Going for the Flow and Get a Swelled Head.

But before that, my number for today:

• Fasting Blood Glucose: 110 mg/dl.  That's the top number for normal. 
• Weight:  186 lbs. Still.
• Exercise:  45 minutes on my bike.
• Mood:  8.0  Decent blood glucose, number, a long weekend to look forward to, Heidi Klum comes on tonight and the Charming Mrs. SWMBO and I will have some homemade pizza for dinner.  Seriously, how bad can it be?  

Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana and oatmeal infused with herbal tea and topped with blueberries and strawberry.
• Lunch:  Leftovers of some variety. 
• Dinner:  Homemade pizza and a glass or two of healthful red wine. 
• Snacks:  Pretzels. 

No one ever seems to dispute that exercise is good for you.  A lot or a little, it all adds up and is considered good for the heart.  The offshoot is that good blood flow to the brain may also have the additional  benefit of slowing down aging of the brain.  The proper functioning of the one organ, the heart, improves the function of another, the brain.  Good blood flow to the brain may slow the aging of the brain. Blood flow is measured as the cardiac index.  People with high cardiac indexes (strong flow) had bodies that maintained their brain volume compared to people with low cardiac indexes (low blood flow) who showed reduced brain volumes.  Their brains atrophied.  Even people with blood flow on the low end of normal had showed signs of brain atrophy. 

The benefit of this is that a brain that is slowly aging will delay or even prevent the onset of dementia like Alzheimer's.  Strong heart, strong brain. 

Maybe.

Ronald Reagan and Johnny Weissmuller were good athletes who stayed fit and who died of complications from Alzheimer's. Closer to home, my mom, who used to exercise along with Jack LaLanne and was into aerobics before the word existed, is in the final stages of Alzheimer's.  Is the relationship between good heart health and good brain health just a coincidence?  Were their hearts strong enough?  My guess is that there are other issues here beyond heart health, but that's just me.

Still, for me, I am going to stay huffin' and puffin' and sweatin'.  If nothing else, I feel better and look better.  That's worth something, right?