The average daily regimen of a person seeking brain longevity is not substantially different from that of any person who lives a healthy life style.

All persons hoping to achieve brain longevity have two essential goals each day. The first goal is to avoid further degeneration of their brain through stress, poor nutrition and lack of physical and mental exercise. The second goal is to stimulate regeneration, through the basic elements of a brain longevity program: dietary therapy, supplementation with concentrated nutrients, use of natural medicinal tonics, stress management, meditation, physical, mental and mind/body exercises and use of appropriate pharmaceutical medications.

Every brain regeneration program is unique because each is tailored to the personal needs, goals and biochemistries of each patient, but there are many similarities.

What follows is a general description of a daily brain longevity program. This general regimen, of course, would be customized for individuals.

When my patients awaken in the morning, they generally try to engage in a few simple routines that help them greet the day with vigor and calmness. As a rule, if people start the day “on the right foot,” the rest of their day goes more smoothly.

To start the day off right many have found that it helps not to immediately drag themselves out of bed but to lie in bed quietly for a few minutes. As they lie there, they stretch gently, breathe deeply and contemplate the day ahead in a positive way. They try to get “into the flow” of the day and to face the day as their own “best self”—their courageous, optimistic, energetic self. Some people like to say an affirmation before they get out of bed. Others do a little meditation.

I advise my patients to avoid the typical modern wake-up routine: fall out of bed, chain-drink coffee, immerse themselves in the world’s latest catastrophes (through the newspaper and TV) and then sprint for work like a rat in a maze. This routine sets people up for stress and causes their cortisol secretions to surge.

Often my patients find that the morning is the best time for their mind/body exercises and meditation. Doing the mind/body exercises at the beginning of the day not only helps build a “protective wall” against stress, but also helps stimulate and balance the secretions governed by the pituitary, which is relatively more active early in the morning.

Some also like to do cardiovascular exercise in the morning. A brisk workout, even if for just 10 or 15 minutes, pumps blood to the brain and stimulates secretion of the catecholamine neurotransmitters, including norepinephrine.

When they take their morning shower, many of my patients enjoy adjusting the water temperature to cool during the middle of the shower. This can be very invigorating; it stimulates the nervous system.

For breakfast most prefer a relatively light meal, which will not require much energy to digest. It’s important, however, that this breakfast be rich in nutrients and that it provide a stable source of food energy throughout the morning.

Many people enjoy a breakfast of fruit and yogurt with cereal sprinkled on top. This breakfast is well-balanced in food components, providing complex carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates, protein and a modest amount of fat. The simple carbohydrates (or sugars) will immediately furnish the brain and body with glucose. The complex carbohydrates (or starch) will generally provide a somewhat slower-burning fuel. The protein will be oxidized even more slowly than the carbohydrates and the fats will burn slower still.

I generally encourage my patients to “front load” their supplements, tonics and medications by taking them at the beginning of the day. This gives them the full use of these substances for the entire day. Also, some of the nutrients, tonics and medications are stimulating and can cause insomnia if they are taken too late in the day.

Different patients take different nutrients in varying dosages, but most use the following nutrients: vitamin A, vitamin B complex, vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, selenium and zinc. Often these supplements are taken in addition to a multivitamin, which provides lesser amounts of a broad range of nutrients and micronutrients.

At the same time that they take their supplements, most also take one or more natural medicinal tonics, the most important of which are ginkgo biloba, lecithin, ginseng, phosphatidyl serine, acetyl L-carnitine and coenzyme Q-10.

Control stress with quick bouts of meditation during the day. Meditation sessions may last only a few minutes and may be done even at a desk. They may consist of something as simple as a minute of deep breathing or just repetition of an affirmation. Anything that replaces the stress response with the relaxation response helps tremendously.

Try to make lunch the largest meal of the day. By eating a relatively large lunch you can digest a sufficient amount of food energy to carry you through an active day. Also take some supplements or tonics at lunch.

Many of my patients eat a lunch that is relatively higher in proteins than in starches as this increases the output of stimulating catecholamine neurotransmitters.

Throughout the day, try to remain aware of your higher goals in life. Don’t just slog through the day on “automatic pilot.” Living life fully enables you to feel “like yourself.” The more you feel like yourself, the healthier you will become - in mind, body and spirit.

Evening is a time to “recharge the batteries,” a time for family, relaxation, personal fulfillment and contemplation. I advise my patients not to indulge in the all-too-common practice of turning their evenings into a “second shift” of work. It’s tempting to cram the evening with cleaning, shopping, cooking and personal finances.

Most brain longevity seekers learn that they can actually get the most work done by working a little less, because that gives them more energy.

Eating a somewhat smaller evening meal helps many sleep well and also helps to control weight. An evening meal richer in carbohydrates than in protein will stimulate production of the calming neurotransmitter serotonin.

Many people take some of their supplements with their evening meal. Some supplements, such as vitamin C, are assimilated most effectively when they are taken several times a day instead of all at once.

Also most of them try to relax deeply before they go to bed. They take a hot bath, get in a hot tub or get a massage from their spouse. A properly done foot massage seems to be especially helpful for promoting relaxation and sound sleep.

As a rule, brain longevity seekers sleep very peacefully. Because of their stress-management techniques, their nutritional programs and the melatonin that most of them take, insomnia is relatively uncommon among them. Thus they get a rejuvenating night’s sleep and wake up rested and refreshed to enjoy another day.