I'll be honest with you, when Dr. Tommy Wood told me that up to 70% of dementia cases might be preventable, I nearly choked on my coffee. Here I was, at 61, thinking I was doing everything right by keeping my body in shape, but I'd barely given a thought to training my brain for the long haul.

It's a conversation that's stuck with me for weeks now. We spend hours perfecting our swim stroke, obsessing over our FTP, and fine-tuning our nutrition. But when it comes to our brains? Most of us just cross our fingers and hope for the best.

Tommy, a neuroscientist who's about to release his book "The Stimulated Mind," has spent years researching brain health and dementia prevention. What he shared with me isn't just groundbreaking, it’s genuinely hopeful. And if you're like me, wondering what you can actually do about keeping your mind sharp as you age, this might be the most important thing you read this year.

If you prefer to listen to the podcast please click on the link below

Brain health & Dementia Prevention with Dr Tommy Wood

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The Wake-Up Call We All Need

"Dementia is the UK's leading cause of death," Tommy told me, "but it's one of the very few countries where that's the case." That hit me hard. We've got brilliant at preventing heart disease, but we're still treating dementia like it's an inevitable part of ageing.

Here's the thing that really got my attention: studies from the UK Biobank suggest that maybe up to 70% of dementia cases are preventable. Not all of it comes down to individual choices - education and social factors play a huge role - but there's a massive chunk that we can influence through how we live our lives.

The Lancet, one of the world's top medical journals, published research showing that about 45% of dementia cases are preventable. And Tommy reckons that's conservative because they didn't even include sleep or late-life cognitive activity in their calculations.

Think about that for a moment. We're not talking about delaying the inevitable here. We're talking about potentially preventing it altogether.

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The 3S Method: Training Your Brain Like Your Body

Tommy introduced me to something he calls the 3S model: Stimulus, Supply, and Support. It's brilliant in its simplicity, and it completely changed how I think about brain health.

Stimulus is how you use your brain. Just like your biceps won't grow without bicep curls, your brain won't develop without being challenged. "You can eat as many protein bars as you want and have as many naps as you want," Tommy explained, "but you won't get bigger biceps unless you do bicep curls."

The brain works exactly the same way. Sleep and nutrition are crucial, but the primary driver for building and maintaining brain networks is how those networks are used and stimulated.

Supply is about giving your brain what it needs to respond to that stimulus. When you challenge your brain, it immediately starts asking for more blood flow, more energy, more nutrients. You need a cardiovascular system that can deliver, blood sugar that's well-controlled, and nutrients like omega-3s, B vitamins, and antioxidants from things like berries and coffee.

Support is creating the environment where adaptation can happen. This is where sleep becomes absolutely critical - it's when your brain processes everything it's learned and builds the new connections. Chronic stress, inflammation, and things like smoking or excessive alcohol can sabotage this process.

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The Activities That Actually Matter

Here's where it gets interesting. Tommy and I talked about what really works for brain health, and it's not what most people think.

Sudoku and crosswords? They're fine as mental breaks, but they're not challenging enough to drive real adaptation. "For most people, a sudoku or crossword is actually a nice mental break," Tommy explained. "You're using some of your faculties, but it's not really that challenging."

The activities that consistently show up in research are what Tommy calls "core human skills": languages, musical instruments, complex motor skills, and social connection.

Dancing came up again and again. "Dancing seems to be the activity that's best for mental health and cognitive function," Tommy said. "It probably includes music and social connection and learning these complex motor skills." It's like a perfect storm of brain-boosting activities rolled into one. We also talked about orienteering - something I'd never considered from a brain health perspective. The navigation, the decision-making under pressure, the physical activity. It’s exactly the kind of complex challenge that builds cognitive resilience.

The Courage to Look Stupid

One thing Tommy said really struck me: "One of the reasons why we don't do some of these things is because we're afraid of looking stupid."

He's absolutely right. As adults, we hate being beginners. We avoid situations where we might fail or look incompetent. But that discomfort, that feeling of being out of our depth, is exactly what drives neuroplasticity.

"That discomfort, our brain realising there's this mismatch between what we wish we could do and what we're currently doing, that's what drives neuroplasticity," Tommy explained.

I thought about my own experience learning to ski at 53. Those first few days were humbling. I couldn't even get my skis on without falling over. But that challenge, that willingness to be rubbish at something new, was probably one of the best things I could have done for my brain.

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Building Your Cognitive Headroom

Tommy introduced me to a concept he calls "headroom" - the difference between what you need to do day-to-day and your maximum capacity. Think about the strength difference between getting up from a chair and your maximum squat. That gap is your physical headroom.

The same applies to cognitive function. The bigger your cognitive headroom, the more resilient you are to age-related changes. Even if you lose some function over time, you've got plenty in reserve.

This is why starting early matters, but it's also why it's never too late. "Even when you're in your 60s, 70s, 80s, there are lots of studies showing that your brain will beneficially respond to a new stimulus," Tommy assured me.

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The Bottom Line

Here's what I took away from my conversation with Tommy: brain health isn't about hoping you'll be one of the lucky ones. It's about taking action.

Start challenging yourself with something new. Learn a language, pick up an instrument, try a complex sport, join a dance class. The key is finding something that makes you feel slightly uncomfortable - that's where the magic happens.

Support that challenge with good sleep, proper nutrition, and regular exercise. Your brain needs the infrastructure to adapt to what you're asking of it.

And remember, this isn't about becoming a genius overnight. It's about building resilience for the decades ahead. Every new skill you learn, every challenge you embrace, every time you push through that discomfort of being a beginner - you're investing in your future self.

The question isn't whether you can afford to start training your brain. It's whether you can afford not to.

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👉👉👉 Which of the above actions would be the easiest for you to get started with? I'd love to hear what you are going to do.
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