Brain and Memory Boosters

You know that old saying "If you don't use it, you lose it."?   It's true for a lot of things, but perhaps the most important of all is your brain.

So I hear you already.  You think just because you are thinking, juggling all of your 40 hour a day stuff into a 24 hour day (minus the time you are sleeping)  you are busy thinking this moment and wondering how your brain could BE any busier.  Well, it's a lot like food.  Just because you ate a huge burger, fries and super sized diet coke and you are STUFFED, you assume you fed your body.

Jump back, Jack!  That food didn't nurture your cells and provide much at all nutritionally.  Likewise the stress level you are experiencing is not doing much for your brain.  Your brain does need a workout, but busy-ness and stress isn't it.  You need brain exercises or activities that break your routine and challenge you to develop new brain pathways.  Assuming "old age" is creepin' up on you and with that comes forgetting things, is not an assumption worth keeping!

I taught creative thinking classes in the 90's.  I worked with kids from ages 9-14 and put on seminars for their teachers.  It was easy working with the kids.  The teachers, not so much.  Adults are tough!  It was funny how they always asked how the kids did on some of the exercises we did together.  I tried not to tell them the truth.  The teachers were uptight, distracted, and so very inhibited I thought OMG, these people teach our children!  Clearly they needed these exercises!  But I do understand.  Juggling work, home, family and whatever else doesn't leave a lot of time for the "flow".  But I'll tell you here and now, not only will your health (eventually) suffer without brain-care, so will your memory.

Stimulating your brain can help prevent memory loss, just like exercise rejuvenates the body.   Read, do crosswords, Sudoku, learn a new language, play computer games, go to sites like Luminosity for a limited amount of free brain games to test yourself.  And of course meditation and getting the proper amount of sleep are fantastic.

I used to draw a picture of the topside of a brain on the board in my kids class - you can just picture a walnut if you please.  When you are reading or doing something stimulating for your brain, the circuitry shoots from one side to the other in a wide zig-zag back and forth.  Stimulation.   When you do something passive like watching tv there is next to NO activity going on.  I demonstrated this to my kids in class.  They were horrified.  And that's because I told them the outter sides of the brain that receive no neural stimulation would die - actually the brain cells do.  These kids vowed to watch less tv and do more reading.  Magic!

Told the teachers the same thing.  They protested that they read all day as they taught.  Trouble is that was all routine for their brains and not at all stimulating.  It would be the equivalent of considering sitting upright in a chair is exercise.

You cannot expect your brain to stay fresh, remember everything, and analyze if you don't boost it with exercise it needs.  Like the body needs nutrients, so does the brain!

Of all the things you might take for your brain, anti-oxidants are tops.  So are Omega-3's.  And if you are dieting, forget about FAT-FREE stuff.  You brain requires fat.  Good fat.  (This does not mean eat french fries or any fried food on a regular basis - avoid totally if you can.)  An avocado, or 10 walnuts (per day), fish oil supplements, hemp seeds, flax seeds - there are plenty of excellent sources of good fats.

There has been some controversy about Ginko Biloba doing any good for the brain.  Dr. Daniel Amen has examined over 10,000 pictures of brains using SPECT scans.  He says "The healthiest looking brains I've ever seen were on ginko."  I've read his books and admire his research.  I take ginko.

You know I'm going to say eat real food, right?  No artificial anything.  There are so many chemicals that have a disasterous consequence, most are neuro toxins - and they affect the brain and not in a good way. 

Whether you are struggling now with memory problems or just want to jump on Today's Path which is all about prevention and increasing health and longevity, give that brain of yours what it wants and needs.

Last, but surely not least, your brain needs water!  Lots of water!  Insufficient water can cause headaches, among many other things but let's focus on what the BRAIN NEEDS.  And it's water!  I actually had a client who suffered from constant headaches.  Like a miracle (her words) they went away completely when she replaced her (vile) soda with water.  When we make small changes like this, it can have a profound effect on our health every day, let alone the cumulative benefit.

Make 2013 the year you do good things for you - and your brain!   I want you to remember to come back to this blog :)