1091 Optimize Your Brain Health & How to Prevent Alzheimer's w/Dr. Lisa Mosconi

"It is this continuous exposure to food that makes diet the most important factor ever to affect our DNA."Today's guest is Dr. Lisa Mosconi. She’s the founder and director of the Women’s Brain Initiative, and associate director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine, where she serves as associate professor of Neuroscience in Neurology and Radiology. She is also the NYT bestselling author BRAIN FOOD and her new book, THE XX BRAIN. In this episode Lewis and Lisa discuss the differences between men and women’s brains and how they function, what we need in order to optimize our brain health, why Alzheimers is affecting so many of us, especially women and what we can do about it, and so much more! For more go to: www.lewishowes.com/1091Check out her books: www.lisamosconi.com/brainfood & www.lisamosconi.com/xxbrainThe Wim Hof Experience: Mindset Training, Power Breathing, and Brotherhood: https://link.chtbl.com/910-podA Scientific Guide to Living Longer, Feeling Happier & Eating Healthier with Dr. Rhonda Patrick: https://link.chtbl.com/967-podThe Science of Sleep for Ultimate Success with Shawn Stevenson: https://link.chtbl.com/896-pod Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 1,091 with New York Times bestselling author Dr. Lisa Moscone. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:30Lewis Howes?

  The Buddha said, "To keep the body in good health is a duty. Otherwise, we shall not be able to keep our minds strong and clear." And poet Lee Hunt said, "The groundwork for all happiness is good health." My guest today is Dr. Lisa Moscone. She's the founder and director of the Women's Brain Initiative and Associate Director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Yale Cornell Medicine, where she serves as an Associate Professor of Neuroscience in Neurology and Radiology. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of Brain Food and her new book, The XX Brain. And I'm telling you, I fell in love with her and this message and everything she's about to share with you right now.

• 1:12Lewis Howes?

  Because in this episode, we discuss the differences between men and women's brains and how they function, what we need in order to optimize our own individual brain health, the foods we should and shouldn't be eating, the main causes of brain fog, why Alzheimer's is affecting so many of us, especially women, and what we can do about it, and so much more. This blew my mind. Again, I fell in love with her and the information and everything she's talking about. So I hope you enjoy this. I hope you get a lot of value out of this. And if you do, make sure to share this with a few friends that you think would be inspired and this would be helpful for as well. You can copy and paste the link wherever you're listening to this or use lewishouse.com/1091 and send them this.

• 1:54Lewis Howes?

  And again, if this is your first time here, please click the subscribe button to Apple Podcasts right now or Spotify or anywhere that you're listening to this podcast and stay up to date from the latest and greatest from the School of Greatness. Okay, in just a moment, I bring you the one and only Dr. Lisa Moscone.

• 2:13Lewis Howes?

  Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness Podcast. Very excited about our guest, Dr. Lisa Moscone, who is a brain scientist, neuroscientist, and does some amazing research on brain foods and the differences between female brains and male brains. And we were talking a little bit before about why these brains are different. How can you first explain how they're different? And do certain foods affect the brains differently for men and women?

• 2:47Lisa Mosconi?

  It's a really good question. And yes, I can definitely speak to women's brains and how they are, and they're not different from men's brains. I think everybody has their own opinions on how women's brains are different from men's brains. And there's certainly, I get asked a lot of Mars and Venus type questions and Barbie and Lego. And that's not my field of expertise, honestly.

• 3:10Lewis Howes?

  You're not a love expert. Yeah, yeah.

• 3:11Lisa Mosconi?

  No, no, I'm not a psychologist or a sociologist, but my background is in biology, either like neuroscience, biology, neurophysiology. So we look at actual, real, raw differences between the female brain and the male brain. And I think that the differences are not anatomical, in a way. It's not like men's brains are lacking some parts that women's brains have, right? Or the other way around. The differences are more functional, and they're quite evident from the very moment of conception. And this is because we have different DNAs in part, right? Women have two X chromosomes, and men have an X and

• 3:53Lisa Mosconi?

  a Y chromosome. And that matters, even though they're not such huge differences, but the X chromosome has almost 1,000 genes more than the Y chromosome. So from the moment we're born, women have almost 1,000 genes more than men, many of which are really important for brain function, not just for reproduction, but also for brain function.

• 4:23Lewis Howes?

  So what does that mean? What does that mean? So women have 1,000 genes more than men. What does that mean when I mean genes?

• 4:32Lisa Mosconi?

  What what genes are or what kind of functionality?

• 4:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, what does that mean? Does that mean it's?

• 4:36Lisa Mosconi?

  Doesn't matter.

• 4:37Lewis Howes?

  Does it mean that they need more uh nutrients to to to to burn calories? Does it mean they have more uh?

• 4:44Lisa Mosconi?

  Hmm.

• 4:45Lewis Howes?

  Functionality of thinking and memory like what does that actually mean?

• 4:48Lisa Mosconi?

  Right, how does that translate to something interesting, right? Yeah.

• 4:52Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 4:52Lisa Mosconi?

  So I think the point is that the products of those genes differ. And hormonal production is an immediate derivative of your DNA. So from the very moment they were born, starting with ready, um when the baby is developing, um before birth, our brains are becoming wired a little bit differently. And that's really hormonally based. So women's brains produce more estrogen, like estradiol and progesterone. And boys' brains make more androgens like testosterone. And these hormones are really, really important because they're not just involved in reproduction

• 5:33Lisa Mosconi?

  and having children, but they're really incredibly important for brain functionality. This this hormones, you need to think about these hormones as having superpowers, not just in the body, but also in the brain. In that, so estrogen, for context, so estradiol, which is the most important form of estrogen, is incredibly important for immunity. It really boosts the immune system in the body and the brain. For plasticity, it stimulates the formation of neurons and synapses in the brain. So it gives you resilience if you're a brain cell. And also, most importantly, it's key for energy production in the brain.

• 6:14Lisa Mosconi?

  So at the cellular level, estrogen literally pushes your neurons to burn glucose, a sugar, which brings me to your next question, next question, to make energy. And testosterone does the same thing in men's brains and boys' brains. The difference, though, is that these hormones differ in their longevity, in their lifespan. So testosterone and androgens in general decline fairly gradually over time, which is wonderful because so many men are still fertile in their seventies or eighties, which is, it's great. And yeah, yeah. Yeah, this is true. Think Mick Jagger. He must be eighty, he just have a kid, no? Yes, and this is actually not uncommon. This is fairly normal.

• 7:00Lisa Mosconi?

  And it's great. And that means that this testosterone, these androgens are also supporting your brain at the same time. But for women, estrogens literally decline very fast in midlife during menopause, which is something that impacts your body, your overall functionality of your body, and also your brain as well. And that dictates why women's brains need a different kind of care than men's brains. It's not super different, but there are some things, some nuances that I think is worth really focusing on because we have different needs and different strengths and different risks. And that really is important for health.

• 7:43Lewis Howes?

  What are, what are the, what are the male brains really need for brain health and optimization? And what are the women's brains need for optimization for their life?

• 7:53Lisa Mosconi?

  So the research.

• 7:54Lewis Howes?

  What are the, what are the, what are the same things they need? And then what are the different things?

• 7:58Lisa Mosconi?

  I think, well, I think there's a lot of research showing that things like a healthy diet, solid exercise routine, enough sleep, uh, low stress, stress reduction, avoiding toxins. These are all things that work really well for both men and women. But then there are things within these categories that are more specifically helpful to men or to women. For example, diet. I think we're all aware the diet is incredibly important for health, for health. And we all eat pretty much three times a day. I don't know if you are fasting or.

• 8:36Lewis Howes?

  I do more fasting, skipping breakfast.

• 8:39Lisa Mosconi?

  Okay, so we all eat at least twice a day?

• 8:42Lewis Howes?

  But in the past, I used to eat probably six times a day, so.

• 8:46Lisa Mosconi?

  There you go. But I would say most people eat about three times a day.

• 8:49Lewis Howes?

  Right, correct.

• 8:50Lisa Mosconi?

  So every day, we have at least three chances to make the right choice and feed their body and brain with the right nutrients that are really supportive of health and healthy cellular functioning, or not, it really damage our body and their brain at the same time. Now, within a healthy eating pattern, there is some evidence that women really benefit from plant-based diets, perhaps even more so than men do, which is not to say that men should not be eating plant-based or enough veggies and fruit. It's just that the research points to plant-based nutrients as being especially supportive of women's brain health, especially starting in midlife.

• 9:35Lisa Mosconi?

  And that's for a variety of reasons that I'd be happy to share with you.

• 9:37Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 9:39Lisa Mosconi?

  Thank you. So there's a lot of research, including my own research, where we do brain scans. And we specialize, well, I specialize in women's brains because that's what I've been doing for twenty years, ever since I could. And I'm really passionate about it. And just recently, I launched the Women's Brain Initiative, the Wild Cornell Medicine in New York City. I'm the founder, yeah, and director, which means I had to find all the support, all the funding and whatnot. But it's totally worth it. And we're really trying to find, to better understand how brain health plays out differently

• 10:16Lisa Mosconi?

  in women than in men. And the way we do that is by doing brain scans and then measuring a number of things, including behavior, cognitive performance. But also, we do diet questionnaires, we do exercise questionnaires and assessments, we look at intellectual activity, we look at sleep, we look at stress. We measure a lot of parameters in plasma. We measure everything we can possibly measure without stressing our participants too much. But then it turns out that there's a super strong correlation between antioxidant intake and brain energy levels for women.

• 10:53Lewis Howes?

  For women.

• 10:54Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, for women especially. Whereas for both women and men, consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids seems to be incredibly important. So fats for men, also because testosterone is a hormone that makes men really incredibly great at burning fat.

• 11:12Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 11:13Lisa Mosconi?

  Whereas estrogen is a carb-loving hormone. So women are inherently better at burning carbohydrates than fat. We tend to accumulate the fat, for sure, hold on to it. Whereas the average woman is excellent physiologically at burning carbs.

• 11:31Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 11:33Lisa Mosconi?

  And that might dictate why some very high-fat diets work really, really well for men and not always so well for women.

• 11:41Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 11:42Lisa Mosconi?

  And the other way around. There are some men who are incredibly on vegan diets, for sure, and some men who truly hate them and they need their meat. You know, I think diet is very personal, but on average, a lot of antioxidants are good for your brain, in part because the brain is the most metabolically active organ of the entire body.

• 12:05Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 12:06Lisa Mosconi?

  And it runs on glucose. A lot of people might disagree, but it is true. I mean, the brain is literally wired to run on glucose. And glucose metabolism creates free radicals and oxidative stress. So the only way that we have to reduce oxidation, which is damaging to the brain in the long term, is to up our intake of antioxidants from the diet. And plants are the best way to do so.

• 12:33Lewis Howes?

  If you could recommend five foods that are the most powerful antioxidant foods that we should be consuming on a consistent basis, what would you say are those those main foods?

• 12:46Lisa Mosconi?

  I'm going to start with coffee. I love.

• 12:49Lewis Howes?

  Cheers.

• 12:50Lisa Mosconi?

  Yay. I get the first right.

• 12:53Lewis Howes?

  Really, coffee is.

• 12:54Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, coffee, yes. So a double espresso is the beverage with the highest antioxidant power of all beverages, including. Yes.

• 13:07Lewis Howes?

  Now, you're just speaking like a true Italian.

• 13:11Lewis Howes?

  So this is science. This is real science.

• 13:13Lisa Mosconi?

  This is actual science. Yeah. So what a number of scientists have done is to rate all sorts of foods based on their ORC number, which is an anti, it's a measure of antioxidant capacity. And a double espresso really comes up on top.

• 13:31Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 13:31Lisa Mosconi?

  You know, coffee, yeah.

• 13:33Lewis Howes?

  That's what I'm on beverage.

• 13:34Lisa Mosconi?

  Really rich in antioxidants, like polyphenols and hydrocynamic acids, where that matters, a really strong plant-based antioxidants that are very protective and really support your health overall, body and brain. The point is, there's an inverted U shape between caffeine intake and gains, if you will, where the optimum benefit for your brain is basically, basically one or two espressos a day at the most. This is like two, three cups of American coffee.

• 14:09Lewis Howes?

  Coffee, yeah.

• 14:10Lisa Mosconi?

  Not.

• 14:10Lewis Howes?

  Water, watered down coffee, yeah.

• 14:14Lisa Mosconi?

  Also, the roasting is a little bit different. And I, I hear that light roasting of the coffee beans is actually better because it really brings out the antioxidants.

• 14:24Lewis Howes?

  Huh.

• 14:25Lisa Mosconi?

  In, in, in the best possible way, you get the most out of your coffee.

• 14:30Lewis Howes?

  So if you're gonna get a coffee, do the light roast coffee or a double shot of espresso.

• 14:33Lisa Mosconi?

  There you go. Yes. But no more than that. There's literally, otherwise your gains go down.

• 14:39Lewis Howes?

  So one, one cup of coffee or two shots of espresso?

• 14:44Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, pretty much.

• 14:46Lewis Howes?

  Around there.

• 14:46Lisa Mosconi?

  Rather. Yeah, not too much. Just don't overdo it. And those two, caffeine is very, you know, is very personal, again, so people do very well. With coffee, some people do not. For women, it depends on, on your, your time of the month. Yeah, so your estrogen.

• 15:03Lewis Howes?

  Should you, should you not be drinking coffee?

• 15:05Lisa Mosconi?

  Oh, it's not, it's about being aware of what you're doing. So when your estradiol levels are very high, which is in the first cycle, the first half of your cycle, you've responded to caffeine in a much more sensitive way. But your response in the second half of your month, eh, of the month is actually blunted. So you may end up thinking, oh my goodness, this coffee is doing nothing for me and just drink 10 cups. Whereas it's just that your body just won't respond.

• 15:31Lewis Howes?

  Oh, so on the second half of the month.

• 15:35Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, because the estrogen is down and the progesterone is up.

• 15:38Lewis Howes?

  So should you not be drinking coffee as a woman in the second?

• 15:41Lisa Mosconi?

  No, no, drink it. Just don't overdo it because you feel tired and you're like, this coffee is doing nothing for me. I'm gonna have to drink 10 cups.

• 15:49Lewis Howes?

  Ah.

• 15:50Lisa Mosconi?

  You know, so you want to, eh, I think what makes sense is to, it's, you probably don't need that much at the beginning, eh, the first half of the month, and then you might need a little bit more to get the same effect, but you don't want to overdo it because.

• 16:05Lewis Howes?

  Too much, yeah. So what are the other, what other foods would you say are high in antioxidants that both men and women should be eating?

• 16:12Lisa Mosconi?

  Right, berries. Everybody talks about berries.

• 16:15Lewis Howes?

  I don't eat berries ever.

• 16:17Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, you don't, for you?

• 16:18Lewis Howes?

  I, I never eat berries. I don't like them. They just don't, I like the taste of them.

• 16:21Lisa Mosconi?

  None?

• 16:22Lewis Howes?

  Never.

• 16:23Lisa Mosconi?

  Oh my goodness.

• 16:24Lewis Howes?

  I don't eat berries. I don't eat fruit except for bananas and apples. And I eat, I eat lots of vegetables. I do eat lots of vegetables. But I'm sure my, I don't have a range of my diet of probably all these foods that you're gonna be talking about that are beneficial. Um, so what, what can we do if we don't eat berries? What supplements or other foods should we be eating to support us?

• 16:50Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, so.

• 16:53Lisa Mosconi?

  Orange juice.

• 16:56Lisa Mosconi?

  How it's going on? You know, something that is really helpful is lemon, lemon juice.

• 17:01Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 17:02Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, and this is interesting. So as a scientist, I'm always, I'm a little bit sensitive about fads or trends. I'm always a little bit skeptical. But hot water with lemon first thing in the morning, that's actually scientifically proven to make sense.

• 17:17Lewis Howes?

  What does it do for the body?

• 17:18Lisa Mosconi?

  I'll tell you why. Yes, so lem, you know how people say if you drink hot water with lemon first thing in the morning, it kickstarts your digestion?

• 17:26Lewis Howes?

  Yes, yes.

• 17:26Lisa Mosconi?

  It's a really nice way to say that it really supports elimination because citric acid from lemon is one of the best laxatives on earth.

• 17:38Lisa Mosconi?

  It's true, and it makes you go to the bathroom. It's a thing. And hot water is, um, so hot water is a vasodilator, whereas cold water is a vasoconstrictor.

• 17:51Lewis Howes?

  Vasa?

• 17:52Lisa Mosconi?

  Vasa dilator, it makes your veins pop. Whereas cold water makes your veins collapse.

• 17:59Lewis Howes?

  What do we want? We want them to pop, I'm assuming?

• 18:01Lisa Mosconi?

  You want your veins to pop.

• 18:03Lewis Howes?

  So should we not be drinking cold water or cold drinks?

• 18:06Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, well, it depends on what you're trying to do. You, I think you want to drink cold water to cool down. But it would be better throughout the day to drink water at room temperature. Or in the morning, you want it to be warm because you're dehydrated from the nighttime that you haven't been drinking. And you want your body to really absorb the electrolytes that in the water and the citric acid from the lemon. Also, because your whole muscles are relax, are relaxing because you're drinking hot water. And that also supports a healthy elimination. So it is true, the hot water with lemon makes you go.

• 18:47Lewis Howes?

  Wow, does it so lukewarm or room temperature or warm water, does it hydrates you more than in cold water?

• 18:55Lisa Mosconi?

  That's right.

• 18:56Lewis Howes?

  It hydrates you more.

• 18:57Lisa Mosconi?

  It hydrates you more. So pregnant breastfeeding women and pregnant women would benefit from drinking a lot of warm water, hot water, because it really helps keeping hydrated. No, it's really important. So we do brain scan. I do brain scans. That's my background. And I strongly recommend to all our patients to drink a cup of warm water, hot water, right before we put the IV in or right before the blood draw. Because it really helps your veins pop up and that is so much, so much easier to get the line in and that's um that's an immediate sign of rehydration. And the problem in the United States that so many people are chronically dehydrated.

• 19:43Lisa Mosconi?

  Not in a clinical way that you end up at the hospital, but it's mildly hydration, which is a real problem. And it can really impact your brain. So even a two to four percent water loss, which is nothing, can cause neurological symptoms of dehydration from brain fog, which is something that everybody suffers from. Right? And brain fog is one of the reasons that most people come to work with us because they feel foggy brained and they're trying to find solutions. So like, here's a glass of water. Let's start with that.

• 20:14Lewis Howes?

  Really? So brain fog meaning, uh, you know, forgetting things, not having a clear memory, not sure what they want to say.

• 20:21Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, yeah, like just feeling like your brain is not following.

• 20:24Lewis Howes?

  It's not clean.

• 20:26Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes.

• 20:27Lewis Howes?

  So what is the main causes of brain fog? Is that dehydration? Is that nutrition? Is that sleep?

• 20:33Lisa Mosconi?

  There are, there are a number of factors. I think it is different from different people. But dehydration is, is a very common factor that you can't reverse by just drinking water and also purified water doesn't help. It needs to be water with electrolytes in. Because water is not just fluid. Your brain doesn't just need something wet. Your brain needs the fluids and the electrolytes, the real water content.

• 21:00Lewis Howes?

  So just drinking ten glasses of water a day isn't enough to be hydrated?

• 21:05Lisa Mosconi?

  Purified is not helpful. It gives, it gives you pressure like it, yeah, your blood pressure goes up, but you're not hydrated. You need to have electrolytes in the way. Yeah.

• 21:15Lewis Howes?

  So how do you? I mean, how do you get electrolytes in the, how do you add like, what if you don't have packets of electrolytes to add in there? How are you supposed to hydrate if you don't have access to that?

• 21:29Lisa Mosconi?

  How about drinking water, real water instead of purified?

• 21:33Lewis Howes?

  How do you get real water? Tap water?

• 21:35Lisa Mosconi?

  Tap water? Well, it depends where you are. In New York, yeah.

• 21:38Lewis Howes?

  I've heard that tap water is uh, got so many chemicals and unfiltered.

• 21:45Lisa Mosconi?

  But it's simple filters it. So, okay, this is what I learned because I care about water so much. And also just saying spring water doesn't cost any more than purified water. So if you're buying purified water, you may as well buy spring water.

• 21:59Lewis Howes?

  Spring water is better.

• 22:00Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, well, it contains electrolytes.

• 22:02Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 22:03Lisa Mosconi?

  Mm-hmm. But what I learned is that you can call the city and they can come to your house and do an inspection. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they give you a very decent report, letting you know what kind of water you get from the city and the condition of your own pipes in the house. And then you get a full report and you can buy a filter that really addresses your own specific needs of your house.

• 22:28Lewis Howes?

  Wow, so you can put a filter on your tap water.

• 22:32Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 22:32Lewis Howes?

  Make sure that it's everything you need and drink the tap.

• 22:35Lisa Mosconi?

  And sometimes you just need a very simple filter. Sometimes you may need a much more powerful one. It depends on where you live. I mean, in Los Angeles, I think you, you, you probably gonna get away with it.

• 22:47Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I think you, I think people are just so afraid of tap water because they hear these stories of, oh, all these chemicals or all this, uh, you know, feces matter or whatever it is or like.

• 22:59Lisa Mosconi?

  Microplastic, yeah.

• 23:00Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, all the plastics are in there, but it makes sense to say, okay, well, why don't you test it? Have someone from the city come and test it and make sure that it is safe. They can give you a full report, I'm assuming, based on what you're saying. And then you can add a filter as needed and, and retest it with the filter if you want to make sure you're a hundred percent safe. But you know, there, if you're just drinking out of a thin plastic bottle, there's, that's probably seeping in some plastic and some, some contamination as well. So it's like, you gotta, you gotta test all these things, but.

• 23:31Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, um, it should, but works for you.

• 23:33Lewis Howes?

  So we need.

• 23:34Lisa Mosconi?

  One thing that is important to, really drinking water is incredibly important.

• 23:38Lewis Howes?

  With electrolytes.

• 23:40Lisa Mosconi?

  With electrolytes, yeah. So. For me, the major reason to drink water is that nothing can happen inside your brain unless there's water. Water literally powers every single chemical reaction that take place inside the brain, including energy production.

• 23:59Lisa Mosconi?

  No water, no energy. So there are studies.

• 24:03Lewis Howes?

  You're gonna have brain fog, you're not gonna remember things.

• 24:06Lisa Mosconi?

  You will not perform as best, as best, you know, as well as you can.

• 24:10Lewis Howes?

  Without water.

• 24:10Lisa Mosconi?

  There are studies, there are clinical studies that show they have randomized people into, before taking a test, right, two groups of people about to take a test, and this group is given water, like a full glass of water, and this group is not.

• 24:25Lisa Mosconi?

  The group that just drank a glass of water before taking the test, twenty percent better reaction times, fourteen, fifteen percent better memory performance. And the only thing that was different was literally that they were hydrated. Now, it's not huge, fifteen percent is not like hundred percent, but still, if you can improve your reaction times by twenty percent by just drinking water, why not?

• 24:51Lewis Howes?

  So drinking room temperature water, drinking it often.

• 24:54Lisa Mosconi?

  Or hot water if you're dehydrated or feel like you're dehydrated. You know, I have this little trick that is really, really helpful. If you're not sure if you're dehydrated or not, what you want to do is fill a wa- like a bottle with warm water and take small sips once every thirty seconds, just a tiny sip, tiny sip, tiny sip. It's annoying, but if after like five, six minutes, you really want the water, it means you're dehydrated, you just didn't know about it.

• 25:26Lisa Mosconi?

  You just had a big cup of coffee, you can try.

• 25:29Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 25:30Lisa Mosconi?

  Caffeine dehydrating, right?

• 25:32Lewis Howes?

  Caffeine is dehydrating.

• 25:33Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, caffeine.

• 25:34Lewis Howes?

  So you need, so once you have caffeine, you need to make sure you drink water afterwards

• 25:39Lisa Mosconi?

  That's right. Yeah, which is why you go to a fancy restaurant and they bring you your little espresso with a glass of water.

• 25:46Lewis Howes?

  I'm interested.

• 25:47Lisa Mosconi?

  Real water, spring water.

• 25:50Lewis Howes?

  The European water, yes.

• 25:54Lewis Howes?

  So if you have an espresso, if you have coffee, you must drink water with it.

• 25:58Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes.

• 25:59Lewis Howes?

  Before or after, does it matter?

• 26:01Lisa Mosconi?

  After. Before, I don't know. I mean, how long does it take to drink the coffee?

• 26:06Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it doesn't matter either way. Got you.

• 26:07Lisa Mosconi?

  No, I would, yeah.

• 26:09Lewis Howes?

  What are the other foods that can enhance the performance of our brain functionality?

• 26:15Lisa Mosconi?

  There are many foods. There are really, some foods are, some nutrients especially are really important. And I think omega threes are really crucial for brain health. For a really long time, people were really scared of eating fat. And now we've come to understand that fat is not just fat, but different fats have very different functions in the body. And polyunsaturated fatty acids, including omega three and omega six, omega nines, are really important for brain health in, in a specific ratio. So it's, it's a two to one ratio, so two molecules of omega six for every one molecule of omega three. But the point is that depending on the circumstances,

• 26:59Lisa Mosconi?

  omega six fats are more pro-inflammatory, whereas omega threes are anti-inflammatory. And the standard American diet really favors the pro-inflammatory types of fat. So it's helpful to keep in mind that we, we really need to increase intake of omega threes. And that's easy to do for people who eat fish, for example. Fish is a fantastic source of omega threes, but then there are a lot of plant-based uh sources as well, like, uh, so I'm plant-based and I discovered flaxseed oil.

• 27:36Lewis Howes?

  Flaxseed oil.

• 27:37Lisa Mosconi?

  You tried it?

• 27:38Lewis Howes?

  Of course, yeah.

• 27:39Lisa Mosconi?

  Oh, good. Okay. Here nobody knows what it is. Yeah.

• 27:42Lewis Howes?

  Flaxseed, flax seeds or the oil?

• 27:45Lisa Mosconi?

  The oil.

• 27:46Lewis Howes?

  So not flax seeds?

• 27:48Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, the oil is more concentrated.

• 27:50Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 27:50Lisa Mosconi?

  Right. So one tablespoon of flaxseed oil contains almost seven grams of ALA, which is basically all the omega threes you need for a day for your brain. Yeah.

• 28:06Lisa Mosconi?

  According to research, although I think what you really want to maximize is DHA, which is a different form of omega threes and your brain is to convert the ALA into DHA. And part of the fat is lost in the process. So you might want to have a little bit more like I would shoot for like maybe eight, nine, 10 grams today, just for optimal brain health.

• 28:31Lewis Howes?

  I I take some DHA supplements. Now, what's the what's the difference between the power of uh foods that contain these nutrients versus the power of the oils, concentrated oils, the concentrated supplements that we take. Is there a difference? Should we be adding supplementation to our foods if we don't have access to these foods?

• 28:54Lisa Mosconi?

  Hmm.

• 28:55Lewis Howes?

  What's your thoughts?

• 28:57Lisa Mosconi?

  I have a lot of thoughts. I I should let you know this. So I'm part of the Global Council on Brain Health. It is sponsored by the AARP and we are over 30, 36 scientists who have done a lot of research on this topic. And we were asked about supplements and you should have seen unbelievable even even amount of scientists. Like people literally split up into groups are useless, super helpful. It depends. And then, yes, yes, it was very, very interesting, like scientists who read books,

• 29:32Lisa Mosconi?

  like pop science books and scientists who do not. And it was really interesting how how the understanding of what people actually do in real life was was quite different. Yes. Uh. So I think the overall consensus.

• 29:49Lewis Howes?

  So scientists have a different point. Scientists have a different point of view. It doesn't sound like there's a consensus that supplements.

• 29:56Lisa Mosconi?

  No, there was a consensus reached at the end, but I think it was really interesting how there are scientists who are just pure academics. It don't, I used to be one.

• 30:07Lewis Howes?

  Don't don't apply it in their.

• 30:09Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, yes. But also I think it's important for scientists to know what people actually doing for real, like.

• 30:18Lisa Mosconi?

  What kind of supplements do people take? What kind of supplements do people looking for? Why are they doing that? What are their claims being made? Are their claims realistic? And so we, we went through a whole list of supplements and whatnot. And the consensus is that if you have a deficiency or if your diet is really low in certain nutrients that you cannot obtain from your diet, then supplementation has value. But supplements do not replace foods. So what you want to do is always try to improve your diet so that your diet can supply all the nutrients that your body needs. And that is particularly important for antioxidants, which I was telling you before, they're just so important

• 31:02Lisa Mosconi?

  for brain energy levels and for protection against aging. There's, there's a ton of research showing that antioxidant supplements, so taking vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E from a supplement is not nearly as helpful as getting the same exact nutrients from foods. In part is that with vitamin E, um, we say vitamin E, but it's actually eight different isoforms, like alpha tocopherol, beta, gamma, delta. And from supplements, more often than not, you get the alpha type, unless you go through a mixed tocopherol complex. Whereas foods typically contain more than one form.

• 31:44Lisa Mosconi?

  And every isoform has slightly different effects in your body and your brain. Those clinical trials just keep failing. Like we know, it's really strange. We know from observational studies, the people who consume a certain amount of antioxidants are protected cognitively against dementia, against aging and whatnot. And then clinical trials try to replicate that and they just never find an effect.

• 32:12Lisa Mosconi?

  So it's it's interesting.

• 32:14Lewis Howes?

  So I'm hearing you say that food is number one. If you're unable to get certain nutrients from specific foods, then supplementation definitely supports, but it does not replace it.

• 32:26Lisa Mosconi?

  No, it doesn't.

• 32:27Lewis Howes?

  So it actually adds value, it improves, it'll help you, but it's not going to be the best solution.

• 32:33Lisa Mosconi?

  No, yes, and those things sometimes supplements are used a little bit like an excuse, like.

• 32:39Lewis Howes?

  I'm gonna eat all the pizza and candy and sweets and.

• 32:43Lisa Mosconi?

  But then I take my mom.

• 32:44Lewis Howes?

  But I'm gonna take some supplements so I have all the nutrients I need.

• 32:46Lisa Mosconi?

  That's right. So I think value is if are if taken in the context of a healthy, well-balanced diet. And then it depends, you know, if you're vegan or vegetarian, you might be deficient in some nutrients, the same way as if you are on very high fat diets, you may need more fiber or more antioxidants. So diets are personal. I think it's just really important to to be aware that some restrictive diets can need, can really deserve supplementation.

• 33:19Lewis Howes?

  Have you have you always been plant-based?

• 33:21Lisa Mosconi?

  Pretty much. Yeah. So my mom is a very strict vegetarian. And when I moved to New York, I was very confused. Everything changed. My diet changed. Everything changed. And they, I was.

• 33:35Lewis Howes?

  From Italy, right?

• 33:36Lisa Mosconi?

  I was there.

• 33:38Lewis Howes?

  Moving from from Italy to New York?

• 33:40Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, that was it was quite a shock.

• 33:43Lewis Howes?

  What was the biggest change in terms of the food choices?

• 33:47Lisa Mosconi?

  A lot of things changed. Um, well, I was I was used to cooking at home. And all of a sudden, it was a lot of takeout and going out to eat in restaurants, not knowing what exactly I was eating. And all these different cuisines and I'm curious. So I had never had five food before. I had never had sushi.

• 34:09Lisa Mosconi?

  Sushi in Italy when I moved to New York, which is a long time ago now. So everything was very interesting, but I think my body was just not ready for it. And the cookies, there's cookies everywhere.

• 34:20Lewis Howes?

  Cookies everywhere.

• 34:21Lisa Mosconi?

  Oh, my God, I was a student. They would literally shout like cookies on your throat. Okay, here's the coffee break. This much coffee, a plate of cookies and sandwiches, sandwiches, sandwiches. It was really strange. So that was bizarre, but I remained plant-based. I think it was more like an eighty, twenty. Twenty percent more fish, eggs, dairy. I'm not a big meat person. I've never been. But now I think I'm ninety nine point nine percent plant-based and it's been a while.

• 34:51Lewis Howes?

  Now, when you've learned, you know, the more you've studied brain foods and the functionality of optimizing your brain and you know, living longer and having the function of your brain use. What have you, what would you shy away from? What would you say, you know what, that's probably the worst thing for your brain? To have functionality and to to to function longer and live longer with your brain health. What are the the main foods you would absolutely never touch? You never give your family or your kids because you just feel like it's very harmful.

• 35:23Lisa Mosconi?

  Processed foods.

• 35:26Lisa Mosconi?

  And.

• 35:26Lewis Howes?

  Any, any processed foods?

• 35:29Lisa Mosconi?

  And no, we, we don't eat, I don't eat processed foods. I, I really try to stick to whole foods.

• 35:35Lewis Howes?

  So does that include like, that's a cooking, cakes, pastries?

• 35:39Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, I was just thinking, oh, my goodness, this is maybe not true. I, I do eat crackers occasionally, but um we really, I really don't eat a lot of processed foods and they're mostly minimally processed. And my daughter really loves this peanut butter covered banana bites. So I buy those. But I wouldn't call it a processed food. I mean, it's not fresh from the plant, but um it's certainly not burgers or hot dogs or popcorn and then it's just frozen pizza. I don't, don't eat that.

• 36:13Lewis Howes?

  So what is, what is, what does processed foods do to brain health?

• 36:18Lisa Mosconi?

  There is a lot of research showing that the standard American diet or the SAD diet is really, really.

• 36:28Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, it's really, really bad news for your brain. And we have seen this many times using brain scans. We publish this time and time again then. This may sound biased, but we were using a Mediterranean style pattern as an example of a healthy diet, which is what scientists would tell you. Most scientists really endorse a Mediterranean style diet as a healthy, as a brain healthy diet. And we were comparing the brain scans of people on the Mediterranean diet to those of people of the same exact age, educational level, on a Western diet or in a standard American diet. You could see the difference just by looking at the brains.

• 37:13Lisa Mosconi?

  So if you are...

• 37:16Lewis Howes?

  What do the brains look like on the Mediterranean diet versus

• 37:18Lisa Mosconi?

  I wish I could show you.

• 37:19Lewis Howes?

  sad, the sad American processed diet. What, is it just like it light up, it's lit up more, it's more rich looking? It's just fuller, what is the difference?

• 37:30Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, the difference is that the brains of people on the Western diet look older. It looks like, yes, I wish I could show you, I have the brain scans, they shrink.

• 37:41Lewis Howes?

  If you send me them, then on our YouTube, we can put it up on the video right here. So people can see this if you email us afterwards.

• 37:48Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, absolutely, I'll send it to you. So just picture that in your mind if you can, then the brain of a 50 year old person on a Mediterranean style diet looks very full. Like there's very, the brain is composed of three different parts, but mostly just two parts, there's brain and then there's fluid inside your hand. You want to have as much brain as you can and as little fluid as you can. I mean, you want to have some fluid because it's protective, but not too much. You have more fluid and less brain, it means your brain is shrinking. Like you're losing neuron and fluid is taking over the space.

• 38:24Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 38:25Lisa Mosconi?

  If you compare the brain scans, you can tell that people on Western diets show brain shrinkage already in midlife. And that continues over time and worse than that, and we have published this.

• 38:41Lisa Mosconi?

  The western diet is associated with the emergence of Alzheimer's plaques already in midlife. So people on Mediterranean diets are basically zero plaques, at least in our, in our hand.

• 38:56Lewis Howes?

  What do you mean by plaques? What does that mean?

• 38:58Lisa Mosconi?

  Alzheimer's plaques. So Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form of dementia in the population, is characterized by presence of these plaques.

• 39:08Lewis Howes?

  It's kind of like, so plaque on your teeth, there'd be plaque in your brain.

• 39:12Lisa Mosconi?

  There are lesions, yeah, there are lesions inside the brain that are considered the hallmark or the signature of Alzheimer's diseases. For a really, really long time, scientists, everybody thought that Alzheimer's was a disease of old age. And that's because the symptoms become evident when people are in their seventies.

• 39:32Lewis Howes?

  But now people are getting them in their fifties, the plaque buildup.

• 39:36Lisa Mosconi?

  That's right. So Alzheimer's starts with negative changes in the brain decades prior to anyone forgetting keys or forgetting names. That happens in midlife. And the very first signs that we can detect using brain scans are these plaques, these lesions that you can see building up inside your brain. And there's a very clear difference in the timeline for people on western diet who developed the plaques earlier than people who follow healthier diets. So that's a really, that's a big flag.

• 40:12Lewis Howes?

  Is there a way, when, if you notice someone's brain scan is shrinking, their brain, they're building some of these early-stage plaques around their brain. They've got more fluid, less brain matter. Is there a way to reverse that so your brain can actually grow and expand and become healthier and reverse Alzheimer's plaque? Is that possible?

• 40:34Lisa Mosconi?

  So, well, that's the hope with the vaccinations that we're working on. So scientists have been working on developing vaccines for Alzheimer's disease for a really, really long time. The idea is that if you remove the plaques, your brain won't, will stop deteriorating. But so far, all the clinical trials failed, which is.

• 40:58Lewis Howes?

  In removing the plaques?

• 41:00Lisa Mosconi?

  No, they've removed the plaques, but they do not reverse dementia or cognitive impairment or the atrophy.

• 41:09Lisa Mosconi?

  So that's disappointing in so many ways. I can't even begin to tell you. But that's another reason why the entire scientific community is now moving towards prevention. People say we're starting too late. We should start treating this when people are younger.

• 41:29Lewis Howes?

  Right. Not when they need it, but it's like when you're.

• 41:33Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, it's preventative, you know, we want to, we want people not to get those plaques. I think that would be the idea.

• 41:40Lewis Howes?

  So when you get, when you start to build up these plaques, what I'm hearing you say is you can remove the plaque potentially.

• 41:48Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 41:48Lewis Howes?

  But you'll, you'll still cannot reverse dementia or Alzheimer's. Are you able to reverse Alzheimer's in some way? Is that possible?

• 41:58Lisa Mosconi?

  Depends on what you mean by reversing Alzheimer's. So there's Alzheimer's disease, which is the actual pathology, the lesions and plaques and tangles and a bunch of other things. And then there's dementia, which is clinical syndrome with the symptoms. We can reverse Alzheimer's by removing the plaques. But the problem is that the symptoms don't go away.

• 42:21Lewis Howes?

  Really? So we were unable to reverse the symptoms of dementia currently. Is that right?

• 42:26Lisa Mosconi?

  Currently, that's.

• 42:27Lewis Howes?

  No one, no one's, no one's had dementia and then reversed it.

• 42:32Lisa Mosconi?

  Not in clinical trials.

• 42:34Lewis Howes?

  In real, in real life, has someone done this that you're aware of?

• 42:37Lisa Mosconi?

  I don't think so. I.

• 42:39Lewis Howes?

  So is there a way to slow it down?

• 42:41Lisa Mosconi?

  I would know about it.

• 42:42Lewis Howes?

  Is there a way, is there a way to slow this process down so it doesn't get worse? And it's kind of like a manageable

• 42:50Lewis Howes?

  symptoms where it's like, okay, I'm, you know, I'm forgetting or I'm losing memory, but it's not worse and worse and worse every day. Have we seen that?

• 42:59Lisa Mosconi?

  Uh, yeah, so there are some medicines that we have. Uh, there are Alzheimer's uh drugs that slow down progression. Like donapril or atrescept, like the most common. Well, we only have four medications approved for Alzheimer's disease. We have acetylcyanester, it's inhibitors, which are the most common. We have memantine for some cases, they do slow down progression by it, but they do not fix the problem.

• 43:28Lewis Howes?

  And where?

• 43:30Lewis Howes?

  Where is Alzheimer's the most prevalent in the world? Is it in the USA? Is it in Europe? Is it in what countries or regions of the world?

• 43:39Lisa Mosconi?

  Alzheimer's, yeah. Uh, the United States are quite on top. And then there are other countries as well in Europe, some places in Asia. I think industrialized countries in general experience very, experience higher rates of dementia. And one thing that I would like to point out, that is again, it's my work. So that Alzheimer's disease affects women more than men, or affects more women than men, to say more correctly, yeah.

• 44:07Lewis Howes?

  Why is that?

• 44:08Lisa Mosconi?

  One thing that people don't realize is that almost two thirds of all Alzheimer's patients are women.

• 44:14Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 44:15Lisa Mosconi?

  So for every man suffering from Alzheimer's, there are two women. And that's one of the reasons that I started looking into Alzheimer's disease, that I have a family history of Alzheimer's, it really affects the women in my family. So if you can't believe it, my grandmother was one of four siblings, three sisters and one brother. All three sisters developed Alzheimer's disease and died of it, whereas the brother was spared. So for me, that was terrifying for my mom as well, and.

• 44:51Lisa Mosconi?

  I started asking questions. I was like, why? Does it matter? Is it just my family? Number one, my screw.

• 44:57Lewis Howes?

  Is it a gene that your parents have that then you're gonna have no matter what? Cause I think that's a fear for a lot of people, like, oh, my grandfather had it, my dad's gonna, you know?

• 45:04Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, for a really long time, most people understood Alzheimer's disease as some kind of inevitable consequence of aging or bad genes in your DNA. But we now understand that no more than two percent of all Alzheimer's cases are genetically inherited.

• 45:23Lewis Howes?

  Huh.

• 45:24Lisa Mosconi?

  Two percent of most have.

• 45:26Lewis Howes?

  So you could have five people in your family have it and you are still have a two percent chance of getting it from them, the gene, is that right?

• 45:35Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, this is in the whole population. I think if five people in your family have Alzheimer's disease, you want to get tested for genetic.

• 45:43Lewis Howes?

  Now, is it, is it because of the diets they've been eating? Is the reason why they're getting it? Or is it because they're gonna get it no matter what?

• 45:51Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, so for two percent of the population is genetic, is genetically determined. For ninety-eight percent of the population is multifactorial. So there are a number of factors that really matter, including your genetic background, not in a causative way, but more there are genes that give you blue eyes and genes that give you brown eyes. And there are some genes that negatively impact brain health and genes that are protected. So it's a combination of things, but then medical history is supremely important. Lifestyle is huge and environment, they really all matter. And what we have found is that hormonal aging, your hormones are also incredibly important, especially for women.

• 46:37Lisa Mosconi?

  So is what I was telling you, so for a really long time, people would say to me, women live longer than men. And Alzheimer's disease is a disease of old age. Obviously, more women than men have Alzheimer's disease. But what we have shown is that, yes, women live little bit longer than men, four and a half years on average.

• 46:58Lewis Howes?

  Four and a half years.

• 46:59Lisa Mosconi?

  But we tend to develop Alzheimer's disease at a younger age than men, and this is.

• 47:06Lewis Howes?

  Why is that? What, what, is you think that's more?

• 47:09Lisa Mosconi?

  It's menopause. Well, it's one of the reasons, at least the reasons that we are looking into much all the time at this point is menopause. And it's literally that during menopause, we lose the superpowers of estrogen. And the brain goes through quite a transition. You can see how brain energy levels literally change in women's brains. Connectivity changes, the white matter volume changes, blood flow changes, everything kind of changes. And for some women, it's just, it's just a phase, it's just a transition. The brain adjusts, there is a new baseline, there's a new normal, we move on.

• 47:49Lewis Howes?

  It's a, what a, how long does that transition take? Is it months, is it years?

• 47:54Lisa Mosconi?

  I know, it's years, it's years.

• 47:57Lewis Howes?

  So you might feel this brain fogginess for a couple of years and then it should bounce out.

• 48:03Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, for some, for some women, however, the symptoms of menopause don't go away. It may turn into something more serious, including a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease. So basically, we start developing this Alzheimer's plaque, not all women, this is not universal. But some women, women with a predisposition to Alzheimer's disease, start developing these red flags for Alzheimer's disease in their forties and fifties. So much earlier than we had thought before. And then, of course, think about it, so you're going through menopause and your brain is changing and it really needs support. And you're eating poorly, you're not exercising, you're not sleeping, you have a ton of stress.

• 48:47Lisa Mosconi?

  Those factors all really work together against you in a way. So I think it's really important for men and for women. I would say women really need to start thinking about that in midlife, that our brain is like a muscle. There are things that we can do to make it stronger and more resilient. We can exercise it properly, we can feed it properly, we can take care of it properly. And your brain will perform so much better for you at any age. And men and women need to do slightly different things.

• 49:19Lewis Howes?

  What are the differences?

• 49:19Lisa Mosconi?

  Not so slightly.

• 49:22Lisa Mosconi?

  So for example, for some women, we have a lot of patients who come to us. They learn so much more about their brains and their risk factors. And then some women will start taking hormones, hormonal replacement therapy.

• 49:35Lewis Howes?

  Is that good or bad?

• 49:37Lisa Mosconi?

  It's really case by case. Some women swear by it, some women swear at it. They really hate it. It does not work, it helps, doesn't help at all. For some women, it's a godsend. And I think it's really important to have a conversation with a doctor, not just your menopause specialist, but I think also brain doctor. And we're not there yet, we're not there yet. I now work at the intersection between neurology, neuroscience and women's health, which is a very unusual space, a very interesting space, but it's also a very challenging space. And I think my hope for the future is that we'll start looking at women as organisms,

• 50:22Lisa Mosconi?

  as a person, right? Not like you go to the endocrinologist to look at your thyroid, you know, you go to the OB GYN to look at your ovaries, then you have to go to a brain person to look at your brain. I believe in integrative medicine. I think that we're moving in that direction.

• 50:39Lewis Howes?

  It's all connected, it's, yeah.

• 50:42Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 50:42Lewis Howes?

  Might be a problem here, but it's affecting something else. You know, it's all, it's all connected, yeah.

• 50:46Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, so I think that is really, really important. But however, hormonal replacement therapy really doesn't work for all women and there is no recommendation to use it for Alzheimer's prevention. Yet, we're working on it. We're hoping that we'll find a good way to help integrate these therapies into, in a safe way.

• 51:07Lewis Howes?

  Oh.

• 51:08Lisa Mosconi?

  But.

• 51:08Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 51:09Lisa Mosconi?

  Sorry, I just made this point.

• 51:11Lewis Howes?

  Go ahead.

• 51:11Lisa Mosconi?

  I was saying that, you know, the point of hormonal replacement therapy is that you want to give women the estrogens that the body is not longer making. But where are these estrogens coming from? Because plants make estrogens. So estrogen is the most ancient of hormones. And that means that it can go across species. So plants make estrogens, animals make estrogens, women make estrogens. And estrogens from a plant, vital estrogens, enter a woman's body. And if you consume these plant-based foods often enough, that's effectively a very gentle hormonal replacement therapy over time.

• 51:54Lisa Mosconi?

  Which is one of the reasons that people think that a Mediterranean-style diet that is more plant-centered is beneficial for women's health. Because women on this kind of diet have a much lower risk of a number of things, from cardiovascular disease and stroke, to depression, to Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and also they have fewer heart flashes and they don't suffer from menopause the way that so many American women do.

• 52:22Lewis Howes?

  Now, I've heard from different scientists and nutritionists about meat being a complete protein and having like these nutrients, nutrient-dense within the meat.

• 52:36Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 52:36Lewis Howes?

  How, uh, but I'm hearing you say that plant-based is, has just as many nutrients and proteins and antioxidants and all these other things. What are the, what are the benefits or the, or the, the cons against eating quality meat, let's say, for brain function and brain health? Are there other things we should look out for if we do have a lot of meat or some meat in our diet?

• 53:04Lisa Mosconi?

  It's a, it's a really interesting point. I think so many people right now are eating a lot of meat. There are, there are a lot of diets out there that really support and encourage um, eating good quality meat, but quite a lot of meat. I, I would say the research points to plant-based diets as being healthier overall and more protective.

• 53:34Lewis Howes?

  For the brain?

• 53:34Lisa Mosconi?

  I would say, yes, for the brain, but I think also in general, there aren't, there aren't that many dietary recommendations that include a lot of meat.

• 53:45Lisa Mosconi?

  I think, I think every person is, is different. But to your point, there's no need to eat meat to obtain complete protein.

• 53:56Lisa Mosconi?

  It's, it's an easy way. It's definitely convenient for you if you're not an animal. It's a, it's a good way to obtain complete protein, just in one small amount to, in a, in a small portion of food. To obtain the same amount of protein from plant-based foods, you need to eat more of those. But there are some, there, there are some plant, plant-based foods that are actually quite rich in protein, which are inches like hemp seeds, complete protein, tempeh, complete protein, nutritional yeast, complete protein, and those are good sources of vitamin B12. So I think it's a bit, fish is a good source of complete protein. There's actually, that's actually been linked time and time again with

• 54:41Lisa Mosconi?

  a lower risk of dementia by almost seventy percent.

• 54:44Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 54:45Lisa Mosconi?

  Of fish a week.

• 54:46Lewis Howes?

  Two servings of fish a week will lower your chance of dementia by seventy percent?

• 54:51Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, so let me say that again.

• 54:55Lisa Mosconi?

  There's research showing that, there's, there's um, solid research showing that eating one to two servings of fish a week is associated with seventy percent lower risk of Alzheimer's disease.

• 55:09Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 55:10Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, seventy percent is a lot.

• 55:12Lewis Howes?

  But you, you don't eat fish though, right?

• 55:14Lisa Mosconi?

  I haven't in a long time and I I'm going to say that I kind of miss it, but I really like it. I, I'm Italian.

• 55:24Lewis Howes?

  What's the, what's the reason why you're, i- if you know that two servings of fish a week will decrease the, the dementia, of the Alzheimer's or the dementia risk? Is that what he said?

• 55:34Lisa Mosconi?

  Dementia, I think the study's like the dementia.

• 55:37Lewis Howes?

  So if you, if you as a neuroscientist and researcher know that, then why haven't you eaten fish?

• 55:44Lisa Mosconi?

  I can obtain the same nutrients from plants, from plant-based foods, and I, it took me, it took me a minute to get to that point because I really care about my brain.

• 55:55Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 55:56Lisa Mosconi?

  And I always associated eating fish with supporting brain health because of the research.

• 56:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 56:04Lisa Mosconi?

  So I really wanted to make sure that switching to a plant-based diet would not endanger my brain in any way, shape or form. And I did a lot of research. I really looked into all the different foods, the supply, the omega threes, the fish provides. I wanted to make sure the protein intake was more than adequate. I wanted to make sure that my B12 was also totally fine. I did not want to become deficient in any nutrients by choosing one diet over the other. And I'm very happy with this. I'm happy I made the right choice for me personally, and I'm very careful with my nutritional intake.

• 56:46Lisa Mosconi?

  I even do blood tests to make sure that I have the right levels of nutrients from my diet. I went to see the antioxidants. I really, I check. I really check. Also, I'm getting my brain scanned really soon, so I'm excited about that.

• 57:01Lewis Howes?

  What are the, if you could only eat five foods, every single day for the rest of your life?

• 57:07Lisa Mosconi?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 57:08Lewis Howes?

  To optimize brain health, brain functionality, longevity, support memory, all those things.

• 57:15Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes.

• 57:15Lewis Howes?

  What would those five foods be on a daily basis?

• 57:19Lisa Mosconi?

  I would say, you don't like berries, but I would definitely go for berries because they're rich in fiber, they're low in sugars, and they provide really an enormous amount of antioxidants for the small serving size. And just evidence that consuming two to three servings of berries per week really slows down cognitive decline in both men and women, and especially in women. So you might want to try some.

• 57:47Lewis Howes?

  Man, I gotta start. Which berries, which two or three are the best?

• 57:51Lisa Mosconi?

  Blackberries actually have more antioxidants than even blueberries. That's an interesting type of berry. They're not as easy to find as blueberries, but you can get them frozen and they're still quite intense.

• 58:10Lewis Howes?

  Now, is it, if it's, if it's a modified blackberry where it's frozen, it's put in a smoothie and blended, it's in, you know, liquid form, does that all still matter? Or do you need it?

• 58:21Lisa Mosconi?

  No, I don't think.

• 58:23Lewis Howes?

  The raw form, or is it doesn't matter?

• 58:25Lisa Mosconi?

  No, cooking. So cooking destroys vitamin C.

• 58:30Lisa Mosconi?

  Vitamin C, all the antioxidants are really easily damaged by heat. So freezing shouldn't reduce the antioxidant capacity by too much. Obviously, you don't want them to be frozen for ten years. I mean, you know.

• 58:45Lewis Howes?

  Sure. So we got blackberries, blueberries.

• 58:48Lisa Mosconi?

  Blackberries are great. Goji berries.

• 58:50Lewis Howes?

  Goji berries.

• 58:51Lisa Mosconi?

  Concentrated sources of vitamin C. There's a kind of plum that I I haven't been able to find. It's a kakadu plum, which seems to be this the most powerful concentrated source of vitamin C on the planet. I know they have been in Australia and Pacific Islands. I've never seen it here, but I would like to try it.

• 59:11Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so we got berries, number one. What would be the second?

• 59:14Lisa Mosconi?

  Mulberries are really good.

• 59:16Lewis Howes?

  Mulberries.

• 59:17Lisa Mosconi?

  Very sorry.

• 59:18Lewis Howes?

  I'd actually like, I actually had mulberry tree in my backyard in Ohio growing up. And I would eat some mulberries every now and then. So maybe I'll get back into mulberries.

• 59:26Lisa Mosconi?

  That could be nice. You can also find them dry.

• 59:29Lewis Howes?

  Okay, I'll draw dried mulberries will work too.

• 59:32Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, they're very good. They're very tasty.

• 59:34Lewis Howes?

  They're still, you still have the nutrients when they're dried.

• 59:36Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, yes, a little bit less than the fresh ones, but they're sweeter than they're dry.

• 59:43Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 59:44Lisa Mosconi?

  I grow them in the garden. Yeah.

• 59:47Lewis Howes?

  And those are high in antioxidants. Those are high in antioxidants?

• 59:52Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, they're high in antioxidants.

• 59:54Lewis Howes?

  Okay, great. Awesome. Okay, so we got berries is what you.

• 59:56Lisa Mosconi?

  Get the berries. And I would go for dark leafy greens. Because they're really important. They contain a ton of phytonutrients, which are really good. You know, they have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties and a lot of fiber. And fiber is really important for a number of reasons. The most obvious being that it supports gut health. Obviously, and seventy percent of the immune system is in the gut. So eating fiber also supports immunity, which especially now is a huge concern for everyone. But also fiber has a really important modulatory function on sex hormone binding globulin.

• 1:00:37Lisa Mosconi?

  Which is what regulates flow of hormones inside the body.

• 1:00:42Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:00:43Lisa Mosconi?

  And so it really helps support hormonal health as well. So I would say two reasons to eat fiber and go for you. Leafy greens and there's a ton of greens and we don't have to eat kale all the time. There is so many other varieties that are just.

• 1:00:58Lewis Howes?

  Spinach and arugula, all those.

• 1:01:00Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, all the lettuces, all the different micro greens, the collard greens, if you like them. But also cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, now now is the season, so cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, from an esco. Yummy, I'm sure you eat veggies.

• 1:01:19Lewis Howes?

  I eat those. I eat a lot of veggies, yeah.

• 1:01:20Lisa Mosconi?

  There you go.

• 1:01:22Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so we got.

• 1:01:23Lisa Mosconi?

  And those are the first two. Well, I I would throw some polyunsaturated fatty acids there that the omega threes, whether from fish, do you fish?

• 1:01:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:32Lisa Mosconi?

  Right. So in that case, for those who do eat fish, then the smash fish. So salmon, macarons, anchovies, sardines, herring, smash.

• 1:01:43Lewis Howes?

  Smash fish.

• 1:01:44Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:44Lewis Howes?

  All right.

• 1:01:45Lisa Mosconi?

  So these are really good sources, very concentrated sources of.

• 1:01:49Lewis Howes?

  And if you didn't, and if you didn't get that from fish, what would be the uh substitute you would do plant based?

• 1:01:55Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, for me, plant based. So omega three is from hemp seeds for sure, uh flax seeds and flax oil, walnuts, almonds, chia seeds and also um seaweed. I don't know if you like seaweed. I actually.

• 1:02:10Lewis Howes?

  I love seaweed. I eat those little.

• 1:02:12Lisa Mosconi?

  The nori sheets.

• 1:02:13Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, the little sheets. I can eat those for days.

• 1:02:16Lisa Mosconi?

  I know. So good. Yeah.

• 1:02:18Lewis Howes?

  That's good for you then, huh?

• 1:02:19Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes. Yeah, yeah, for sure. Ayurveda, they're a good source of many nutrients, many minerals. With chlorella is another one that is really good. You can put in your smoothies. It's very dark green. Um.

• 1:02:33Lisa Mosconi?

  You know sweet peas? I didn't know that recently. Sweet peas are actually good sources of phospholipids, which is a lipid attached to other compounds that are good for you and some are very rich in omega threes as well. So green peas, sweet peas, edamame, soybeans, those are all beans are good.

• 1:02:54Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:02:55Lisa Mosconi?

  And they also contain fiber and some antioxidants at the same time. The hemp seed is a really good source of protein as well, vegetable protein, a little bit of fat, the fiber.

• 1:03:07Lewis Howes?

  That's great. Okay, so that's the, that's the third part of the plant-based. What's the?

• 1:03:12Lisa Mosconi?

  I personally would go for complex carbohydrates from things like sweet potatoes.

• 1:03:21Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:03:21Lisa Mosconi?

  Is it really good for you? Because it's a source, it's high in fiber, but also provides the sugars that the brain really needs. Actually, I'm gonna take a step back and go for phytoestrogen-rich foods, especially for women, because we don't talk about this enough. There are foods that have estrogenic properties. They're very mild, have a mild effect in the body, but they really support health for women. I'm gonna go, oh, woman, I want to talk about women because we never do, and it's true. And these foods are very similar to the ones that we're just talking about. They include flax seeds, sesame seeds, chickpeas, all sorts of beans, dried apricots and dried figs are really good sources. Berries are another source. And tropical fruit.

• 1:04:06Lisa Mosconi?

  And going back to fruit, maybe you'll start eating fruit. But there's also evidence that women in particular, who consume one serving of tropical fruits per week, have better fertility and delayed also the menopause. Yeah. And the studies looked at mango, pineapple and papaya.

• 1:04:25Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:04:26Lisa Mosconi?

  It's good sources of phytoestrogens that support fertility.

• 1:04:32Lewis Howes?

  Okay, wow.

• 1:04:33Lisa Mosconi?

  And the important thing, I think, is to really delay menopause as much as you can or make sure that you don't get the symptoms because they can be really, really unpleasant.

• 1:04:45Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:04:46Lisa Mosconi?

  That's in any way, man, yeah. And then my number five would be water. I always include. With the electrolytes. Yes, could be herbal tea if you like that.

• 1:04:59Lewis Howes?

  So teas, so teas have electrolytes as well, is that, is that what that?

• 1:05:03Lisa Mosconi?

  It depends what kind of water you use. Yes, if the water you use contains electrolytes, then so does the tea.

• 1:05:10Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:05:10Lisa Mosconi?

  Something that is really nice, especially in this season, is to use medicinal herbs to make your tea, like thyme.

• 1:05:18Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 1:05:19Lisa Mosconi?

  It's so good. You just boil the water and pour it over like a couple of sprigs of thyme of rosemary or sage. Because those plants, um, they're, they're good sources of antioxidants, but they also double up as anti-inflammatory.

• 1:05:37Lisa Mosconi?

  So you drink your little tea and this potion.

• 1:05:41Lewis Howes?

  Are these all the things that you do on a daily basis or?

• 1:05:44Lisa Mosconi?

  Oh, for sure, for sure. I drink my lemon water every, every morning. I drink noni juice first thing in the morning.

• 1:05:52Lewis Howes?

  Noni juice.

• 1:05:53Lisa Mosconi?

  Noni juice, N O N I.

• 1:05:55Lewis Howes?

  Noni juice.

• 1:05:56Lisa Mosconi?

  Noni. Do you know what it is?

• 1:05:58Lewis Howes?

  No.

• 1:05:59Lisa Mosconi?

  No. So it's a, it's a fruit that comes from Tahiti and the Pacific Islands. That smells awful, the actual fruit, but it can be juiced. And the juice is incredible. It really has incredible benefits for the skin, for digestion, and contains over a hundred uh vitamins and minerals and phytonutrients in general that are strong antioxidants and it also has some anti-inflammatory properties. And I wouldn't mention it in general because it does sound a little bit more wellness than, than science.

• 1:06:37Lisa Mosconi?

  But the point is even the NIH talks about noni juice. There's a whole page where they go over all these um nutrient-dense foods. And they have a whole section about these, which I found many, many years ago. And I was like, well, I, I'm gonna have to try it. And they had it at the health food store. I was so excited and it, it doesn't taste good. I'll be honest.

• 1:07:02Lewis Howes?

  It doesn't taste good, but you know it's good for your brain and your body and everything.

• 1:07:04Lisa Mosconi?

  Actually, yes.

• 1:07:07Lewis Howes?

  Wow, okay.

• 1:07:07Lisa Mosconi?

  I can, I, I noticed the effect.

• 1:07:10Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:07:11Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes, and my friends do, and my friends do too. I, when they come over, it's fun to just go over my fridge and my pantry because I have all these very weird, unusual things. And, and now most of my friends are drinking orange juice and it really helps, it really, really helps. If anyone has

• 1:07:29Lisa Mosconi?

  digestive issues, it really changes a lot of things for a lot of people, which is remarkable. I was very interested in the antioxidant situation, but it's really interesting that we only drink water at home. Herbal tea a lot. We grow herbs in the garden. Yeah, no processed foods in the house unless the occasion on.

• 1:07:54Lewis Howes?

  Pastry or cook, cookie. No pastries?

• 1:07:58Lisa Mosconi?

  No.

• 1:07:59Lewis Howes?

  What? How do you live without a pastry?

• 1:08:02Lisa Mosconi?

  I, I bake. I would say I bake. I mean, bread. We buy bread from Whole Foods.

• 1:08:09Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so you eat bread?

• 1:08:10Lisa Mosconi?

  From the farmer's market. We do it. Yeah, I do eat bread. I like it.

• 1:08:13Lewis Howes?

  But you don't make cookies? You don't bake?

• 1:08:16Lisa Mosconi?

  Occasionally.

• 1:08:17Lewis Howes?

  Muffins and cupcakes?

• 1:08:19Lisa Mosconi?

  I'm not able to bake muffins. I've never done it. I'm, I could, I think. But cookies, yes. Um, I bake them. I don't buy them.

• 1:08:28Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:08:29Lisa Mosconi?

  I'd rather make them. Do you cook?

• 1:08:32Lewis Howes?

  I can cook. I actually enjoy when I, when I want to cook, I actually enjoy it, but I love the convenience of having healthy food just delivered to me or given to me, or I, I like to use my time with other things. So it's not that I don't cook, it's just I choose not to.

• 1:08:52Lisa Mosconi?

  Okay.

• 1:08:54Lewis Howes?

  I choose to learn in other ways, but so you will cook cookies, but you'll make them yourself.

• 1:09:02Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:02Lewis Howes?

  Better ingredients, with better, yeah.

• 1:09:05Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, I guess sometimes for my daughter, I get snacks from Whole Foods. But mostly she's happy when with strawberries and I mean, she literally asks for goji berries for the snack. Or I'm just.

• 1:09:21Lewis Howes?

  That's amazing.

• 1:09:22Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, things will change.

• 1:09:23Lewis Howes?

  Who knows? Yeah, okay.

• 1:09:25Lisa Mosconi?

  I used to make, so I grew up eating Nutella.

• 1:09:29Lewis Howes?

  Oh, gosh, Nutella is so good. So you make it, you home make it?

• 1:09:32Lisa Mosconi?

  It's really not healthy. Yes, I make my own version.

• 1:09:36Lewis Howes?

  What's in it?

• 1:09:36Lisa Mosconi?

  With hazelnut, so there's hazelnuts, hazelnut oil, uh, raw cacao. Yeah, a little bit of coconut oil and uh, dark chocolate chips and sweetened.

• 1:09:52Lewis Howes?

  That probably tastes.

• 1:09:52Lisa Mosconi?

  And then a little bit of maple syrup. It's so good. You need to have a food processor, like a good one. I think I have a cuisine art, so it's not like a crazy thing to have. It's very helpful. You can make.

• 1:10:05Lewis Howes?

  But this doesn't sound healthy still. Is it healthier?

• 1:10:08Lisa Mosconi?

  No, yeah, of course. They're all whole foods. Hazelnuts are actually really, really healthy. They they contain monounsaturated fatty acids that are good for the heart. They have antioxidants. They have a little bit of vitamins and minerals. They taste so good. They're raw. They're not processed at all. They're just.

• 1:10:27Lewis Howes?

  You should have, you should have, you should have an online store where you're selling uh, organic uh, Nutella, you know?

• 1:10:34Lisa Mosconi?

  Organic Nutella.

• 1:10:35Lewis Howes?

  Healthy Nutella.

• 1:10:36Lisa Mosconi?

  It's so good. It's really yummy.

• 1:10:39Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:10:40Lisa Mosconi?

  I make a lot of things at home. I make banana ice cream for my daughter. It's the quickest thing about you like bananas. So this is very, is it? So you freeze the banana, like two bananas, then get two medjool dates. Take the, you know, take this, what's it called, the thing in the middle?

• 1:10:58Lewis Howes?

  Pit, yeah.

• 1:10:59Lisa Mosconi?

  Pit. You get it like so, and then you want to soak the dates a little bit so they get really soft and put everything in the Vitamix. And just blend it up.

• 1:11:09Lewis Howes?

  And then freeze it.

• 1:11:10Lisa Mosconi?

  With a little cashew milk to give it a little creaminess. You don't have to create, it just, it turns out perfect. The bananas need to be frozen. And it's great. That's what she wants for a snack. So I'm like, great. Why not?

• 1:11:24Lewis Howes?

  What foods do you think men should be eating differently than women?

• 1:11:29Lisa Mosconi?

  Men can tolerate fat, animal fat, in larger quantities than women. And this is, this is very on average, right? It depends, there are some women who do wonderfully well with animal fat and some men who don't. But on average, I think, um, men's metabolism supports fat breakdown in a way that is more efficient, uh, the women's bodies. And this, this is research, I mean, there's a lot of research on that. It's in part the hormones, it's in part body composition, muscle fiber. You know, men are more wired for explosive performance and high intensity interval training. And of course, many women can do all of that and more. Absolutely, it's just on average.

• 1:12:14Lisa Mosconi?

  So I think, I think these foods are good for everybody if you want to eat them. You know, and then, then there's all these different diets out there. But I think as long as whole foods are really the focus of the diet. I think that is the most important thing. Don't stay away from processed foods. There's just so much research showing that all these different chemicals that are part to the foods. It used to be trans saturated fats or trans fats, but now there's all sorts of guns and emulsifiers and a ton of refined oils and a ton of pro-inflammatory nutrients. And we, we know that diets that are rich or high in processed foods

• 1:12:59Lisa Mosconi?

  increase your risk of heart disease by over thirty percent. They double your risk of dementia, they double your risk of cancer. They increase your risk of depression, they increase your risk of hemorrhagic stroke. Why? They don't even taste good, those foods. I mean, that's the bottom line. Yes, they're convenient, they're cheaper. But they don't taste good, they do nothing for your energy levels. And they are very harmful to your health. I think it's really unfair that healthy food is so expensive.

• 1:13:35Lisa Mosconi?

  But other than that, it's a matter of really making a choice. And I think it's important to know this because as a society, we're aware that what we eat really changes the way we look. And that the foods that we put into our bodies will dictate what kind of clothes we can wear, what kind of performance we can have. But the foods that we eat really also impact how our brains work. So they really make a huge difference in the way that we think, that we feel and remember. So in a way, the same, you know, the same way that we save for retirement, that we would like to save for retirement, we should also eat for retirement.

• 1:14:19Lisa Mosconi?

  We should think of as food, as information, food as function, and food as something that is protective and can really help you live your life to the fullest. It's a tool, it's an asset.

• 1:14:35Lewis Howes?

  I a hundred percent agree. And I'm curious, what are the studies shown? I know the, I know all about the blue zones, but what are the, what are the studies shown about the areas of the world where there's the least amount of Alzheimer's and dementia? Where people live long, but they also remember long, I guess, as well. Is there, are those the blue zones as well? Or are they other regions that you're aware of?

• 1:14:59Lisa Mosconi?

  So the blue zones are very well characterized and there are about five or six parts of the world that, Ben Gutner, right? The National Geographic has done such incredible work just characterizing and describing the lifestyle of these populations. But there are other hot, like other longevity hotspots all over the world. There's one beautiful, beautiful place in China that I'll never remember the name of. It's by, ah, this, I, I need to find out now, it is this gorgeous river in the valley that it looks like just came out of a dream. And people there should qualify for the Blue Zone.

• 1:15:42Lisa Mosconi?

  And then there's some parts of rural India with the lowest rates of dementia. And some other parts, some other parts of Europe as well, where people live to really long ages and do not experience community deterioration, dementia, diabetes, obesity. They're really protected and what, what all of them have in common is very low stress, a sense of belonging and being part of the community and being supported. Exercise, not going to the gym, but just moving your body on a regular basis. Good sleep, like prioritizing sleep, taking naps and plant-based diets.

• 1:16:20Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:16:21Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 1:16:23Lisa Mosconi?

  I know meat is a luxury. Meat is a luxury in many parts of the world. And that's the way that.

• 1:16:30Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's a, it's a once a month type of thing in some places. It's like, okay, let's, we got some meat today. This is like a celebration type of.

• 1:16:36Lisa Mosconi?

  It's a celebration, exactly. It's a special treat. Like when I was growing up, which is not a hundred years ago, but even when I was growing up in Italy and then I was in France for a while, eating meat was really stunning special.

• 1:16:53Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:16:54Lisa Mosconi?

  Yes.

• 1:16:54Lewis Howes?

  Not, not in every meal?

• 1:16:56Lisa Mosconi?

  Oh, no, absolutely not. And also the meat was coming straight from the farm, not factory farming. Like the actual traditional farm with a farmer who knew the chickens by name and kind of cried a little bit.

• 1:17:09Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 1:17:10Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah. I was very emotional. Oh, my gosh. I'm telling you, my mom was, okay, that's it with that, no more.

• 1:17:17Lewis Howes?

  Oh, man.

• 1:17:18Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, my mother, my mom has been a vegetarian for over thirty years. I mean, I was little when she.

• 1:17:26Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, she said, that's it no more. And my dad was like, ah.

• 1:17:32Lewis Howes?

  Does your dad keep eating meat?

• 1:17:34Lisa Mosconi?

  I know. Well, occasionally when when they go out to the restaurant to when they see friends outside, but not not in the house, no. Fish, she'll she'll tolerate.

• 1:17:45Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, there's not the fish doesn't have a name, so it's okay. It's like, yeah. Wow.

• 1:17:51Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah. Tradition.

• 1:17:53Lewis Howes?

  This is fascinating stuff, so.

• 1:17:55Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, but also, you know, one another reason, and I'll keep going back to women until you say that with me, but um there are there are studies with hundreds of thousands of people showing that um diets high in processed foods really are strongly associated with a higher risk of cancer. Whereas diets that are high in whole foods and minimally processed foods, especially veggies and fruit and whole grains and legumes are associated with a much lower risk of cancer, especially in women. Like breast cancer after menopause is much lower uh for women who eat healthy uh whole foods. And also, especially eating legumes and fish

• 1:18:39Lisa Mosconi?

  is associated with a later onset of menopause and better hormonal health.

• 1:18:44Lewis Howes?

  Eating legumes and fish help you.

• 1:18:46Lisa Mosconi?

  Legumes and fish.

• 1:18:48Lewis Howes?

  Remember more longer.

• 1:18:51Lisa Mosconi?

  Or go through menopause later and not have the symptoms, whereas uh diets that are high in processed foods and refined foods and sugar and refined carbs are really bad in that in that regard. They really anticipate the onset of menopause, and even in women who have no genetic reason to go through menopause early, they accelerate the aging process.

• 1:19:14Lewis Howes?

  Educate me on the female experience.

• 1:19:18Lisa Mosconi?

  Yay, yes, talk about women.

• 1:19:21Lewis Howes?

  When when does menopause usually happen for women?

• 1:19:24Lisa Mosconi?

  Fifty one.

• 1:19:25Lewis Howes?

  What fifty one?

• 1:19:26Lisa Mosconi?

  The average age is fifty one.

• 1:19:28Lewis Howes?

  Why does it happen earlier for some and why does it happen later for others? And does every woman go through it at some point, or is there a way to uh I guess extend this process so it doesn't?

• 1:19:42Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, it's a really good question. So all women go through menopause in their lifetime. The average age of menopause, the median age of menopause is fifty two in the United States. The latest you can go fully through menopause is around fifty eight in the United States. The earliest you can go through menopause is in your thirties.

• 1:20:06Lewis Howes?

  What happens? Again, educate me, what happens when you go through menopause? What happens to the female body, to the the the brain, the DNA? What is happening?

• 1:20:17Lisa Mosconi?

  I love it. I love how you ask. What is going on? Well, a lot of things are happening, so it depends. There there are different reasons to go through menopause. For most women, you go through menopause spontaneously. And the age is in part genetic, genetically related. In part, it really depends on your lifestyle. So for many women, it's important to ask your mom. How, what was your mother when she went through menopause? Because there's a strong link in that. My mom went through menopause in her late fifties, so I'm hopefully also targeting late fifties. However, I have a lot more stress in my life than my mom used to have.

• 1:21:01Lisa Mosconi?

  And that's one factor that may accelerate the onset of the menopause. Smoking is the number one risk factor for early menopause.

• 1:21:10Lewis Howes?

  Really? What about, what about, um, what about the studies of smoking, uh, vaping? Is vaping affected as well?

• 1:21:17Lisa Mosconi?

  I don't think so. I don't, I don't know. I'm not sure that there's research around it. I I look it up. I don't know, but smoking is the number one risk factor for early menopause in women who are not genetically wired to go through menopause early.

• 1:21:32Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:21:33Lisa Mosconi?

  And then lifestyle seems to be really, really a huge um, either protective factor or damaging factor for so many women. And some women go through menopause earlier than they would spontaneously because of medical interventions. And this is something that we don't talk about enough at all, but one in every nine American women gets a hysterectomy or an oophorectomy, which is the surgical removal of the uterus and or the ovaries for a number of reasons. However, that precipitate, you basically go through menopause basically overnight. After the surgery, yes, yes, because i- if your ovaries are removed.

• 1:22:19Lisa Mosconi?

  If only your uterus is removed, that can still negatively impact blood flow to the ovaries and can also lead to early surgically induced menopause, which is something that we don't talk about enough. And especially, we don't talk about the fact that those procedures affect your brain. Not in a, not in, not in a, there's something wrong with your brain, but this is something that also impacts your brain. And we know from a number of studies that women who receive a hysterectomy more so, an oophorectomy, have a higher risk of Alzheimer's disease as compared to women who go through menopause spontaneously.

• 1:23:02Lisa Mosconi?

  It's not causative, it's a correlation. So getting the ovaries removed, and perhaps the uterus as well, is associated with a higher risk.

• 1:23:12Lewis Howes?

  So if you, if you can prevent getting one of those surgeries or getting those removed, try not to, is what I'm hearing you say.

• 1:23:20Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, yeah, so it depends. There are, there are some situations where surgery is, is a lifesaver.

• 1:23:28Lewis Howes?

  Of course, of course.

• 1:23:30Lisa Mosconi?

  In some cases, though, I wonder, because the, the main reason for a hysterectomy is having fibroids. Now, fibroids hurt. There's, there's no sugar code in that. But I wonder if we had more of a conversation around the link between the reproductive system and the brain. I wonder if surgeons or doctors would be able to come up with different solutions rather than, I'm just gonna take out the uterus.

• 1:23:57Lewis Howes?

  Just a surgery.

• 1:23:58Lisa Mosconi?

  Just get rid of it. And also for so many women, the question, you know, they, they just ask you, do you want to have kids? Do you have enough kids? Are you planning to have more? No, then just, just remove the ovaries as well, because it's a cleaner surgery. And that makes sense if you're just thinking reproduction. But the point, we're not thinking brains. We're not looking at a woman as an organism where the brain sticks to the ovaries and the uterus and your reproductive system and gets feedback from it. And the health of your reproductive system, the integrity of that system is important to the functioning of your brain. So if there's no way around it, obviously, some women need surgery.

• 1:24:41Lisa Mosconi?

  I'm not saying that we should decline these procedures. What I'm saying is that we should find ways to protect our brains, especially for women who go through menopause because of medical procedures.

• 1:24:55Lewis Howes?

  Because I was, I was doing an interview with Andrew Huberman, the neuroscientist out of Stanford. And he was mentioning briefly, I don't think we went into it that much, that, that an orgasm

• 1:25:09Lewis Howes?

  happens in the brain. That it's connected down the spine and your brain has, I guess, I don't know what they're called, a little synapse or something that's connecting all the way down into your sexual organs. And so if you're removing a sexual deuterus or something from the female body, that's connected to the brain.

• 1:25:29Lisa Mosconi?

  That's right. That's right. That's exactly right.

• 1:25:31Lewis Howes?

  So there must be, so if you're essentially, there's a pathway.

• 1:25:34Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 1:25:35Lewis Howes?

  There's a pipe that is going through your body and then you cut the pipe in half and remove something, it's not able to flow back and forth from the sexual organ to the brain as naturally, I'm assuming. And so what does that do to the brain by inducing menopause early? What, you know, how long does that take? And what does that mean until you can truly balance out brain functionality? What do women typically go through mentally and physically?

• 1:26:03Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, I wish that we had more research on that so that I could answer your question in greater detail. We we have been looking into that. We're starting now to we're we're trying to do brain scans prior before and after the procedure to really understand what's happening and what the long term effects are. What we know for sure is that the effects of surgical menopause on the brain are more acute than the effects of natural or spontaneous menopause, because when you go through not spontaneous is a better word, spontaneous menopause, it takes years. For some women, it takes a couple of years. For some women, it can take fifteen years. So the brain has a chance to adjust gradually.

• 1:26:46Lisa Mosconi?

  If you're plunged into menopause or perimenopause so quickly, that comes as a shock. Your brain needs, and this is just a figure of speech, but your brain needs to adjust much faster. And in that case, hormonal replacement therapy is indicated. Especially, I mean, if you if you're getting these procedures before menopause, then it is helpful for many women to to go the hormonal therapy route, and this is a conversation that needs to be that needs to happen with the doctor because it depends on why you had the surgery, right? If if we're talking about cancer, then that may not be

• 1:27:28Lisa Mosconi?

  a good option, but there are other options for sure, and it's it's really important to explore that. And I have to say that the more I talk about this, the more feedback I receive from menopause specialists and OB GYN doctors and surgeons who really honestly don't know about that.

• 1:27:48Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:27:49Lisa Mosconi?

  Brain people do, OB GYNs do not.

• 1:27:53Lewis Howes?

  Because they're not they're not studying the brain, they're studying they're studying a different part of the body.

• 1:27:57Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, but that's what drives me crazy about Western medicine is that we're so trained to just look at one thing at a time. If you're a brain person, you look at the brain, you know nothing about menopause. I I had to really get smart really fast about that. And if you're an OB GYN or a menopause specialist, you don't really know much about brain. You know about brain function, but not in detail. But you just, we're vertical, we're very vertical in our knowledge. And they think that a more horizontal approach is also needed. That's what you need to go vertical first so that then you can go horizontally really. And the person in front of you.

• 1:28:36Lewis Howes?

  I'm curious, I've got a few final questions for you, but I'm curious about the correlation between our brains and mental health disorders. Mental health is a big topic, especially in the US right now. And a lot of people saying that they're going through depression or having mental health disorders or mental health challenges, diseases, depressions in in mental health. How much of that is associated with the foods we eat? Obviously, the environment, the stress, sleep, I'm a huge proponent believer that all those things will support. The way you think, the self-talk, you know, the healthy, the healthy relationships you're

• 1:29:20Lewis Howes?

  in or lack of healthy relationships all affect mental health as well. But how much have you noticed food has a direct impact on depression, anxiety or mental health disease?

• 1:29:34Lisa Mosconi?

  There is, there's the strong evidence that food has a strong impact on mental health. And there's a, there's a whole field that is growing. It's called nutritional psychiatry. It really looks at this. It started many years ago at Harvard. Where there's this group, there, there are a lot of teams that started looking into that and how specific foods literally support the formation of neurotransmitters in the brain. Like, for example, serotonin is a neurotransmitter, is a neurochemical that is really important for happiness and sleep and appetite.

• 1:30:15Lisa Mosconi?

  And is there a neurotransmitter that is deficient in a way in depression, in many patients with depression? So the drugs that we have tend to improve the action of serotonin. And there's a very strong association between certain foods, especially an amino acid that is called tryptophan. In production of serotonin, because the brain takes tryptophan and vitamin B6 and transforms that into serotonin inside the brain. So you need to have this essential amino acid in your, in your diet. And chocolate is a good source, by the way. Yeah. And so a number of plant-based foods, including bananas. And so that's really important. And the other

• 1:30:59Lisa Mosconi?

  trick is that consuming carbohydrates together with the tryptophan source really helps because tryptophan usually takes a backseat to other amino acids. They compete for entry inside the brain. But for reasons, I don't know, maybe some magical reasons, if you have a little bit of carbs together with your tryptophan, that pushes the tryptophan inside your brain. So, did, did you have this growing up as a kid, that my mom would give me milk, like warm milk with honey?

• 1:31:31Lewis Howes?

  With honey, no. I used to have a tall glass of milk before bed every night, not with honey though, but just, I would drink milk all day, whole milk.

• 1:31:39Lisa Mosconi?

  Okay.

• 1:31:40Lewis Howes?

  And I think, I think, I think it's what made me grow so tall, but it also, you know, I was always having a stuffy nose. I was always feeling tired. Like when I was working out and practice or in sports, I always felt like, I was just like, my body was drained.

• 1:31:57Lisa Mosconi?

  Right.

• 1:31:58Lewis Howes?

  And I felt kind of lethargic, because, but I was, you know, I was drinking so much milk. Probably, probably, I mean,

• 1:32:05Lisa Mosconi?

  Gallons?

• 1:32:06Lewis Howes?

  Gallons a week. I mean, I used to, this is, when I was in middle school, I went to a, a private boarding school and I lived in a dorm with, an all-boys dorm. And there was a milk dispenser in our dorm, like the five gallon kind of commercial grade milk dispensers from a cafeteria. I literally had them move it in my room. It was a five gallons of milk that I was drinking most of it. Other boys in the dorm would come in and drink it as well, but I was probably consuming a couple gallons a week, I'm assuming.

• 1:32:45Lisa Mosconi?

  Wow.

• 1:32:46Lewis Howes?

  Just drinking it like it was water. Just, just drink, drink, yeah.

• 1:32:52Lisa Mosconi?

  Okay.

• 1:32:53Lewis Howes?

  I don't know what that did for me, the negative effects, long term, but I don't drink any more milk now.

• 1:32:58Lisa Mosconi?

  Okay.

• 1:32:58Lewis Howes?

  Um, only nut-based milks I have now.

• 1:33:02Lisa Mosconi?

  Hmm. Which one's your favorite?

• 1:33:05Lewis Howes?

  I'm a big fan of macadamia nut milk.

• 1:33:07Lisa Mosconi?

  Ah, that's nice.

• 1:33:10Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I mean, I, I like oat milk, but it's got a lot of, uh, you know, calories in there and sugar. It tastes sweet.

• 1:33:17Lisa Mosconi?

  It's so good.

• 1:33:18Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, but I feel like I've drinking too much almond milk and I feel like it's affecting me in a negative way. So I try to pull back on the almond milk. Cause I just started drinking all almond milk and uh, yeah, so it's trying to have that balance.

• 1:33:33Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah, M. Hurst is really good. If you tried the brand, M. Hurst. Yeah, it's only almonds and water.

• 1:33:41Lewis Howes?

  Okay, M. Hurst. I'll try it. I gotta come by your fridge someday and just eat some of your food and just be like, ah, the, the organic Nutella, all these things, the dried berries.

• 1:33:52Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah. However.

• 1:33:55Lewis Howes?

  Amazing.

• 1:33:56Lisa Mosconi?

  To answer your question, I think you just provided a great example of how perhaps too much of something considered healthy can negatively impact your, your performance and your mood. For sure, right? Like, we know that so many foods have a strong effect on mood. We all know that intuitively, you're tired, you drink a cup of coffee, you're, you're sad, you have some ice cream or a piece of chocolate in my case. And, and that, that's really because we all intuitively know that some foods have an impact on our mental state.

• 1:34:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:34:32Lisa Mosconi?

  The reason being that the nutrients in, in the foods really do have an effect on the chemistry of the brain, which I, I, I find very beautiful in some ways, right? I mean, we're, we're kind of caught up in this marketing experience where, where consumers and users rather than people who really appreciate the food and understand it. I think there's a disconnect between the way the food is grown and what kind of uses and benefits you can really get from certain foods and what ends up being in your fridge or on your plate. But I also think that we're going back to the roots more and more, the more and more people are really, um, interested in learning what kind of functions different foods can have and how to use them for the best.

• 1:35:19Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah. So you will get there.

• 1:35:21Lewis Howes?

  I love it. Yeah. This has been fascinating. I could dive into this stuff more and more and hopefully we do more stuff in the future, but I want people to get your, your books, Brain Food, The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power. If you just want to learn about the foods to optimize your brain in general. And then you also have a new book called The XX Brain, which is the groundbreaking science empowering women to maximize cognitive health and prevent Alzheimer's disease with a forward by my, my dear friend Maria Shriver on there as well. She's amazing. She's been a big, you know, champion of this, obviously this disease and preventing and helping to overcome this for many years for, for all human beings. So it's been inspiring to see

• 1:36:03Lewis Howes?

  her mission on this. But both these books I recommend, and you've got my other buddy Mark Hyman on the cover of this book here. Lots of great research, lots of great science, lots of recipes in here as well for things you can do for your brain health and optimization. So I highly recommend getting both of these. I'm going to get this one, The XX Brain. I'm going to give it to my mom, who is about to turn 70 this year, I think 69 or 70 this year. So want to make sure, and luckily she's got great memory and she's sharp and, and healthy, but want to continue to, you know, prevent that from, from happening in

• 1:36:43Lewis Howes?

  the future for her as well. So I want to make sure people get the books and also they can follow you on social media. What's the best place to connect with you? Where do you hang out?

• 1:36:55Lisa Mosconi?

  Instagram for sure. I'm way too sensitive for Twitter.

• 1:37:03Lisa Mosconi?

  So my handle is DrDR underscore Moscone.

• 1:37:07Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:37:07Lisa Mosconi?

  And on my website, lisamosconi.com.

• 1:37:11Lewis Howes?

  We will have all that linked up in the show notes as well.

• 1:37:14Lisa Mosconi?

  And if you ever want to brain scan, come join us.

• 1:37:17Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I would love to come do one. I mean, uh, Dr. Amen, I'm not sure if you're familiar with him. He's been trying to get me to do a brain scan down here in California for a while. And part of me is worried, like, part of me doesn't want to have the liquid, like, don't you have to drink something or you have to put something in your veins to like, scan it?

• 1:37:34Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, it depends. We have some brain scans that we don't touch you. You just go on the machine. Yeah, these are MRI scans, but we also use the same machine to look at blood flow to the brain, brain energy levels in the brain, connectivity of the brain. So we look at a lot of different things without really, you just, nobody touches you.

• 1:37:57Lewis Howes?

  You don't have to put like an IV in and put.

• 1:37:59Lisa Mosconi?

  No, no IVs for that. No IVs.

• 1:38:01Lewis Howes?

  And what would you see if you do a brain scan? What will you be able to see and understand about your brain?

• 1:38:07Lisa Mosconi?

  So we look, we look at so many different parameters in, I have different protocols that really target different

• 1:38:15Lisa Mosconi?

  interests. Mine will also be different needs and tolerant, different tolerance profiles. Like you were saying, I don't want the IV. Good. So we can only do MRI and that's fine. And in that case, we look at the anatomy of your brain. We look at the structure. We see if there's any shrinkage. We see, we look at inflammation. We look at things like if you have any gliosis or any signs of an inflammatory presence in the brain, demyelination, strokes, aneurysms, tumors. We do everything clinically, but then we also have the research data. We look at connectivity between different parts of the brain. We look at brain energy production. We have this new technique

• 1:38:59Lisa Mosconi?

  that looks at ATP levels in brain, like energy, literally mitochondrial activity in the brain. We look at blood flow. We can do rest and state, FMRI. Like we have a lot of different sequences. And then if you feel comfortable, you're like, okay, you can also give me the IV.

• 1:39:16Lewis Howes?

  Then you can get more out of that.

• 1:39:18Lisa Mosconi?

  Then we can look at brain glucose metabolism and we can look at amyloid plaques, Alzheimer's plaques, lesions, and now we can also look at.

• 1:39:28Lewis Howes?

  Have you done a lot of brain scans on yourself?

• 1:39:31Lisa Mosconi?

  No, I'm scheduled. I'm scheduled to do, uh, yeah.

• 1:39:35Lewis Howes?

  After you do it, after you do it, you let me know the experience.

• 1:39:38Lisa Mosconi?

  Sure.

• 1:39:39Lewis Howes?

  We'll see.

• 1:39:39Lisa Mosconi?

  I'm not trying. So at first I was too young for my own protocols. Then we changed the age range and now I fit.

• 1:39:46Lewis Howes?

  How old do you need to be?

• 1:39:47Lisa Mosconi?

  Thirty-five.

• 1:39:48Lewis Howes?

  Okay, so I'm thirty-seven, so.

• 1:39:50Lisa Mosconi?

  There you go.

• 1:39:51Lewis Howes?

  I fit in.

• 1:39:52Lisa Mosconi?

  Perfect.

• 1:39:53Lewis Howes?

  Amazing. Well, I've got a, I've got a couple, uh, final questions that I ask everyone on the show, and this has been powerful, Disa, so I appreciate you opening up and sharing your, your years of experience and wisdom on this. I think it's gonna be really helpful for a lot of people. Uh, this is a question I ask everyone at the end called the three truths. So I'd like you to imagine a hypothetical situation where it's the end of your life many, many years from now, and you've lived as long as you want to live. And you've accomplished every dream. You've done everything you want to do, uh, but for whatever reason, it's the last day, and you have to take all of your work with you. All of the interviews you've done, your books, your TED Talks, your research, everything, anything you've ever said ever has to go with you to the next place, wherever you go.

• 1:40:37Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 1:40:38Lewis Howes?

  But you have a piece of paper and a pen, and you get to write down three things you know to be true about the experiences, the lessons you've learned in your life that you would share with the world.

• 1:40:47Lisa Mosconi?

  Okay.

• 1:40:48Lewis Howes?

  I call it the three truths. What would you say?

• 1:40:50Lisa Mosconi?

  Is it only work-related?

• 1:40:52Lewis Howes?

  No, no, no, about life.

• 1:40:54Lisa Mosconi?

  About life?

• 1:40:55Lewis Howes?

  About life, life in general. Yeah. What would you be your, your three lessons or three truths that you would share with the world about your existence?

• 1:41:03Lisa Mosconi?

  Well, the first thing is not scientific at all, but I would say the love is by far the most important thing that you can have in your life. And really cultivate it and appreciate it because we always make time for other things and we de-prioritize what really matters in the end.

• 1:41:21Lisa Mosconi?

  I think the second part is that I would, I hope that I might be remembered as somebody who really helped other people. Somebody who had integrity and worked very hard. And I think number three, I, I think for me, number three, or perhaps number one at this point is really that, um, right is right. Even if nobody does it, and wrong is wrong, even if everybody's doing it. Leave your truth because that's really the most important thing overall to me as a person.

• 1:41:58Lewis Howes?

  Lisa, I want to acknowledge you for, for the, the commitment you have to improving people's lives, the, the deep research that you've been working on for 20 plus years.

• 1:42:08Lisa Mosconi?

  Yeah.

• 1:42:09Lewis Howes?

  The care you have about people living a healthier life through brain optimization. We need more people like you who are in the constant exploration of improvement of our health, of our minds, with so many more people going through mental health challenges, dementia, Alzheimer's. It's a, it's a horrible to, to watch loved ones lose their ability and their function. So I'm, I'm very grateful and, and acknowledge you for your ability to help as many people as possible with this, with this cause and mission. And again, I want to make sure people check you out online, get the books. And the, the final question I have for you is what is your definition of greatness?

• 1:42:56Lisa Mosconi?

  Honesty. I think that's really the most important thing, just being honest and, and helping others. I think that would be, that would be my definition. I think that real leaders are people who really help others and lead by example.

• 1:43:15Lewis Howes?

  There you go, Lisa. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

• 1:43:18Lisa Mosconi?

  That is dramatic.

• 1:43:20Lewis Howes?

  I love it. My friend, I hope you enjoyed this episode. It blew me away. The information, the research, the science that Lisa shares is so powerful. If you enjoyed it, please share this with a few friends, text a couple of friends right now, post it on your social media. Make sure to tag me and Lisa over on Instagram or social media and get the message out. People need to learn this information to help increase the quality of their health and their life. Again, lewishouse.com/1091 to learn more on the full show notes and information. You can send people to that link as well to listen or watch this interview. And if you enjoyed this, please click the subscribe button over on Apple Podcast and leave us a rating and review of the part you enjoyed the most from this episode or the part that inspired you. Just leave us a comment and review over on Apple Podcast. And if you

• 1:44:05Lewis Howes?

  want inspirational messages sent to your Every single week from me, then text the word podcast right now to 614-350-3960 to get on my texting list. And I want to leave you with this quote from athlete Julius Irving, who said, "If you don't do what's best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end." Phew, it is time to take care of our health, to be educated, to research, to test things, to see what works for us, and keep diving into exploring, optimizing our body and our minds. And I want to remind you, if no one's told you lately, that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And you know what time it is? It's time to go out there and do something great.