MD|Vincent M Fortanasce MD William Sears - Healthy Brain Book An All-Ages Guide to a Calmer, Happier, Sharper You: A proven plan for managing anxiety, depression, and ADHD, and preventing and reversing dementia and Alzheimers.

PRAISE FOR THE HEALTHY BRAIN BOOK

An empowering guide for the care and feeding of your bodys most precious organ.

David Perlmutter, MD, author of the New York Times bestsellers Grain Brain and Brain Wash

The Healthy Brain Book will be the gold standard for holistic doctors and the public for preventing and treating common brain ailments. I give it a 5-star rating for its cutting-edge content and easy-to-understand format.

Mark Stengler, NMD, coauthor of Prescription for Natural Cures

An engaging, encouraging, and empowering book with a focus on brain healthrunning the gamut from pediatrics to geriatricsthat makes it unique.

David L. Katz, MD, MPH, past president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine

The Healthy Brain Book is a gem, offering science, wisdom, and practical strategies that are essential to preserve and improve our brain power. Highly recommended!

Eva Selhub, MD, author of Your Brain On Nature

The Healthy Brain Book is an outstanding addition to any library on human health. No one makes science more interesting, understandable, and relevant than Dr. William Sears. Packed with usable, easy-to-implement tips, it will answer every question youve ever had about how the brain works and why it matters for your overall health.

Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS, author of The Great Cholesterol Myth

The Healthy Brain book is a complete and cutting-edge guide on how to take optimal care of whats between your ears. You can build your best brain at any age. In the most fun and interesting way possible, Americas favourite pediatrician, Dr. Bill Sears, and world-renowned Alzheimers expert, Dr Vincent Fortanasce, have teamed up to share their most recent, effective, and easy-to-understand tips on how to sleep, think, and remember better than you ever have before. Its time to go from neurotoxic to neuroplastic! If you want to have a smarter, sharper, happier, omega-3 rich, gluten-free noodle, just turn the page!

Bryce Wylde, DHMHS, guest expert and medical advisor for The Dr. Oz Show

ALSO BY WILLIAM SEARS, MD

The Dr. Sears T5 Wellness Plan

The Omega-3 Effect

Prime-Time Health

The ADD Book

The Inflammation Solution

Sears Parenting Library titles

ALSO BY VINCENT M. FORTANASCE, MD

The Anti-Alzheimers Prescription

End Back & Neck Pain

Life Lessons from Little League

Life Lessons from Soccer

ALSO BY HAYDEN SEARS, MA

The Healthy Pregnancy Journal

This book is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to serve as a substitute for professional medical advice. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any and all liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of any information contained in this book. A health care professional should be consulted regarding your specific medical situation. Any product mentioned in this book does not imply endorsement of that product by the author or publisher.

The Healthy Brain Book copyright 2020 by William Sears, MD, and Vincent M. Fortanasce, MD

Illustrations by Deborah Maze

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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First E-Book Edition: April 2020

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019048628

ISBN 9781948836517 (print)

ISBN 9781948836760 (ebook)

Editing by Leah Wilson

Copyediting by James Fraleigh

Proofreading by Greg Teague and Dylan Julian

Indexing by WordCo Indexing Services, Inc.

Text design and composition by Aaron Edmiston

Cover design by Ty Nowicki

Printed by Lake Book Manufacturing

Distributed to the trade by Two Rivers Distribution, an Ingram brand www.tworiversdistribution.com

Special discounts for bulk sales are available.

Please contact .

To my wife, Martha, for helping to keep my

brain healthy for our fifty-three years of

marriage, and hopefully for many more.

To our eight children and fifteen grandchildrenmay

you all enjoy a long and happy life with a healthy brain!

William Sears

To my mother, Rose; my father, Michael;

and my wife, Gayl, who is my inspirationalways

positive, always giving, always present.

Vince Fortanasce

CONTENTS

P erhaps you are reading this book because you are already experiencing depression or anxiety, struggling with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or feeling the early effects of Alzheimers disease. This book will help you heal. Perhaps you are worried about developing one of these, and want to know the best way to prevent that from happening. We can help with that, too.

In our decades of running medical and health-coaching practices, and in our family lives, we have made brain health our research and our hobby. Not only that, all three of us have spent much of our professional and parenting lives managing the Ds: depression, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder (BPD), and AD (Alzheimers disease). All of these Ds we simply call stuff. Throughout this book you will read our personal journeys from debilitating stuff to vibrant brain healththrough the use of our healthy brain plan.

In choosing what brainy health tips to give you, we first selected those brain-health tools from our decades of medical experience that worked for most people. Next, we chose those supported by solid science. Finally, we put all these tips and tools together into a healthy brain plan that will give you the fastest feel-good effects.

In , well answer many of the common brain-health questions you may still have.

If youre worried about your brain health, you arent alone. Consider these scary statistics:

Neuroscientists predict that 40 to 50 percent of people will lose their mind by age eighty-five.

Similarly, the American Academy of Neurology estimates that 40 percent of baby boomers will develop dementia at some point in their lives. When Dr. Vince started his neurology/psychiatry practice, he saw one patient a month with dementia. Now he sees three to four a week!

For the first time in history, cerebrovascular disease is now more common than cardiovascular disease. The brain is now sicker than the heart.

The American Academy of Neurology noted that 18 percent of the worlds populationnamely America and Europeis responsible for nearly 50 percent of people with Alzheimers.

Insulin resistance and type II diabetes presently affect 60 percent of people nationally. In Dr. Vinces practice, 75 percent of the people he sees, especially those with dementia or early Alzheimers, have insulin resistance, which is why Alzheimers is sometimes called type III diabetes.