Media Adams - 100 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power: Simple Tips and Tricks to Sharpen Your Mind

100 Ways to Boost Your Brain Power

Simple Tips and Tricks to Sharpen Your Mind

Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.

Avon, Massachusetts

An apple a day doesnt just keep the doctor away; it can also improve memory, and is one of 100 easy ways you can sharpen your mental acuity. From dietary changes to herbal supplements to simple activities like completing Sundays crossword, weve collected dozens of proven ways to boost your brainpower.

Now you can give your brain the ultimate workout!

Breakfast is one of the most important meals, yet it is probably the most skipped meal of the day. The word breakfast describes exactly what it does: breaks a fast. After a good nights rest, your body has gone eight to twelve hours without food or energy. Blood sugar, or glucose, which comes from the breakdown of food in the body, is your bodys main source of energy. Eating food provides your body with a fresh supply of blood glucose or energy. The brain in particular needs a fresh supply of glucose each day because that is its main source of energy. (The brain does not store glucose.) Eating breakfast is associated with being more productive and efficient in the morning hours. Breakfast eaters tend to experience better concentration, problem-solving ability, strength, and endurance. Your muscles also rely on a fresh supply of blood glucose for physical activity throughout the day. Here are a few healthy suggestions:

• Cold cereal with fruit and skim milk
• Bran muffin and a banana
• Hard-boiled egg and grapefruit juice
• Yogurt with fruit or low-fat granola cereal
• Peanut butter on a whole-wheat bagel and orange juice
• Instant oatmeal with raisins or berries
• Breakfast smoothie (blend fruit and skim milk)
• Cottage cheese and peaches

The leaves of the ginkgo contain the active constituents ginkgo flavone glycosides and terpene lactones, the extract of which can be used to treat poor circulation in the legs as well as memory and cognitive problems. In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association researchers confirmed that people who take the ginkgo extract for mild to severe dementia may improve both their ability to remember and to interact socially. Usual dosage for extract: 120 to 240 milligrams daily, in 3 doses. Plan to take it for at least eight weeks before improvement shows. For capsules: Depending on capsule strength of the product you buy, use the same amount as the above recommended dosage. The standard dose is 40 to 60 milligrams. Buy a quality product and read the label. Look for products marked 24/6, an indication the product contains 24 percent flavone glycosides and 6 percent terpenes.

Regular exercise at least twenty minutes a day, but thirty minutes to an hour daily is best is one great way to preserve your mental acuity. Aerobic exercise helps get the blood coursing through your system, carrying oxygen and glucose to your brain two substances the brain needs in order to function. Regular exercise also can prod the brain into producing more molecules that help protect and produce the brains neurons. Though studies are still underway to establish the link between exercise and increased brain neurons, many researchers including those involved with Alzheimers disease research are studying the protective effects of regular physical exercise on the brains neural paths for transmitting signals. Exercise has a lot of connotations, but exercise can mean walking around the neighborhood. Whats important is that you do something that requires some physicality, limbers up your muscles, and improves your circulation. The U.S. federal guidelines for exercise say that getting at least thirty minutes a day most days a week will help prevent heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, obesity, and now, perhaps, Alzheimers.

Like the athlete who takes time to warm up and flex his or her muscles before engaging in a strenuous activity, flexing your brain cells with a few basic word-play exercises warms up your mental engine. Words are fun; they expand your mind. Pick up your dictionary and pick out five words you dont know. Commit their definitions to memory and write five sentences using them in different ways. See if you can recite their definitions from memory the next day. And then learn five more. If youre not in the habit of using your mind to memorize poetry, song lyrics, obscure facts, or unfamiliar names, acquiring a new vocabulary can be a challenge. However, practice makes perfect, and as you persevere, youll soon discover that the task of committing words to memory will become increasingly easier to achieve and more satisfying.

Pumpkin seeds, also known as pepitas , nestle in the core of the pumpkin encased in a white-yellow husk. This super seed contains a number of minerals, such as zinc, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, phosphorus, along with proteins, monounsaturated fat, and the omega fatty acids 3 and 6. Today the super powers of pumpkin seeds have been found to help prevent prostate cancer in men, protect against heart disease, and also have anti-inflammatory benefits.

Keeping a daily journal will inspire you to think about your life, patterns in your life, what youre really thinking, etc. Formulating thoughts and writing them down will benefit your brain in multiple ways, particularly if you strive for complexity, expand your vocabulary, or become more observant. It will also help relieve stress, particularly if you dispel your worries onto the page and truly release them.

Your body, including your brain, actually mends and maintains itself when you sleep. If you strength train or do any sort of resistance exercise, then your muscles repair themselves and grow stronger when youre asleep. If you dont sleep, your muscles will stay fatigued and not get stronger. Getting enough sleep helps keep you safe; being sleep-deprived increases the likelihood of accidents and mistakes. Its helpful to first recognize that you want to sleep well, i.e., seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. Go to sleep and wake up at the same times. Your body loves regularity. If you are someone who sleeps very late on the weekends and then has trouble waking up for work on Monday, or if you sometimes stay up late and then crash the next evening, you arent helping yourself. Instead, seek regularity in your sleeping patterns.

In a study of Kaiser Permanente patients in Northern California, middle-aged people with excess visceral fat more commonly known as belly fat were nearly three times more likely to suffer from dementia in their 70s and 80s than people with little to no belly fat. The researchers found these people have a much higher risk of having that visceral fat surrounding internal organs deep in their abdominal cavity. Doctors theorize that this fat may release toxins associated with atherosclerosis or the buildup of plaque in the brain that is frequently present in those afflicted with Alzheimers. The study defined people who were 30 pounds or more overweight who had developed belly fat in their 40s were 3.6 times more likely to develop dementia. They reported that the risk for men with belly fat goes up when his waist exceeds 40 inches; for women, its 35 inches. Doctors recommend a combination of weight training and aerobic exercise that targets the whole body (not just the abdominals), a low-fat diet, and minimal sugar. Surprisingly, recent research has suggested that including dairy products and getting plenty of sleep may help when it comes to battling belly fat.