Dr. Vonda Wright

So there are studies out of the University of Pittsburgh that showed a six-week walking program will grow the hippocampus, which is the memory part of the brain, in double digits. Wow. You know, I don't know the mechanism that's worked out, but I think at a very basic level, I mean, we'll go back to the hunting analogy, that kind of strategic stress on the body tells our body

That we're still living. We're not curled up in a ball in some cave waiting on winter to die. We are active. We have enough strategic stress that we have to maintain. Because our body is so highly conserved that if our body doesn't think we're using something, we'll lose it. It will start resorbing like bone. If I put a cast on your leg, you will resorb the bone in your leg.

That we're still living. We're not curled up in a ball in some cave waiting on winter to die. We are active. We have enough strategic stress that we have to maintain. Because our body is so highly conserved that if our body doesn't think we're using something, we'll lose it. It will start resorbing like bone. If I put a cast on your leg, you will resorb the bone in your leg.

Yeah. So I think the brain is the same way. back to what maintains a brain. Well, muscle releases a protein that maintains the brain. Bone releases a protein that maintains the brain, right? fascinating. Isn't that fascinating?

Yeah. So I think the brain is the same way. back to what maintains a brain. Well, muscle releases a protein that maintains the brain. Bone releases a protein that maintains the brain, right? fascinating. Isn't that fascinating?

Food has a role. But when we think of midlife, we have to start talking about hormones. And the work of Lisa Moscone, who is at Cornell in New York, has shown that in women, and probably in men, but her work is in women, the brain is covered in estrogen receptors. So... As we lose our estrogen, it affects the brain.

Food has a role. But when we think of midlife, we have to start talking about hormones. And the work of Lisa Moscone, who is at Cornell in New York, has shown that in women, and probably in men, but her work is in women, the brain is covered in estrogen receptors. So... As we lose our estrogen, it affects the brain.

That's why when I was going through perimenopause, there was a short period of time when I wasn't on hormones yet. I'm in surgery, and I know that I want the thing that does this, but I could not remember that it was called an Atzen. Think how frightening that is for a brain person like me. I use my brain to help people make a living. That was my estrogen receptors being totally empty.

That's why when I was going through perimenopause, there was a short period of time when I wasn't on hormones yet. I'm in surgery, and I know that I want the thing that does this, but I could not remember that it was called an Atzen. Think how frightening that is for a brain person like me. I use my brain to help people make a living. That was my estrogen receptors being totally empty.

But once I replaced my estrogen, my brain is a black box again. Isn't that frightening? So I think it's multifactorial when we lose it. But I also think that all the lifestyle things we've talked about have proven out in studies to be able to make a real impact on our cognitive function.

But once I replaced my estrogen, my brain is a black box again. Isn't that frightening? So I think it's multifactorial when we lose it. But I also think that all the lifestyle things we've talked about have proven out in studies to be able to make a real impact on our cognitive function.

Too late or harder to reverse. I also find in myself and the people I care for, That we become a little addicted to our data, which is a good thing, right? I become a little competitive with myself when I'm wearing my glucose monitor. Can I keep my glucose at 80 or below versus, oh, it shoots up to 100 and something because I've eaten something disastrous. And I don't want that, right?

Too late or harder to reverse. I also find in myself and the people I care for, That we become a little addicted to our data, which is a good thing, right? I become a little competitive with myself when I'm wearing my glucose monitor. Can I keep my glucose at 80 or below versus, oh, it shoots up to 100 and something because I've eaten something disastrous. And I don't want that, right?

So you can't change what you don't know. So I think data is amazing for that.

So you can't change what you don't know. So I think data is amazing for that.

It was a lie.

It was a lie.

And I wore it for a year because I was just so fascinated. I know exactly when my blood sugar is going to rise by what I do. My blood sugar rises in surgery because it's stressful. Of course. I am so sensitive to carbs. I try to eat only fibrous carbs, complex carbs, but even that I'm very sensitive to. And I literally am a little crazed about it. I never want to spike.

And I wore it for a year because I was just so fascinated. I know exactly when my blood sugar is going to rise by what I do. My blood sugar rises in surgery because it's stressful. Of course. I am so sensitive to carbs. I try to eat only fibrous carbs, complex carbs, but even that I'm very sensitive to. And I literally am a little crazed about it. I never want to spike.

Although spiking and recovering is normal. I just don't like how I feel when I'm like this. So I like to be like this, but I'm very sensitive to carbs. So I eat mostly protein, green leafy vegetables. I personally, because of my sensitivity, don't eat a lot of fruit because it's nature's sugar. For some people, it wouldn't matter for them.