Before we get humming, a few notes. When talking about the brain, fat and cholesterol are positive things. Your brain is a very fatty organ and 25% of the body’s cholesterol is found in the brain. This is why we are about to celebrate fat in song. But before you reach for the cheese and chocolate “in the name of brain health”, you should know that your brain does not need you to eat cholesterol: it makes its own. So crank up the karaoke and sing along!
All About that (Brain) Fat
Because you know I’m all about that fat
‘Bout that fat in my brain
I’m all about that fat, ‘bout that fat
‘Bout that fat in my brain
Yeah it’s pretty clear I’ve got cholesterol
But my brain makes it makes it like its supposed to do
‘Cause it forms myelin sheaths that all the axons need
All the right fat in all the right places
I see cholesterol building cell membranes
You know that stuff we need
Come on now hormones too
If you’ve got fatty brain cells just raise ‘em up
‘Cause every neuron cell needs fat from the bottom to the top
Yeah, my momma she told me don’t worry about your brain
She says “cells like omega 3 fatty acids to ease their strain”
You know myelin sheaths protect the axons of my nerve cells
So electric transmissions
Can go ahead and move along
Because you know I’m all about that fat
‘Bout that fat in my brain
I’m all about that fat, ‘bout that fat in my brain
I’m all about that fat, ‘bout that fat in my brain
I’m all about that fat ‘bout that fat
I’m bringing HDL
My brain makes all it needs to keep me well
So I’m just eat to lower LDL
But I’m here to tell you that
Every neuron cell needs fat from the bottom to the top
Parody of Meghan Trainor’s All About that Bass
Reference: https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/cholesterol-the-mind-and-the-brain
Our patented cerebrospinal fluid will flood your brain while you sleep, carrying away those pesky sticky A-beta proteins. Pesky proteins can build up over time, hardening into plaque and blocking communication between neurons. When you sleep, the spaces between brain cells widen by 60%, allowing our patented fluid to clean every nook and cranny of your precious cranial organ.
This desire for control applies to our health as well. There are many things we can do to keep ourselves in good health like 
When you consider what we learned about blood pressure and the heart, it becomes obvious why blood pressure affects the brain. If blood pressure is too high for too long, blood vessels become damaged. Damaged blood vessels don’t deliver oxygen and nutrients so cells suffer and die. If those dead cells are in the brain, it affects the way we think, respond, and remember. The brain is only 2% of the body’s weight, but it receives 20% of the body’s blood. That’s nearly 1 liter per minute.
My brain works out several times a week. It seems to enjoy it—especially the surge of endorphins—and man, when it feels stressed, it can’t wait to get moving. I wish I’d taken a before and after picture so you could see how much my brain has bulked up since it started working out.
Let’s take learning, for example. A few schools in Texas increased recess for their kindergarten and first grade students. With an hour of recess per day, those students’ grades and behavior improved. When Naperville Central High School near Chicago beefed up their physical education classes, their students not only became physically fit, but they finished first in the world on an international science exam.
When my brain works out, it’s even protecting itself against the natural effects of aging. As your brain ages, the production of new neurons slows down and the cells it has die more easily than when you’re young. The brain can actually shrivel and shrink over time. Exercise is one of the few ways to combat this trend because it boosts neuron production and makes your cells harder to kill. It’s like car maintenance: if you drive your car all the time, you’re going to maintain it. The older the car gets, the more prone it is to breaking down, but if you keep it well maintained, the car will last a long time. Exercise equals driving the car: the body is forced to maintain the cells because you’re using them. If you stop using your cells, they rust away and die. “If your brain isn’t actively growing, then it’s dying” (Spark).
A healthy brain is not the first thing that comes to mind when we think of weight loss. Our goal in losing weight is usually to make our body look better and feel better and a healthy brain is pink, plump, and wrinkly, kind of like a naked mole rat. Not exactly the sexy image we’re shooting for.
I’ve invited Captain Obvious here today to talk explain why.
Over the next few weeks we will study the connection between the brain and sleep, exercise, water, vegetables, and portion control. And tell brain jokes. Lots of brain jokes. And I’ll probably use a losing your marbles metaphor. It’s obviously the best way to proceed.
Sex, Soup, and 2 Fisted Eating 