Ron Zalko was a pioneer in the fitness industry when he opened his Kitsilano gym in 1980. Over the years, he’s hosted a bevy of celebrities—including Jane Fonda, Zac Efron, Ryan Reynolds, Amanda Seyfried, and Jessica Biel—making Ron Zalko Fitness & Yoga the go-to workout facility for Hollywood stars visiting Vancouver.

In an interview with the Georgia Straight in his office, Zalko said that he’s now paying more attention to the links between a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, and a healthy brain. He’s noticed that his older clients have outstanding short- and long-term memory, whereas that’s not always the case with the general population.

“From my research I’ve found that regular physical exercise is associated with better brain function and reduced risk of cognitive decline and dementia,” he said. “Physical exercise increases blood flow to the brain, stimulates the growth of brain cells and connections between them.”

Statistics Canada has reported that one form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, was the country’s seventh leading cause of death in 2011. Zalko, however, suggested that a regular fitness program can have an astonishing effect.

“It can save your life,” Zalko insisted. “It can reduce your chance of [getting] Alzheimer’s disease by 40 percent.”

Exercise’s protective effects have been demonstrated by a massive study headed by Paul Williams, a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In the November 14 Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, he reported that nearly 154,000 regular runners and walkers were followed for an average of 11.6 years.

Those who ran more than 15.3 miles per week were 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, Williams found. Those who ran 7.7 to 15.3 miles per week were at 25-percent-lower risk.

One of Zalko’s most famous clients, David Suzuki, knows all about Alzheimer’s disease. The well-known geneticist and environmen-talist revealed in a Nature of Things documentary that he lost his mother, an aunt, and two uncles to the disease. Yet the 78-year-old Suzuki has so far managed to avoid this fate.

The importance of exercise in staving off dementia is being recognized around the world. The CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia, Maree McCabe, started an evidence-based brain-health program called Your Brain Matters. “Look after your heart, be physically active, challenge your brain, eat brain-healthy food, and enjoy social activity,” McCabe recommends on the Alzheimer’s Australia website.

Stephen Kiraly, a Lower Mainland geriatric psychiatrist, explained how staying fit can help ward off dementia in his 2008 book Your Healthy Brain: A Personal & Family Guide to Staying Healthy & Living Longer. “The simple reason is that exercise improves the flow of blood to the brain and the amount of oxygen available to the brain,” he wrote. “This improves the brain’s metabolism and allows it to work more efficiently and effectively. The complicated reason is that exercise sets in motion a series of chemical and hormonal activities that stimulate brain growth.”

Moderate exercise, Kiraly noted, stimulates the endorphin system, which reduces sensitivity to pain. In addition, exercise floods the brain with adrenaline, noradrenaline, serotonin, and dopamine. When it comes to brain health, Kiraly also pointed out that “oxidative stress” degrades the body’s cells, particularly in the hippocampus, which is linked to retrieving information. Exercise reduces this effect because it serves as a natural antioxidant.

“Yes, as unbelievable as it sounds, it is a fact that people who exercise regularly have strong protective mechanisms in place to prevent damage even after insults to the brain,” Kiraly wrote. “In other words, they have added protection against the oxidative stress not only after injuries (concussion, stroke, Alzheimer’s, etc.) but also against the aging process itself.”