuries and the development of malignant neoplasms in the brain.
Keeping your brain in top shape is easy
The good news is that the brain is able to repair itself to some degree. You can take advantage of this neuroplasticity by giving your brain the nutrients it needs for optimum health. Switching to all-organic may be the single most important step because it will take your exposure to glyphosate out of the equation, but you still need to focus on a few important nutrients.
Omega 3 fatty acids, particularly DHA, are neuroprotective, whether you have a brain injury or not. Omega 3s can prevent additional tissue damage if you do incur brain tissue damage by decreasing glutamate toxicity. Make sure you get enough by consuming foods like grass-fed meat, wild fish, seeds, nuts, avocados, healthy oils, and spirulina.
You should also ensure you’re getting the right amounts of magnesium as low levels of this mineral can increase your risk of suffering a seizure after traumatic brain injury. Vitamin D is another vitamin you should be focusing on, not only on account of the higher risk of brain infection seen among those who are deficient but also because it enhances your overall health and reduces your risk of a wide range of diseases.
Even if you don’t play sports, you’re not immune to head injuries. Diminished Brain Resilience Syndrome is a serious problem, so make sure you’re avoiding pesticides and herbicides and focus on a brain-healthy diet. With nearly everything on grocery store shelves these days containing the toxic ingredient, it’s never been a better time to start growing your own organic produce.
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