Brain Hacks

A recent study found that the creation of visual art, such as a painting or sculpture, improves effective interaction between different regions of the brain, particularly the frontal, posterior, and temporal brain regions. The participants in the study were a group of recent retirees who took a class in which they created paintings and drawings. The researchers stated that because of its positive effects on the brain, art making “may become an important prevention tool in managing the bur- den of chronic diseases in older adults.” Creation of art, at any age, is also known to reduce stress, regardless of skill level. 

You know calcium helps build strong bones and teeth. What a lot of people don’t know is that calcium is also important for brain functioning. Calcium provides links between important proteins that enable electrical signals within the brain. Without it, your brain would shut down. 

Of course, calcium does a lot of other important things in your body. It works in conjunction with vitamin D, phosphorus, and fluoride to help promote strong and healthy bones. Vitamin D is necessary for the absorption of calcium in the body. Low levels of calcium intake can lead to osteomalacia (softening of the bones) and an increased risk of osteoporosis. Calcium has a UL (upper limit) set at 2,500 milligrams per day for adults and children. When consuming supplements up to this amount, no adverse effects are likely. However, higher doses over an extended period of time may cause kidney stones and poor kidney function as well as reduce the absorption of other minerals, such as iron and zinc. 

Some of the best sources of calcium are foods in the dairy group, such as milk, cheese, and yogurt. In addition, some dark green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, spinach, kale, and collards, are good sources. Other good sources include fish with edible bones, such as sardines and salmon, as well as calcium-fortified soymilk, tofu made with calcium, shelled almonds, cooked dried beans, calcium- fortified cereals, and calcium-fortified orange juice. 

In a review of twenty-two studies, calcium supplementation was found to moderately reduce blood pressure in adults with hypertension, or high blood pres- sure, but had little effect on people with normal blood pressure. Take a minimum of 1,000 and a maximum of 2,000 milligrams a day. Experts recommend a two-to- one ratio of calcium to magnesium. If you regularly supplement with extra calcium, be sure to increase your magnesium intake too. 

You need to exercise your brain as if it were a muscle. You’ve heard the stories of the dangers of retiring without having a plan for how to fill your time. The stories are true, and the science is there to prove it. Most aspects of work, even the com- mute, the interaction with others, and the daily challenges, are stimulating. When you retire, if you don’t build in challenges for your brain and body, then you can suffer physical and even mental decline. Studies also find that the more intellectually stimulating the job, the less likely it is that Alzheimer’s will strike. 

It doesn’t matter if you are really bad at writing poetry. In fact, that’s precisely the reason to give it a try. Poetry is a creative form of writing that is indeed a fine art, but you don’t have to master the form to earn benefits for your brain. Try your hand at various styles. You could write:  

• An epic poem that celebrates, in a grand style, mythological and actual historical events.

• A narrative poem that tells a story in a somewhat simpler style. “Paul Revere’s Ride” by the American poet Henry Wads worth Longfellow is a narrative poem.

• An ode, which is a kind of lyric poem. An ode is a lyrical dedication to some- thing or someone that the writer admires and loves. It describes how the subject of the ode affects the poet emotionally. Lyric poems are sensitive in tone. They express the poet’s personal feelings of love, yearning, sorrow, and happiness.

Poetry can rhyme or not; poems that do not rhyme are referred to as blank verse. A great deal of poetry has a definite repetitive rhythm. Writing poetry will help you get in touch with your feelings, help you think metaphorically, and exercise your brain. 

Therapy is designed to alter the way you perceive your life and its challenges. A good therapist helps you put things in perspective, tame emotional mood swings, and re frame problems. As you learn to re frame, your brain gets happier and healthier. Having positive thoughts and taking positive actions bolster positive brain pathways and thus ultimately lead to improved brain function. Several studies have shown that cognitive therapy (i.e., talk therapy that teaches patients to counter negative thought patterns by replacing them with positive thoughts) can enhance brain function. 

Emphasizing the importance of the mind/body connection in attaining physical fitness, Joseph Pilates married critical elements of Eastern and Western philosophies to create what is known as the Pilates exercise program. Westerners approach health and fitness as a scientific task with a goal of maintaining and nurturing the body’s muscles, bones, and circulatory and digestive systems. Eastern philosophies place much more importance on the development of mental and spiritual powers in the pursuit of pure health. Pilates students approach each movement with focus and determination, and they equally engage both body and mind in each physical endeavor. Pilates is a conditioning program designed to work the whole body—including your brain—simultaneously and uniformly. Joseph Pilates created his exercises with the intention “that each muscle may cooperatively and loyally aid in the uniform development of all our muscles. Developing minor muscles naturally helps to strengthen major muscles.” As a result, every muscle is developed in every movement.

Studies have shown that after a mindful exercise such as Pilates or yoga, practitioners have better brain function. Because Pilates is similar to yoga, many of the benefits of yoga can be realized by performing Pilates exercises (for example, the stress-relieving aspect). 

Smell is the most potent of all the senses because the information is delivered straight to your hypothalamus. Because moods, motivation, and creativity all stem from the hypothalamus, odors affect all of these processes. Think of a disgusting odor and how it can affect your appetite, or think of a fragrance that brings back a pleasant memory of a loved one, and you’ll realize how intimately intertwined scents are with our emotions, memories, and ideas. Light a candle with a fragrance that invokes pleasant memories. Then lie back and soothe your hypothalamus. 

A thousand years ago brewers of English ale began using hops as a preservative. Much later they added it as an ingredient and discovered that their hops pickers suffered two peculiar effects: they tired quickly when working, and the female pickers got their menstrual periods earlier than normal. Science has since recognized the remarkable power of hops as a sedative. It has a calming effect on the body, soothes muscle spasms, relieves nervous tension, and promotes restful sleep. If you suffer from insomnia, make a tea with 1 teaspoon of dried hops in a cup of boiling water and drink it at bedtime. Capsules are also available. An old-fashioned cure for sleeplessness is to sleep on a small pillowcase filled with hops sprinkled with alcohol. 

Lectures offer incredible opportunities to learn, acquire new interests, stay current, and improve your conversational skills. Pick challenging topics that you know nothing about—like neuroscience, archaeology, quantum physics, ancient history, or hieroglyphs—and charge up your brain cells by straining to understand. The more complex the subject matter, the more it will generate new thoughts and get your brainwaves sparking. Because your brain zooms into high gear when it tries to predict and understand what the speaker is saying, you’ll stimulate parts of your brain that you don’t just from reading. Think of the saying, “Listen with your brain, not your ears.” The more you involve your whole brain in the process of engaging with a speaker, the better. 

Red meat isn’t great for your brain health but white meat—specifically, chicken—is great for your brain. Not only is it a good source of protein, it’s also an excellent source of choline. No, no, not that stuff you put in the swimming pool to keep down the germs. Choline is used to make acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that helps improve memory and brain function (it’s also used in motor functions). It also helps regulate REM sleep, which is important for brain health. People with Alzheimer’s have low levels of this neurotransmitter. There is some evidence that choline can serve a neuro-protective role. So broil up a little chicken and support your brain.