Sublime

We know that loneliness is one of the biggest risk factors for disease and that feeling powerless is as big a risk factor as smoking or poor diet.

The third and final category of deterioration, I believe, has to do with emotional health.

When we’re healthy, muscle, fat, and liver cells require little insulin to respond. But repeated and prolonged stimulation of insulin receptors will over time force the cell to desensitize itself by reducing the number of receptors on the surface.

There are eleven key factors to preserving and enhancing brain health: a robust immune system; a healthy heart; preventing or treating diabetes; treating mental health conditions; quality sleep; a nutritious diet; regular exercise; stress management; avoiding environmental toxins; social connection; and continually learning new skills.

The empowering news here is that we can mimic many of these benefits in part by keeping tight reins on our bodies’ production of insulin. We can do this by engaging in brief periods of fasting (which I will introduce in chapter 6), avoiding rapidly digesting sugars, and demoting starches (especially processed grains) from mainstays in our diets to