Recently, I attended the Community of Wellness Symposium and Gala, Pathway to Health and Prosperity in Rochester, MN. It was the second year that I attended.
This symposium is smaller than many symposiums, yet several of the guest speakers are internationally known including Brenda Davis, RD (researcher, author, speaker), Dr. Neal Barnard – Hybrid Presentation (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine), Dr. Kristi Funk – Hybrid Presentation (Let’s Beat Breast Cancer), and Chuck Carroll (The Exam Room podcast).
Each speaker specializes in a different area of lifestyle medicine, which made the event a wonderful educational experience. Below is information shared by three of the speakers at the symposium.
Brenda Davis, RD
Brenda Davis is a registered dietitian, researcher, and author. She is an internationally acclaimed speaker and has been a featured speaker at medical, nutrition, and dietetic conferences in 25 countries on six continents.
Brenda’s presentation was Tackling Type 2 Diabetes with Plant-Based Diets. She shared information from the CORDIOPREV Study 2023, which examined changes in plant protein intake in 177 participants and its impact on diabetes remission. Remission of type 2 diabetes was 71% more likely for those who increased plant protein intake versus those who ate less plant protein1.
Another study of 1,892 participants showed those in the highest quintile of fiber intake had a 47% risk reduction of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those in the lowest quintile2. Fiber reduces appetite and risk of overweight and obesity, controls blood glucose and improves insulin sensitivity, and reduces systemic inflammation.
Brenda Davis shared another study that concluded animal protein increased type 2 diabetes risk by 31%, comparing the highest to the lowest quintile of intake, and plant protein decreased type 2 diabetes risk by 18%, comparing the highest to the lowest quintile of intake3.
These three studies showed conclusive proof that consuming plant-based protein can dramatically reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as increase the probability of remission in comparison to those eating animal protein.
Dr. Dean Sherzai and Dr. Ayesha Sherzai
Dr. Dean Sherzai is a behavioral neurologist/neuroscientist. His wife, Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, is a vascular neurologist. She is co-director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University and leads the Lifestyle Program for the Prevention of Neurological Diseases. She is also a trained plant-based culinary artist. They are the authors of The Alzheimer’s Solution, as well as of one of my favorite cookbooks, The 30-Day Alzheimer’s Solution: The Definitive Food and Lifestyle Guide to Preventing Cognitive Decline.
In their presentation, The Profound Influence of Lifestyle on Your Brain Health, they shared valuable information on things we can do to prevent dementia and cognitive decline. Alzheimer’s is a subtype of dementia and accounts for 60-80% of all dementias according to the National Institute of Health4.
Under the category of dementia, there are multiple other diseases, including vascular, Lewy body, Parkinson’s, and frontotemporal lobe dementia. Many of these are “significantly affected” if the right lifestyle factors are implemented early on. Lifestyle factors affect our response to inflammation, oxidation, genetic damage, and our ability to get rid of waste.
Vascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, LDL, insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, and diabetes, all impact the way the brain functions both vascularly and metabolically at the mitochondrial level of each neuron. Better vascular risk factors, particularly at midlife, significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. Non-modifiable risk factors are age and genetics. Modifiable risk factors are cholesterol, blood pressure, glucose metabolism, and lifestyle factors, including diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, and social and cognitive activities5.
A study was done looking at a pool of people who had genetic risk factors for developing dementia, which increased their risk by 60%. When an unhealthy lifestyle was added, their risk of developing dementia jumped up to 360%! However, when a healthy lifestyle was added, the risk factor was reduced to less than 30%6. The study showed how powerful lifestyle is in reducing the risk of dementia, even with the presence of genetic risk factors.
According to the Framingham Longitudinal Study, a brisk daily walk resulted in a 40% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life. Resistance training improves cognition in older adults. A study looked at a group of individuals who had mild cognitive impairment.
One group did resistance exercises (squats, lunges, back exercises, worked biceps and triceps) three times a week for 45 minutes for six months. The second group did light stretching. After six months, 47% of the group that did the resistance exercise reversed their mild cognitive impairment and achieved normal cognitive scores when tested.
MRI scans were done as well. Those who did the light stretching continued to decline into Alzheimer’s disease7. Dr. Dean Sherzai and Dr. Ayesha Sherzai have concluded that evidence-based lifestyle intervention and lifestyle factors can improve brain health and prevent cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease with five lifestyle habits:
• Proper nutrition (high polyphenols, high fiber, good fats)
• Exercise
• Unwind (stress management)
• Restorative sleep
• Optimizing cognitive activity.
Dr. Eddie Ramirez
Dr. Eddie Ramirez is a medical doctor, research scientist, published author, and international speaker. His major research interest has been how food and lifestyle have the ability to prevent and reverse physical and mental disease.
In his presentation, The Power of Sunlight to Improve Health and Well-Being, Dr. Ramirez shared with us that sunlight has tremendous healing powers. Our cell powerhouses, called mitochondria, generate oxidative stress. If the mitochondria get too much oxidative stress, it decreases the performance of the mitochondria and causes damage to them, decreasing the longevity of the cell, which can cause multiple health problems affecting our kidneys, joints, heart, blood vessels, skin, immune system, eyes, and organs8.
There are two ways to deal with the oxidative stresses of the cell – one happens during the daytime, and one happens at night. At night, melatonin, which is linked to darkness, is released in the brain and can decrease oxidative stress. The MEDACIS Trial showed melatonin decreases blood pressure, helps pain tolerance, decreases depression and anxiety, boosts our immune system, and is anti-inflammatory.
Not going to bed early enough at night will cause us not to get enough melatonin. When we go to bed at midnight and sleep for eight hours, we won’t feel as refreshed as if we got eight hours of sleep going to bed at 9:00 PM. That is because melatonin is released earlier in the evening. The ideal time to go to bed is between 9:00 and 9:30 PM. When our body clocks are disrupted, molecular and behavioral processes are disrupted, including our hormone levels and body temperature. It was found that being a morning person is associated with better mental health9.
Melatonin released at night is different from that released during the day. At night, melatonin is released by the pineal gland in the brain in response to darkness. This melatonin’s release is blocked by sunlight. During the day, ultraviolet light from the sun stimulates the production of melatonin in our cells’ mitochondria and begins to “capture” oxygen free radicals. More than 95% of our melatonin production takes place in the mitochondria10. Fewer free radicals mean less oxidative stress, which allows our immune system to function better.
When we disturb our circadian rhythms, many things happen. A study showed when we have bright light in the evening, mortality increases 21-34% because melatonin is blocked and circadian disruption occurs. This causes poor health outcomes and increased mortality risk. Conversely, when we expose ourselves to bright light during the day, mortality is lowered by 17-38%11.
We need to sleep in 100% darkness. Even with our eyes closed when sleeping, our brain will detect even a small amount of light in the room and will decrease the amount of melatonin in our body.
How can we improve our melatonin?
• Don’t leave the lights on at night.
• Expose ourselves to bright light early in the day.
Each of the presenters at this symposium endorsed eating a WFPB diet. This was a wonderful conference of presenters, each well regarded in their area of specialty, who shared evidence-based information, as well as their research with us. It is definitely on my calendar to return next year.
1 Gutuerrez-Mariscal FM, et al. Eur J Nutr. 2023 Jun;62(4):1903-1913.
2 Kimura Y, et al. J Diabetes Investig. 2021:12(4):527-536.
3 Li J, et al. Diabetes Care. 2022;45(8):1742-1753
4 2024 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 May;20(5):3708-3821. doi: 10.1002/alz.13809. Epub 2024 Apr 30. PMID: 38689398; PMCID: PMC11095490.
5 Livingston G. Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care: 2024 report of the Lancet Standing Commission. The Lancet. 2024;404(10452):572-628.
6 Lourida I. Association of Lifestyle and Genetic Risk with Incidence of Dementia. JAMA. 2019;322(5):430-437.
7 Mavros Y, Gates N, Wilson GC, et al. Exercise Increases Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Am Geriatric Soc. 2016;65(3):550-559. DOI:101111/JGS.14520.
8 Pizzino, et al A. (2017). Oxidative Stress: Harms and Benefits for Human Health. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 2017. Https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8416763
9 Jones SE, Lane JM, Wood AR, van Hees VT, Tyrrell J, Beaumont RN, Jeffries AR, Dashti HS, Hillsdon M, Ruth KS, Tuke MA, Yaghootkar H, Sharp SA, Jie Y, Thompson WD, Harrison JW, Dawes A, Byrne EM, Tiemeier H, Allebrandt KV, Bowden J, Ray DW, Freathy RM, Murray A, Mazzotti DR, Gehrman PR, Lawlor DA, Frayling TM, Rutter MK, Hinds DA, Saxena R, Weedon MN. Genome-wide association analyses of chronotype in 697,828 individuals provides insights into circadian rhythms. Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 29;10(1):343. doi: 10.1038/ s41467-018-08259-7. PMID: 30696823; PMCID: PMC6351539.
10 Melatonin Research 2.1 (2019):138-160.
11 D.P. Windred, A.C. Burns, J.M. Lane, P. Olivier, M.K. Rutter, R. Saxena, A.J.K. Phillips, & S.W. Cain. Brighter nights and darker days predict higher mortality risk: A prospective analysis of personal light exposure in >88,000 individuals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 121 (43) e2405924121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2405924121 (2024).
