Category: HACK 1-50

Boost your brain power with the right food. Eat plant-based foods and healthy fats. Cut back on animal products and saturated fats (typically, solid fats like lard and butter), because saturated fats slow down your cognitive function. The nutrients found in plants, by contrast, support memory retention and help lower blood pres- sure (hypertension affects your brain as well as your heart). Standout stars? Beans and green, leafy vegetables.  

Ten Foods to Favor 

1. Beans and other legumes
2. Coconut oil
3. Fish, especially fatty fish like tuna and salmon
4. Green, leafy vegetables (e.g., spinach, kale, lettuce, and arugula)
5. Nuts, either raw or dry roasted
6. Olive oil
7. Cruciferous (cabbage family) vegetables (e.g., cauliflower)
8. Lean poultry, such as skinless chicken and ground turkey
9. Whole grains
10. Wine, either white or red (but not too much!)

Five Foods to Forget 

1. Butter and margarine
2. Cheese
3. Fried foods
4. Pastries and desserts
5. Red meat, especially high-fat processed meat like bacon, sausage, and salami

According to research, the more closely you stick to a plant-based diet, the more positively you will affect your brain health. 

Drinking too much alcohol slows your reactions, impairs your judgment, and can even cause blackouts and memory lapses—and that’s just on a Friday night. In the long term, alcohol abuse can cause permanent brain damage. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that long-term drinking can actually shrink your brain! It also creates problems with the structures that carry information between brain cells—making it harder for you to think and react even when you’re stone-cold sober. Because heavy drinkers often have poor diets, dietary deficiencies may also harm the brain. Consume alcohol in moderation—preferably no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. 

Your brain needs omega-3 fatty acids to function, but your body can’t produce them. That means you have to get them from your diet. Two 2017 brain studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign suggest that eating omega-3 fatty acids may improve memory retention and strengthen the structures responsible for fluid intelligence (the ability to solve new problems). The new research supports the idea that upping your intake of these fatty acids can slow age-related cognitive decline. In addition, researchers at Harvard University found that omega-3 fatty acids may interfere with the brain signals that trigger the characteristic mood swings seen with bipolar disorder. If these findings hold true in future studies, omega-3 fatty acids may have implications for treating other psychiatric disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia. Some studies have found that omega-3s can significantly decrease triglyceride levels, lower blood pressure, and reduce blood levels of homo cysteine, high levels of which are associated with an increased risk of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and other brain problems. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids include:  

• Flaxseed (linseed), soybean, and canola oils
• Cold-water fatty fish, like salmon, tuna, and sardines
• Certain fortified dairy and soy products (look for fortified dairy products by brand)
• Nuts, especially walnuts
• Legumes, such as pinto beans and peas

Your body needs more than one type of omega-3 fatty acid, so eat a variety of these foods every chance you get. You can also supplement with 10 grams of fish oil a day. 

Writing a to-do list may not seem like much of a brain booster, but it is. Figuring out your priorities and filtering out the non essentials are higher level cognitive tasks, and practicing these skills keeps your brain in top-notch shape. Also, translating a big picture problem or goal (“Get ready to file taxes”) into its smaller tasks (“Find my W-2” and “Get recommendations for which tax software to use”) is an- other executive function. Making a to-do list creates mental space for doing other tasks, not just remembering the various things you have to do. Plus, using a to-do list can make you feel good: one study showed that you get a little dopamine rush every time you cross a task off your to-do list (dopamine makes you feel good, elevating your mood). You should list even small tasks just for the reward of marking through them. One researcher explained that the frequency of progress is more important to your brain than how big the progress is. Practically speaking, this means crossing off “Empty the dishwasher,” “Wipe the counters,” and “Sweep the floor” is way more satisfying than crossing off “Clean the kitchen.” (By the way, writing down something you’ve already done and then crossing it off creates the same happy feeling.) 

Stress makes your brain think you’re in danger. It responds by maintaining a high state of alertness and producing chemicals called glucocorticoids. If nothing tells your brain, “The danger has passed,” those chemicals keep streaming through your blood. In effect, they become toxic to your brain. A brain on high alert is focused on survival, and thus has no time for rest and regeneration. Stress has these key symptoms:  

• Inability to relax
• Emotional instability/mood swings
• Headaches
• Sleeplessness

Stress messes with your brain by:

• Creating free radicals that kill your brain cells
• Making you forget things
• Intensifying your anxiety and irritability
• Interfering with the creation of new brain cells
• Increasing your risk for mental illness, such as depression
• Shrinking your brain, causing memory and decisionmaking problems
• Allowing toxins into your brain
• Escalating your likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s or dementia
• Killing off brain cells prematurely

Banish stress for a healthier brain. Acknowledge when you’re stressed, then re- solve to take care of those problems you can (and promise yourself not to dwell on those you can’t). 

Chronic stress elevates cortisol levels, which is one of the main causes of brain cell death. A recent study found evidence of a link between the hormone cortisol and the speed of decline among Alzheimer’s patients. Higher levels of cortisol correlate with shrinkage of the brain’s hippocampus, which is associated with long-term memory. 

Actions you take to reduce your stress, such as exercising and eating brain- healthy foods, reduce cortisol levels. In addition, fish oil supplements and an herbal supplement called ashwagandha (also known as Indian ginseng) have both been shown to help reduce cortisol levels. Prebiotic and probiotic supplements show promise of reducing cortisol levels as well. 

How many times a week do you sit down to dinner with your family? If you’re like most people, maybe once or twice a week. Other times, it’s likely you eat in your car, at your computer, watching television, or doing something else. But studies have shown that sitting down to dinner with your family has many benefits. People who plan and cook regular dinners eat more fruits and vegetables and get more vitamins and minerals, all of which help keep your brain healthy. In contrast, restaurant meals tend to have more calories and fat (in some cases portion sizes are double—or more—what is considered a serving).

Not only do family dinners provide your body with better fuel, they improve relationships, which are a key part of maintaining a healthy brain. Spending time together as a family helps people feel they are loved and belong. This isn’t just true of children—adults have the same experience of improved relationships with other members of the family. Studies have shown that families who eat together are hap- pier, emotionally stronger, and more resilient (better able to cope with setbacks). In one study, mothers who ate with their children were less stressed than those who did not. This was true even of mothers who worked outside the home at demanding jobs—people who you might think would experience less stress if they skipped meal planning and preparation. 

Let’s start this hack with a brief chemistry refresher. Remember how tiny particles called electrons, protons, and neutrons make up atoms? Atoms want their electrons to come in pairs, so as to stabilize themselves. Unstable atoms (or groups of atoms) have one or more unpaired electrons. In the body, these unstable atoms, called free radicals, try to complete themselves by stealing electrons from other atoms. This thievery can create a destructive chain reaction.

Your body produces some free radicals as a result of natural chemical reactions. Stress, trauma, pollution, processed foods, and drugs create others. Free radicals help your immune system do its work, but too many will damage and destroy normal healthy cells. Free radicals are thought to contribute to more than sixty different health conditions, including Alzheimer’s. 

To keep free radicals (sometimes called oxidants) in check, you need antioxidants, which can be found in many vitamins and minerals. Antioxidants clean up roving free radicals before they inflict damage on the brain. Also, take steps to reduce your exposure to environmental pollutants, such as pesticides, solvents, exhaust fumes, and tobacco smoke. 

Vitamin E, a natural antioxidant found in many foods, diminishes the damage caused by free radicals. Some evidence suggests that free radical damage to the neurons (nerve cells) is at least partially responsible for the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Vitamin E has been shown to prevent free radical damage and delay memory deficits in animal studies. In a two-year study of people with Alzheimer’s disease, large doses of vitamin E slowed progression of the disease. That said, when taken by healthy people, large doses of vitamin E have not been shown to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Vitamin E is considered nontoxic, even over the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) levels. The UL (upper limit) for vitamin E is set at 1,000 milligrams per day for adults over eighteen.

Foods rich in vitamin E include vegetable oils, nuts and seeds, wheat germ oil, peanut butter, and green leafy vegetables. 

The psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and a team of researchers at the University of Chicago were the first to describe and name the concept of flow, that state of concentration people get into when they feel fully involved in what they’re doing. In the flow state, people become less self-aware and less distracted by outside concerns like what time it is or how hungry they are. People describe it as “losing your- self in the process” or “being in the zone.” Experiencing flow is an excellent way to destress your brain. 

Csikszentmihalyi’s work identified intrinsic motivation as key to the flow experience. People who have intrinsic motivation can find the positives even in difficult situations, making them happier, more optimistic, and more creative than those who don’t cultivate intrinsic motivation and who are only motivated by external re- wards, like getting a paycheck. When you’re in flow, your brain gets bathed in feel- good chemicals like dopamine and endorphins. Tasks that are too simple don’t produce this state (because they cause boredom) and tasks that are too complex don’t produce this state, either (because they cause stress and frustration). The task must be just right, requiring you to challenge your skills. You also need to care about what you’re doing. If you think the task is pointless, then even if it stretches your skills you’re unlikely to find flow. One way to add flow to your life is to add complexity to simple tasks, like trying to do them quickly. Another is to add purpose to tasks, such as thinking about how much more relaxing your house will feel if it’s not so cluttered. Finally, you can seek out activities known to produce flow, such as hiking, painting, and writing.