Category Archives: General

General information about brain fitness and health.

Cereal And Milk Is The New Sports Supplement

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A bowl of whole-grain cereal is as good as a sports drink for recovery after exercise. Research has shown that the readily available and relatively inexpensive breakfast food is as effective as popular, carbohydrate-based “sports drinks.”

Exercise physiologist Lynne Kammer, from The University of Texas at Austin, led a group of researchers who investigated the post-exercise physiological effects of the foods. Kammer and her team studied 12 trained cyclists, 8 male and 4 female. In contrast to many sports nutrition studies, however, the exercise protocol was designed to reflect a typical exercise session. After a warm-up period, the subjects cycled for two hours at a comfortable work rate, rather than the more frequently seen test-to-exhaustion

To read more from the study, click here

Freedom and the Brain

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Canada and the United States have celebrated their nation’s birthdays and freedom. The cost of such freedom has been and continues to be paid with significant sacrifice and loss of life. Freedom is a great gift and certainly one deserving the rich celebration every year.

I wonder about the brain and freedom and believe the natural existence for our brain is to be free. Our brain is at its best when it is creative and free to imagine, dream, and innovate. Structure and imposed limitation on the brain’s ability to think and to speak is both unnatural and unhealthy.

Surveys have documented the number one value for an older adult is independence. Freedom to move, live, make decisions, and act as one wishes is what independence is about. Dependence on others is the antithesis of freedom and a state of being that most of us fear.

We can enjoy the fact that we in Canada and the United States live in freedom, that we have independence, and that our brains have every opportunity today to create a great innovation that will change the course of mankind!

Please Speak into my Dominant Ear

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ear

The human brain has what is known as a dominant side and a non-dominant side. Dominance is determined by where language is processed and for the vast majority of humans we believe the dominant side is the left side or left hemisphere. Interestingly, we are not sure why the left side evolved to be dominant, but perhaps it had something to do with cave men and women using their right hands more often.

As language is processed primarily by most in the left hemisphere it is important to note that words are best processed when spoken into the right ear. The right ear processes information primarily using the left hemisphere while the left ear uses the right hemisphere.

A recent study found that words were more deeply processed when spoken into the person’s right ear. Therefore, if you want me to remember something for you please speak to me on my right side.

Emotional Eating

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We eat for many different reasons some of which are not healthy. Food is necessary for humans to survive though consumption of food in advanced nations is really not based on survival. Early in our development we hunted and remained vigilant most of the day to gather and consume food for survival. Today, food is so available in many different forms that this primal instinct to eat for survival is gone.

Today, food is consumed to satisfy hunger, maintain a routine of three meals a day, and to cope with emotions of guilt, anxiety, sadness, boredom, low self esteem, anger, and loneliness. Emotional eating is probably never healthy and leads to other problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. These problems in turn lead to increased risk for heart attack, stroke, and even dementia.

The only way to identify why you are eating is to remain conscious of your thoughts and feelings when you desire food. This will help you understand what is driving you to eat. Clearly we need to consume food for energy and function. However, most people over consume and do so on a subconscious basis. This unhealthy regimen can be addressed and transitioned to a healthy regimen of eating behavior only by becoming conscious of one’s thoughts prior to eating

Here are some activities to promote and stabalize emotional balance

The Brain: Attention & Concentration

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Attention is the most basic and necessary function of the brain. The brain can attend to information from five sensory pathways. While a deeper level of processing is not necessary for attention to occur, it is also true that a deeper level of information processing cannot occur without normal attention. The brain stem and frontal lobe are thought to be important for basic attentional processing. The entire Cortex is likely involved to a degree with basic attention.

Read more about Attention & Concentration…

The Power of Positive Thinking

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As we learn more about the power of the human brain it is more common to hear about ideas regarding our ability to guide our future, intuition, and premonition. Given that the brain is an electrical, magnetic, and chemical system we should not be too surprised by such ideas.

Research has already demonstrated the brain’s ability to move a cursor on a computer screen merely through thoughts. Other research indicates meditation can slow the progression of HIV and the military is presently working on communication between soldiers on the battle field that is essentially based on telepathy.

We are perhaps more accustomed to ideas such as mental focus, discipline, and attention. These mental qualities are perfected by athletes such as Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan to name a few. It is precisely these attributes that distinguish these professionals as superstars relative to the other great athletes. Can the human brain train to use these forces to guide their future and to derive positive outcomes?

My opinion is that the human brain can do anything so I certainly believe each of us has the ability to visualize and to increase the probability of our future being a good one. I believe we have the ability to imagine or dream and to focus our energies in a positive stream towards that goal. This is most likely quite foreign to most, but begin by developing more and more positive thoughts, visualize positive outcomes, and create energy around you and inside you that is positive. Take an inventory of what occurs in your life after you begin and sustain this mental process.

Happy Trails.

Goodbye to my Friend, Mr. Positive

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I am extremely blessed to have a job that permits me to travel the nation speaking about my passion, the human brain. Along the way, I have met so many great and interesting people. One gentleman I met during one of my talks was named David and he lived in Chicago. David introduced himself to me after one of my talks and shared his personal story that included the fact he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. The thing that struck me as so significant about David was his enormous positive attitude and outlook on life.

David and I developed a real friendship as he invited me back to Chicago to speak to his friends, introduced me to his wonderful family, and kept me updated on his medical condition. He provided me so many great updates about how the tumor had not grown and that his seizures were in better control. He was doing so well that he even got permission to start driving again. Throughout our conversations, David remained so positive and always took time to ask about me. A real friend.

I learned last week that my friend passed away while asleep. He was on vacation with his family and simply did not wake. This is a tremendous loss for so many of us. I realize that this story is a tough one, but also a common one that so many people experience. I am left with a strong belief that I am blessed to have known mine friend and to have been personally touched by his positive spirit. That spirit remains alive today and I will carry it with me until my last day.

Goodbye friend, Mr. Positive.

Herbal Goodness: Rosemary

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The savory scent of rosemary can perk you up and boost your memory, and it also adds flavor to just about any marinade. Marinating meat will not only help keep your meat moist, it also significantly decreases the amount of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs) produced when meat is cooked at high temperatures. In fact, rosemary is full of the antioxidant carnosol, which might have some specific anti-cancer properties as well. Making a marinade with rosemary sounds like a win-win situation.

source FitSugar

Music as medicine: Docs use tunes as treatment

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Listen carefully and you’ll hear the same refrain at a rising number of hospitals. From Massachusetts General to the Mayo Clinic, patients are hearing the first strains of a harmonious movement — the infusion and inclusion of music in the treatment of ailments, from brain disorders to cancer. This goes beyond the psychological smile favorite songs can induce.

Doctors are increasingly studying — and employing — the physiological dance music does with the body’s neurons and blood-carrying cells.

Researchers explore how melodies can help regulate heart, boost hormones

Implications of Poverty on the Brain

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Most advanced nations spend a significant amount of time, money, and energy dealing with poverty and the short and long term consequences for those who live in poverty. Policy statements are drafted and then implemented with varying degrees of success. One thing is certain, no policy has removed poverty suggesting that we either have not implemented the correct policy or poverty is a reality of life.

One aspect of poverty that probably does not receive enough attention is the negative health outcomes that result from such an environment. Studies many years ago demonstrated the negative effects of an un-enriched environment on rats. Interestingly, the brain was significantly affected both structurally and functionally. For humans, poverty really represents an unenriched environment in which poor nutrition, lack of love and attention, crime, drugs, insecurity, and lack of proper mental stimulation exist.

A nation enlightened to development of our youth and to creation of a policy that understands the impact of poverty will confront this reality. Research has demonstrated a correlation between poverty in childhood and increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease later in life. While there are short term consequences of poverty, there are also long term effects particularly when one understands that poverty limits proper development of the human brain.

Perhaps a first step in creating a policy on poverty is to educate the public on the importance of environmental input early in life upon later development of the human brain. Most families will work to follow such educational guidelines if they understand what to do with regard to promoting brain health for their own children. For those who are vulnerable and without resources or adults to provide the enriched environment policies can address what is needed and appropriate resources to help developing children thrive.