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Grateful for the 2 years of learning and two questions

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:51 pm
by BMP
I have been a user of this incredibly valuable information forum for over 2 years now and am so grateful for the information that is shared and aggregated here. I have used so much of the information shared by others to help get me on a better path towards brain health and Alzheimer’s prevention. Thank you to all who participate and keep this resource going!

A little bit about me—56 y/o female, post menopausal, 3/4, mostly plant-based diet, very low carb 30-40 grams per day, high fiber (over 40g daily), little to no sugar (except when I cheat 1 day/week!), salmon and anchovies, 3 times/week, very low sat fat (see reason below), intermittent fasting 18h/6h eating window daily, exercise every day 2-3 days per week of cardio and 3 days/week weights, on estrogen and progesterone hormone replacement, DHA supplementation, taking most recommended Bredesen supplements (too many to list!).

Tried keto 2 years ago and my cholesterol went off the charts. Have been going through all the testing with a cardiologist and turns out I am an over absorber of cholesterol genetically which makes keto a very bad choice for me. Have worked over the past year to get my cholesterol/lipid values improved. Have seen the following changes in my values—
TG 76 to 51
HDL 104 to 98
LDL 153 to 108
LDL Particle 1200 to 796
ApoB 104 to 85
Ap (a) 110 to 36

In addition to the plant based diet and eliminating sugar and carbs in my diet, my cardiologist recommended I try berberine (1 500mg capsule twice/day) and I believe this has been a significant contributor to the improvement in my lipid values. I am very happy to have been able to resolve this.

I take a supplement of nearly 2 grams of DHA in the triglyceride form daily. I have heard mixed evidence/reports on whether this helps with a 3/4. It seems like is may help with inflammation and possibly my lipids in addition to Alz prevention. Question #1–Are there any potential negative outcomes of taking this fish oil supplement?

My biggest issue now is sleep. I use an Oura ring and have been tracking and working on improving my sleep for 2-3 years now. 30 minutes is my average time in deep sleep (Oura tracks deep/REM/light sleep stages). I am doing all of the sleep hygiene work—meditation before bed, no screens for 2-3 hours prior to bed, blue light glasses, wind down routine, ooler for cooler temperature, jaw positioner for mild apnea, etc. My REM sleep is good at 1:45 and I sleep on average 8:10 hours per night. I use at few drops of melatonin when I wake up in the middle of the night to help me get back to sleep which usually works. Taking several supplements to help with sleep—magnesium (3 kinds), L-Thianine, ashwaganda, phosphatidylserine, GABA and probably others I am forgetting. The consequence of the shorter deep sleep is that I rarely wake up feeling refreshed and I am concerned as deep sleep is so critical to keeping your brain healthy and preventing Alzheimer’s. I am trying the Heart Math device currently to improve my heart and breathing coherence and am willing to try most anything. Question #2—Looking for any thoughts/suggestions others might have on how to improve deep sleep. Thanks so much.

Re: Grateful for the 2 years of learning and two questions

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 8:11 am
by AKA
BMP wrote:I have been a user of this incredibly valuable information forum for over 2 years now and am so grateful for the information that is shared and aggregated here. ... Question #2—Looking for any thoughts/suggestions others might have on how to improve deep sleep. Thanks so much.
Hi BMP,
You are highly motivated and motivating!!! Thanks for your share. I don't know that I can be that helpful with your second question, but would like to share an article that addresses deep sleep, the glymphatic system, and some lifestyle factors. If nothing else, it's an interesting read!
All the best to you,
AKA
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/10/11/868
The Sleeping Brain: Harnessing the Power of the Glymphatic ...

Re: Grateful for the 2 years of learning and two questions

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:34 am
by lucytownsend
BMP wrote:I have been a user of this incredibly valuable information forum for over 2 years now and am so grateful for the information that is shared and aggregated here. I have used so much of the information shared by others to help get me on a better path towards brain health and Alzheimer’s prevention. Thank you to all who participate and keep this resource going!

A little bit about me—56 y/o female, post menopausal, 3/4, mostly plant-based diet, very low carb 30-40 grams per day, high fiber (over 40g daily), little to no sugar (except when I cheat 1 day/week!), salmon and anchovies, 3 times/week, very low sat fat (see reason below), intermittent fasting 18h/6h eating window daily, exercise every day 2-3 days per week of cardio and 3 days/week weights, on estrogen and progesterone hormone replacement, DHA supplementation, taking most recommended Bredesen supplements (too many to list!).

Tried keto 2 years ago and my cholesterol went off the charts. Have been going through all the testing with a cardiologist and turns out I am an over absorber of cholesterol genetically which makes keto a very bad choice for me. Have worked over the past year to get my cholesterol/lipid values improved. Have seen the following changes in my values—
TG 76 to 51
HDL 104 to 98
LDL 153 to 108
LDL Particle 1200 to 796
ApoB 104 to 85
Ap (a) 110 to 36

In addition to the plant based diet and eliminating sugar and carbs in my diet, my cardiologist recommended I try berberine (1 500mg capsule twice/day) and I believe this has been a significant contributor to the improvement in my lipid values. I am very happy to have been able to resolve this.

I take a supplement of nearly 2 grams of DHA in the triglyceride form daily. I have heard mixed evidence/reports on whether this helps with a 3/4. It seems like is may help with inflammation and possibly my lipids in addition to Alz prevention. Question #1–Are there any potential negative outcomes of taking this fish oil supplement?

My biggest issue now is sleep. I use an Oura ring and have been tracking and working on improving my sleep for 2-3 years now. 30 minutes is my average time in deep sleep (Oura tracks deep/REM/light sleep stages). I am doing all of the sleep hygiene work—meditation before bed, no screens for 2-3 hours prior to bed, blue light glasses, wind down routine, ooler for cooler temperature, jaw positioner for mild apnea, etc. My REM sleep is good at 1:45 and I sleep on average 8:10 hours per night. I use at few drops of melatonin when I wake up in the middle of the night to help me get back to sleep which usually works. Taking several supplements to help with sleep—magnesium (3 kinds), L-Thianine, ashwaganda, phosphatidylserine, GABA and probably others I am forgetting. The consequence of the shorter deep sleep is that I rarely wake up feeling refreshed and I am concerned as deep sleep is so critical to keeping your brain healthy and preventing Alzheimer’s. I am trying the Heart Math device currently to improve my heart and breathing coherence and am willing to try most anything. Question #2—Looking for any thoughts/suggestions others might have on how to improve deep sleep. Thanks so much.
Dear BMP,

A warm welcome to you. Thank you for sharing your detailed journey regarding sleep hygiene. Your story is inspiring. You are dedicated in your quest for optimal brain health. We are here to support you in getting to the root cause of your sleep concerns. With all the strategies you have in place so far your on the right track.
The great news is that poor sleep is a modifiable risk factor. By routinely employing all of these sleep optimization strategies, you can transform bedtime into a nightly ritual that you actually anticipate for the relaxation and restoration experience. One of our panel sleep experts will follow up with additional thoughts and suggestions.

Warmly,

Lucy

Sleep

Re: Grateful for the 2 years of learning and two questions

Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 2:23 pm
by BMP
Thanks so much for the excellent article, AKA! Definitely some good practical ideas in there. Appreciate the welcome.

Re: Grateful for the 2 years of learning and two questions

Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 1:14 pm
by JML
BMP wrote:Question #2—Looking for any thoughts/suggestions others might have on how to improve deep sleep. Thanks so much.
Hi BMP--I have noticed that I get most of my deep sleep at the beginning of the night, mostly in the hours before midnight. If I go to bed later, the deep sleep gets cut short--it does not just shift everything to a later time. My dad always said that every hour of sleep before midnight was worth 2 hours after midnight. I always assumed he just wanted to get all of us kids in bed, but turns out for me, there is more to it than that! Very wise! I love to stay up late, but find I get a lot more deep sleep if I go to sleep earlier. Good luck!

Re: Grateful for the 2 years of learning and two questions

Posted: Mon Apr 26, 2021 1:22 pm
by NewRon
I presume you've either read Matthew Walker's book or seen the interview with Rhonda Patrick?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEbtf7uS6P8

Re: Grateful for the 2 years of learning and two questions

Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 11:26 am
by BMP
Thank you, Julie. An excellent reminder! I do notice that I often get better deep sleep when I go to bed by 9:30 vs. 10:30. Have been meaning to do a 10 day experiment with the 9:30 bedtime and see if I can get some improvement. Thanks for motivating me to do this!