Brain Fog Isn’t Normal: The Surprising Early Signs of Cognitive Decline Women Are Missing & What To Do About It NOW | Emma Heming Willis & Helen Christoni

WATCH THE FULL-LENGTH EPISODE HERE ON YOUTUBE! 

If you've ever walked into a room and completely forgotten why you went there - and then quietly wondered if something was wrong - this conversation is going to hit differently.

I sat down with Emma Heming Willis and Helen Christoni, co-founders of Make Time Wellness, and we got into something I think a lot of women are carrying silently: the fear that what they're dismissing as stress, busy schedules, or "mom brain" might actually be something worth paying attention to. Emma shared what it was like to go to her doctor feeling genuinely off - cognitively not herself - and be told she was just tired, just stressed, just fine. She wasn't. And what finally helped wasn't a single pill or protocol, it was learning that the brain is an organ we can actually care for. Intentionally. Daily. Starting now.

The statistics alone stopped me. One in five women will develop Alzheimer's. Two thirds of all Alzheimer's patients are women. And Alzheimer's can be silently progressing in the brain for 10 to 20 years before a diagnosis. This isn't a conversation for your future self or your mother - it's for right now. What we also talked about is that brain health doesn't have to be complicated. Helen shared that just 3,000 steps a day - not 10,000 - has been shown to reduce Alzheimer's risk by 25%. Emma talked about how finally getting an ADHD diagnosis reframed years of confusion about her own brain. And both of them made the case for sleep being maybe the most underrated brain health tool we have.

What I appreciate most about this conversation is that it isn't fear-based. Emma and Helen aren't here to scare anyone. They're here because the information exists, the tools exist, and women deserve to have access to both.

A few of my favorite things we cover in this episode: 

• Women are twice as likely as men to develop Alzheimer's - and 2/3 of all Alzheimer's patients are women
• Why brain fog, forgetfulness, and lack of focus are check engine lights, not just "mom brain"
• Alzheimer's can be present in the brain 10–20 years before diagnosis - what you do now matters
• The gender gap in health research: why women's brains have been historically overlooked
• Emma's ADHD diagnosis and how it reframed everything she thought she knew about brain fog
• 3,000 steps a day (not 10,000) can reduce Alzheimer's risk by 25%
• The pillars of women's brain health: nutrition, movement, sleep, breathwork, supplementation
• Why sleep might be the single most important brain health tool - and how alcohol disrupts it
• Simple daily brain-activating habits (skip the GPS, memorize your grocery list, brush with your non-dominant hand)
• The founding story of Make Time Wellness and why the brain health shelf was built for men

Products & Resources Mentioned:  

• Make Time Wellness brain health supplements - code MTP20 for 20% off
• Eight Sleep mattress 
• Make Time Beauty Sleep supplement - code MTP20 for 20% off
• Annie Finn Brain Health Cookbook
• The Unexpected Journey by Emma Heming Willis

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Happy listening, and we hope you learned a little bit more on the art of being well!

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In Health,

Dr. Will Cole