Brain Hacks

To put yourself into a state of mind that can lead to real rest, give yourself a chance to let your mind wander. This is not a meditation at all in any formal sense. To do it, sit or lie down comfortably when you can be alone and uninterrupted for an hour. Turn lights down or off and eliminate outside noises and distractions. Close your eyes and let yourself experience the silence around you. Don’t try to focus on any one thought or idea—this isn’t mantra meditation. Breathe in a way that’s comfortable. You can consciously slow your breath down to aid in relaxation, but don’t turn it into a struggle. As you do this, let your mind wander wherever it wants to go, like a puppy let outside for an airing. Follow it if you wish, see what interests it, but make no judgments. Don’t push or move your mind in any particular direction. Let it go where it wants. That is the key here. So much meditation tries to harness the mind, tether it like a goat on a rope as bait for large game. Don’t do that. As your mind is given the freedom to roam here and there, to play at will, it will lead you to your place of rest.

A recent study shows that continued exposure to loud noises permanently affects your ability to process speech. It’s not just your hearing that can be affected by loud noises—it’s your brain! The cumulative effect of this process may explain why older people have difficulty learning and memorizing—because their brains have greater difficulty filtering out useless stimuli, such as music or conversation. Their brains take in everything. 

People who are sensitive to noise may also find their mood negatively affected by loud sounds. They are also subject to sleep problems and lower cognitive performance. Whether you have a particular sensitivity to noise or not, a little quiet helps calm you down. And by “a little” we mean a little. A recent study suggests that just two minutes of silence can confer big health benefits, mostly by helping the body relax. Another study showed that two-hour quiet periods each day helped (rat) brains grow more cells in the hippo campus, the memory center of the brain. Silence can be not only therapeutic but also remarkably energizing. Finding time each day for silence and stillness allows the body to recharge.

In a study of Kaiser Permanente patients in Northern California, middle-aged people with excess visceral fat—more commonly known as belly fat—were three times more likely to suffer from dementia in their seventies and eighties 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 hardening and narrowing of arteries that is frequently present in those with Alzheimer’s. Researchers reported that the risk for men with belly fat goes up when his waist exceeds 40 inches; for women, it’s 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. Recent research has suggested that eating dairy products and getting plenty of sleep may help when it comes to battling belly fat.

Olives and olive oil—long an essential part of the Mediterranean diet—are high in monounsaturated fats, which can reduce “bad” cholesterol in the blood. This in turn helps reduce the likelihood of stroke. A 2017 study by researchers at Temple University showed that eating extra-virgin olive oil protects against the development of plaques and tangles characteristic of Alzheimer’s. The same study also showed that olive oil supports memory and learning ability. Many nutritionists recommend the exclusive use of olive oil for fat in the diet. Olives and olive oil also contain polyphenols, which reduce oxidative stress (free radicals) in the brain. The upshot is that eating olive oil every day can help improve brain function and sup- port memory.

You know that a diet with the right fats helps your brain, supplying it with energy to keep going day and night. With a few simple tips, you can greatly reduce total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol (the wrong fats) in your meals. Try the following techniques:  

• Trim all visible fat from the meat before cooking. 

• Use low-fat cooking methods: broil, grill, roast, braise, stew, steam, poach, stir-fry, or microwave.

• Brown meat in a nonstick skillet with little to no fat. Use a vegetable oil spray or stock to prevent sticking.

• When grilling, broiling, or roasting meat and poultry, use a rack for the fat to drip through.

• Use marinades that have little to no fat: light teriyaki sauce, orange juice, lime juice, lemon juice, tomato juice, defatted broth, or low-fat yogurt. Add fresh herbs and other spices, such as garlic powder, to marinades for more flavor.

• Oven-bake fish and/or chicken instead of frying. 

Your body, including your brain, mends and maintains itself when you sleep. Dur- ing your daily doze, your brain clears out waste, builds new pathways, forms new memories (that’s why you remember things better if you sleep right after studying), and helps maintain your mood. Getting enough sleep helps keep you safe. Being sleep-deprived increases the likelihood of accidents and mistakes. Fatigue also makes it hard for you to respond quickly and effectively to anything that happens, whether it’s a test you have to take or a collision you have to avoid.

Prolonged fatigue prevents the mind and body from functioning at optimal levels, depresses the immune system, and wears down the entire system—physical, mental, and emotional. Deep and genuine rest is transformative in many ways. Sleep allows the brain to juggle the input of new information to produce flashes of creative insight. It’s fairly common to wake from a power nap with an “aha” mo- ment. In other words, get plenty of rest—it’s good for your brain! It’s 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, especially your brain, 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 some- times stay up late and then crash the next evening, you aren’t helping yourself. In- stead, seek regularity in your sleeping patterns.

If you fall, hit your head, and become unconscious, you are likely bruised and bleeding, even if you can’t see it. We now know that if you’re unconscious for more than an hour from a head injury, you have twice the risk of developing Alzheimer’s as those without such a history. After the bleeding stops and the swelling goes down following head trauma, you can still have scar tissue that may be involved in the future development of Alzheimer’s. Luckily, a product out there can help: the helmet. Always wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, skateboarding, bicycling, rock climbing, playing hockey or football, or participating in any sport where you risk a fall. In a recent study, researchers found that bikers who wore helmets had a 52 percent lower risk of severe traumatic brain injury and a 44 percent lower risk of death than those not wearing helmets. Even if you think you’re a champion bicyclist, horse rider, or whatever, accidents can easily happen and wearing a helmet can help keep you from scrambling your brain. 

We all know that overeating can result in obesity, which in turn makes you vulnerable to stroke and other problems. Several researchers have concluded that cutting back on your eating can lessen the risk of Parkinson’s disease and other neurological issues. One key to avoiding overeating is to know how hungry you really are. 

Before eating, take note of how hungry you are. Rate it on a scale of 0 to 10. When you rate your hunger, you can make conscious decisions of how much food you should be eating. If you’re really hungry, you may want a regular-size portion. If your hunger rates on the lower end of the scale, a snack-size portion may be your best bet. Awareness of what you’re doing can help you avoid mindless overeating. 

Creatine is a naturally occurring chemical that supplies energy to all cells in the body. Approximately 95 percent of creatine is stored in skeletal muscle. It can be obtained from foods such as fish and meat, which is why vegetarians are likely low in creatine. Creatine plays a pivotal role in making sure your brain is fueled evenly throughout the day, and it has been shown in several trials to significantly improve both working memory (such as remembering words from a list) and intelligence tasks that require speed of processing (such as pushing a button as quickly as possible after it lights up). 

To get the most out of your creatine supplement, take fenugreek with it. Fenugreek is a popular herb in Mediterranean dishes. It has been found that taking creatine with fenugreek in the form of seed extract results in significantly increased absorption and performance. This herb gives the same effect as glucose, but without the harmful side effects of sugar. Fenugreek actually balances blood sugar, which can result in a mild mood-stabilizing effect as well. 

The Latin name Convolvulus pluricaulis isn’t much harder to pronounce than the common name of this perennial herb (it’s also called aloe weed). All parts of the herb are thought to possess therapeutic benefits, and they are used in Indian and Chinese traditional medicine for chronic cough, sleeplessness, epilepsy, anxiety, and more. It’s primarily used to help support memory. It is thought to possess antistress, antidepressant, antianxiety, antioxidant, and even analgesic properties, but not much scientific investigation has been conducted into the effectiveness of this herb as compared to other more commonly known ones. Even so, some studies have shown that it is effective in reducing stress.