Speaker 1: What a pretty view outside. To be healthy, we need to exercise our body and mind. But how exactly do you improve brain health? Dr. Erica Steele from Holistic Family Practice in Virginia Beach is here to explain. Hey, Dr. Steele, good to see you again. Likewise. Definitely. All right, so brain health, we don’t focus on that a lot.
Speaker 2: No, we don’t. Fascinating because our brain controls everything. It really does.
Speaker 1: The brain-gut connection. Exactly. And the rest of the body. Exactly.
Speaker 2: Our emotions, our reactivity, everything. We overlook it, and it’s one of the most essential things to utilize. Interestingly, we often operate out of this reactive, primitive mind. Oh yeah. And a lot of times, people need to realize as a naturopath, we work a lot with anthropology and how the body and the. Human beings have developed, et cetera. So we have this primitive mind. We wake up in the morning. Am I gonna be eaten, or am I going to eat? Kind of thing. And then we react based off of that. Our brains grew. Now we have our subconscious mind. We have experiences, perceptions of those experiences, and core beliefs. And now the trick is really getting that prefrontal cortex working. So we have logic, voice, reason, decision-making, and executive function.
Speaker 1: So how do you know if your brain is quote unquote.
Speaker 2: How your emotions are, and how do you deal with difficult situations.
Speaker 1: Okay. Obviously, right now, it’s timely with the coronavirus. Exactly. There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of panic going on, of course. And not just about getting sick but also people are worried about their finances.
Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. Because we can’t control it, right? So there’s something outside of ourselves that we can’t control, and then it triggers that primitive mind. So we go into fight or flight. So we totally miss that prefrontal cortex; many times, people’s prefrontal cortex needs to be fixed.
Speaker 1: Okay. So explain that a little more, in layman’s terms. So what does that mean to the,
Speaker 2: so our logic, our voice, our decision-making? So something happens outside of my control. What’s the first thing I do? Do I react? Do I go? Oh my gosh, I gotta go? And usually, it’s the people who do. Yeah. I gotta go stuck up on my hands. Oh my. I get hoarded products. Yeah, exactly. And everybody’s gonna die, and I will lose all my money. And it’s, gosh. Then we send ourselves into the spiral. So then you have your adrenal glands pumping cortisol. You have epinephrine. No epinephrine. It’s tough on the body. Not to mention it inhibits the immune system. Oh my gosh. So it’s like you’re spinning in circles and
Speaker 1: neurotransmitters. Your brain is going crazy and
Speaker 2: you can’t do anything. You can’t function. You fight with your significant other, right? And it’s, oh my gosh, now I’m gonna obsess over, and I’m gonna ruminate over, and I’m gonna get upset about it. I’m gonna think about it. I can’t let it go. And then, your work suffers. You know your kids, they’re on their own.
Speaker 1: So that’s affecting your health ultimately. Exactly. And what can you do to combat that? Exactly. Are there specific supplements we should be taking or other types of exercises?
Speaker 2: Yeah, the first thing, the most effective. Pub-reviewed research is mindfulness and meditation. The prefrontal cortex, when you can get into meditation every single day for at least 15 minutes, that’s really important. Then, there’s meditation, right? But then there are also other things. There’s yoga, and there are various things you can do to help you stay well and get both on a cognitive level as well as an emotional level.
Speaker 1: That’s so true because yoga puts everything at ease. Yeah. And when you meditate, you’re supposed to tune everything else out, which would likely relax your body and help your adrenals.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Those alpha ways raise, but also to your presence in the moment, right? It’s true what they say. If you’re living or depressed, you’re living in the past. If you’re anxious, you’re living in the future. But all we really can do is work on it. And so that’s what we wanna stay in. So yoga, meditation, and then also getting your body back into balance. So essential fatty acids are really good with that. A nice balance of EPA, D H E A, those sorts of things. Dha, excuse me, a cry oil. Those things are delicious; healthy fats in your diet are really beneficial. And, of course, avoiding sugar. Reducing your bread, your pasta, your rice, your dairy, all, all the things that are yummy that everybody eats.
Speaker 1: But when you say healthy fats, I think avocado. Love avocado. So it’s, it eats,
Speaker 2: yes, exactly. But then not too much. Cuz it’s all about balance. Moderations. Yeah. So you’ll gain weight if you are more than 20% fat. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Know, there are all these little things. It’s so much good information. Do you have classes? We do. So let’s talk about that. And we’re trying to learn more.
Speaker 2: So we have, I have two sets of classes. So my first set is in our practice; those are more educational classes. We talk about brain health. I go into neurotransmitter testing. Yay. And what we do with that organic acid testing, what we do with that. And then more practical things for people. To do, right? Because that’s like really important for people to get education information. We also have meditation classes. I teach yoga as well to really help people work that prefrontal cortex.
Speaker 1: All right, and there’s your website and all your information at the bottom of the screen. Dr. Steele, thank you so much. Here’s all about just.
Speaker 2: Taking deep breaths, relaxing, and staying in the moment. Yes, and using hand sanitizer.
Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. Really appreciate it.
What do you think?