Social isolation is one of 14 modifiable dementia risk factors in the 2024 Lancet Commission. What large cohorts and the best trial actually show, why isolation and loneliness differ, the causation problem, and an eight-week plan for building connection.
The reassuring “moderate drinking is good for you” story has quietly collapsed — and for the brain specifically, no safe level has been found. But that’s not the same as “one glass causes dementia.” Here’s the honest, non-alarmist update: what heavy and moderate drinking each do, how worried to actually be, and the everyday sleep cost most people overlook.
If you could track one number to forecast how your brain ages, cardiorespiratory fitness — VO2 max — would be a strong candidate. Fitter people hold onto cognition longer and face lower dementia risk. Here’s what the evidence really shows, why the most dramatic numbers are overstated, and how to act on it without chasing a figure.
The MIND diet made headlines with a ~53% lower Alzheimer’s figure — then a large trial couldn’t confirm it. Both are true. Here’s what the MIND diet is, where those striking numbers came from, why the trial diverged, and what a sensible person should actually do: eat it as sound, healthy nutrition, with realistic expectations.
Cortisol has become the internet’s favourite villain — but the science tells a more useful story. Cortisol is essential, acute stress is adaptive, and it’s chronic stress that carries the real brain cost. Here’s what prolonged stress does, how worried to actually be, why “cortisol detox” is a trap, and what genuinely helps.
The Lancet Commission ranks hearing loss as the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia — yet it’s almost never part of the brain-health conversation. Here’s what the evidence actually shows, whether hearing aids slow decline, why the link exists, and the simple, overlooked action worth taking.
The brain runs on glucose, so blood sugar and mental clarity are genuinely linked — but the popular story is half myth. What the evidence really shows about low sugar, “sugar boosts,” the afternoon crash, and why chronic high blood sugar matters far more than any single spike.
Meditation is both genuinely useful and wildly oversold. An honest tour of what the neuroscience actually supports — modest, real benefits for stress and mood; reliable in-the-moment brain effects — and why the “eight weeks rebuilds your brain” claim fails its strongest test.
The exercise–BDNF link is the best-evidenced route to a healthier brain — built on human RCTs and meta-analyses, not rodent extrapolation. Here’s what the research really shows, honestly graded, including where it’s messier than the headlines.
The physiology behind intermittent fasting is real — but most of the brain benefits come from rodent studies, not human trials. A researcher’s honest look at what the evidence supports, what it doesn’t, and who should be cautious.
