What Thorobrain can do for us all

I created Thorobrain to bridge the gap between personal care and medical care. It boils down to learning what we need to do for ourselves- and doing it.  Being an experienced neurologist has given me a foundation for this journey I did not expect. I have learned that being healthy is not as simple as it seems. It involves trial and error, goals, accountability partnerships and measurable outcomes.  As author John Doerr would say, “Measure what matters”.  

My personal journey began in August 2018. 

I am what one would describe as a “continual learner”. I read voraciously and I listen to podcasts and videos via YouTube daily. I alternate between subjects, but I focus on the following three: Spirituality/Motivation, Business/Wealth Creation and Health. I don’t read fiction; I watch fiction.  I only read and listen to non-fiction because I want to learn as much as I can and grow to my full potential in every domain. 

On one of my morning walks (which I started because I read that over 90% of successful/happy people have morning routines that include exercise) I was listening to one of my favorite YouTube shows, Impact Theory by Tom Bilyeu. You may not recognize his name, but he is the co-founder of Quest Nutrition.  On the show that changed everything for me, he interviewed “citizen scientist” Max Lugavere, author of Genius Foods. In the interview, Lugavere talked about the experience of his mother being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Instead of passively following the advice of the several excellent neurologists his mother saw*, he put his career on pause, and dedicated years of his life learning about AD and what he and his mother could do about it.  He researched through reading books, articles and interviewing many doctors and scientists until he, along with co-author Paul Grewal, MD had enough actionable information to put into a book. I immediately bought the 400+ page book and devoured it. 
(If you are one of my patients, you may know I have a very strong family history of Alzheimer’s disease. It affected every female sibling of my paternal grandfather, my maternal grandmother, and now my closest aunt has it. Succumbing to Alzheimer’s is literally one of my greatest fears.  Because it has become so emotional for me, treating my patients and helping their families has become very, very difficult. Sitting in a visit room fully immersed in the massive impact of the disease on a family is nearly unbearable now.)

What I now understand is that food has become an abstraction for us (doctors, patients… Americans).  We are so far removed from our food sources that we do not consider them.  Worse, we do not realize how adulterated (and unhealthy) our convenience faux foods are.  We have gotten so caught up in the taste and experience of food as entertainment (or comfort) that we have forgotten that food (faux or not) is literally our fuel.  Our food and beverages are what we give our brains and our bodies to perform their functions every second of the day. We do this without thought. 
Think about this:  I only put premium grade fuel in the gas tank of my car because I want it to run well for as long as possible. Before August 2018, I was not using this logic with my food choices. 
I have since learned to reduce the risk of AD in this manner:  consuming the right “fuels”, avoidance of faux foods, reduction of toxins (including psychological toxins such as stress) and the addition of activities such as regular exercise.  I intend Thorobrain to be a guide for you to do the same.  We can all decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s disease (and many other illnesses) by becoming a “Thorobrain”. 

*By passive, I do not mean to imply that he did not follow the advice of his mother’s neurologists. What I mean is that he did not stop there. He followed medical advice and then supplemented the advice with the knowledge he gained after a good deal of independent study with the guidance of doctors and research scientists in the field such as his co-author. I cannot over-emphasize the importance of this. The answer to what one should do about AD is not an “either/or”. It’s potentially harmful to ignore your actual doctor and treat yourself (or advise a loved one) after the acquisition of what amounts to a “Google MD”.