Why is Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor so important? (BDNF)

Hey, it’s Paul Krismer, your happiness expert, and I’m coming to you from beautiful Red Rock Canyon, getting my sweat on doing a big hike in the mountains here today. It’s thematic because in the past, I’ve done videos on other important brain chemicals and hormones. You know, certain chemicals are associated with certain moods, and there are different ways to be able to get those boosts in our well-being. Well, I thought I’m overdue to do a video on something called Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor, BDNF for short. It’s a relatively recent discovery, it’s a super important brain chemistry element, it’s protein essentially, and this video is all about why it’s important and how you can get more of it in your own life. So, stay tuned.

As a coach, public speaker, and best-selling author, I teach topics just like this one all around the world. So stay tuned and I’ll give you practical tools that you can use to make both yourself and those around you both happier and more successful. So, I’ve done past videos on brain chemistry. David will maybe put a bunch of links to other videos that are about important hormones and chemicals that make us feel well, and ways we can get better. This video is about a very particular and very special kind of brain chemical, a brain protein. It’s called Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor, BDNF, and it’s all about basic health of the brain.

Essentially, if we don’t have a lot of this kind of protein happening in our bodies, more generally, we have unhealthy brains. Literally, brain cells are dying off. A process called neurogenesis, where we get new brain developments, begins to wean. And the healing and recovery, and the memory enhancements we get through the night, just does not happen as well when we don’t have BDNF in our bodies. And there’s oddly only a few, relatively small number of ways that we know we get good BDNF, and one of them is getting lots of exercise. So, if you’re pumping your heart hard and fast, it’s a great way to do it. Hockey is a perfect example for me because it’s that high-intensity interval training. Lots of ways you can do that: spin class, Pilates class, or whatever. Hockey’s fun for me because you get high intensity and I’m still involved in a game. This hike up the mountain was strenuous, I was sweating, but maybe not quite high intensity. It was more of a slow burn. Still good, the exercise is still good and produces BDNF. But for sure, we’d sooner be getting that high-intensity interval training.

And there’s a few other ways, not many, but one of them is getting a really good sleep. Like so many other things, good sleep produces good brain chemistry, and so we need good sleep to get BDNF. A third, an important way to get BDNF, is through diet. You want to have a very healthy brain diet, which is basically lots of leafy greens and also some omega-3 fatty acids. And those only come from a few ways. Cold water fish is one of those ways that you want to get it. And BDNF also comes about through brain puzzles. So, if we’re working our brain in a particular way that’s challenging, memorization tasks or learning a new instrument, for example, or a language, really challenging brain tasks, tends to, in the recovery period, produce BDNF. Not a whole lot else, a few other crazy ideas. Coffee being one of them might give you a little BDNF boost. But it’s a super important bit of your brain chemistry. I thought this week I’d give you that little insight into what you can do to get your BDNF on. Thanks for watching. If you like this kind of content, click the like button, share it with your friends and family, maybe with your HR director, and we’ll see you next week. Thanks for watching.