Dietary Fats, Gut Health, and Antioxidants Drive Brain Aging

Key Quotes

"we definitely we definitely want to avoid partially hydrogenated fats that's definitely up there so partially hydrogenated fats are fats that are in boxes bags you know processed food those those types of fats are devastating for neural membranes they will be a serious factor in your brain health if you consume those on a regular basis so you definitely want to avoid partially hydrogenated fats"

Dr. Kharrazian argues that partially hydrogenated fats, commonly found in processed foods, are detrimental to brain health. He emphasizes that these fats can seriously impact neural membranes and their regular consumption poses a significant risk to cognitive well-being.

"the processing of the oil itself and the proteins we be more of an issue than the natural food source itself so that's something to think about too we can't just think of it well it's just corn but it's not corn it's the process of going through becoming an oil that changes the structure of the proteins the structures of the proteins change when you heat them prior to structural proteins change become become more immunogenic or more inflammatory through different processes"

Dr. Kharrazian explains that the processing of oils, rather than the natural food source, is often the primary concern. He highlights that heating and processing can alter the structure of proteins, making them more immunogenic and inflammatory, which is a key factor in why processed seed oils can be problematic.

"there's some relationship specifically to a protein called zonulin zonulin is a messenger protein that opens up the tight junctions of the intestinal tract and they also open up the tight junctions on the brain so the signaling mechanisms and the molecules that open up the tight junctions on the blood brain barrier are identical to the gut barrier and also identical to the lung barrier"

Dr. Kharrazian details the role of zonulin, a messenger protein, in creating "leaky" barriers in the body. He clarifies that zonulin opens tight junctions in the intestinal tract, lung barrier, and the blood-brain barrier, indicating a shared physiological mechanism across these critical protective layers.

"so glutathione is the is the tripeptide amino acid our body makes it's the most abundant antioxidant we make and we can do things like take n acetylcysteine or eat foods high in sulfur to raise our own natural glutathione levels but glutathione is really i mean the most important antioxidant if you really think about it"

Dr. Kharrazian identifies glutathione as the body's most abundant antioxidant, a tripeptide amino acid that can be naturally produced or supported through precursors like N-acetylcysteine and sulfur-rich foods. He posits that glutathione is fundamentally the most crucial antioxidant for overall health.

"fish oils have a very very protective role for cardiovascular disease and and they actually more studies are showing even the higher the dose you you take may even have more of a protective effect so you know a typical dose most studies like a thousand milligrams which is like one fish oil some studies are now showing five 10 capsules five thousand 10 000 milligrams of fish oils can have a huge impact"

Dr. Kharrazian asserts that fish oils play a significantly protective role in cardiovascular health, with evidence suggesting that higher doses may offer even greater benefits. He notes that while a typical dose is around 1000mg, some studies indicate that 5000-10000mg can have a substantial impact.

"when you look at the abundance of information published on fish oils and you look at all the meta analyses done in the literature peer reviewed literature would make no sense to not be taking fish oils on a regular basis so fish oils would be up there glutathione we talked about unfortunately glutathione has much more clinical effects we all see then at least research that we see because no one's doing large clinical trials or meta analyzing glutathione yet"

Dr. Kharrazian argues that the extensive peer-reviewed research and meta-analyses on fish oils make their regular consumption a logical choice for cardiovascular health. He contrasts this with glutathione, which, despite observed clinical effects, has less large-scale research and meta-analysis available.