Brain Hacks

The kola nut, found in tropical Africa, is high in caffeine. Made into a tea, kola nut can help improve cerebral circulation, potentially reducing the risk of stroke. It also boosts oxygenation in your body, including in your brain, which means it can improve cognitive function. Traditionally, kola nut has been used to treat headaches.

Although the kola nut was once used in some cola drinks (for flavor), giving those drinks their name, today’s cola drinks are either high in sugar or high in artificial sweeteners and so don’t pass the “Is it healthy for my brain?” test. Instead of drinking cold carbonated cola drinks, try an infusion (tea) of kola nut. Because of the caffeine, it will stimulate your brain, so think of it when you need to revive your flagging energy. It is also believed to block some neurotransmitters and boost others, like dopamine, so it can be used as a mood elevator. If you’re not a fan of tea, you can also find kola nut as a liquid supplement, a capsule supplement, a syrup, a tincture, a gel, in a blend with other herbs for taste, in a new old-fashioned cola drink, or as an actual food product (be forewarned: the first bite can taste quite bitter!). 

If you have high blood pressure, heart problems, or are sensitive to caffeine, then the kola nut in any of its forms is not for you. Otherwise, give it a try and see how well it clears your mind. 

Research shows that even low levels of mercury may contribute to Alzheimer’s dis- ease. Nerve cells exposed to mercury form the tangles and plaques often present in Alzheimer’s cases. In an article published in the journal Neuro Report Canadian re- searcher Dr. Boyd Haley said, “Seven of the characteristic markers that we look for to distinguish Alzheimer’s disease can be produced in normal brain tissues, or cultures of neurons, by the addition of extremely low levels of mercury.”

Most people are exposed to mercury through eating fish, although mercury can also be found in pollution. Fish, although a lean source of protein, full of vitamins and minerals, and high in omega-3 fatty acids, may contain high levels of mercury. Fish contaminated with mercury should be avoided. In 2017 the FDA and EPA is- sued guidelines about eating fish for certain groups, such as women who are pregnant. According to the Mayo Clinic this advice is suitable for everyone to follow. The 2017 report categorizes fish into three groups: best choices, good choices, and choices to avoid (highest mercury levels):  

• Best choices include catfish, haddock, salmon, shrimp, tilapia, and canned light tuna.

• Good choices include bluefish, grouper, halibut, and canned albacore/white tuna.

• Choices to avoid are king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish (sourced from the Gulf of Mexico), and big eye tuna. 

Your brain is lazy. (Everyone’s brain is lazy.) It wants to lie there like a lizard in the sun instead of actually working. That’s one of the reasons why you make the same old meals week after week when you could try a new recipe every night for the rest of your life and still not get to the end of all the cookbooks on your shelf. To give your brain a kick in the pants, go ahead and try something new. If you eat a lot of Italian, make something Thai. You’ll more fully engage your brain figuring out a new recipe, working with different ingredients, and learning new cooking skills and techniques. Plus, eating a variety of foods prepared in a variety of ways helps make sure your brain is getting the whole range of micro nutrients it needs. 

Folic acid, also known as vitamin B9, helps your brain get the blood it needs by inhibiting narrowing of the arteries in the neck. Studies also suggest that daily supplements of folic acid can reduce the likelihood of certain age-related brain problems, including dementia. Folic acid’s main role is to maintain the cell’s genetic code—its DNA, the master plan for cell reproduction. It also works with vitamin B12 to form hemoglobin in red blood cells.

If your body isn’t getting enough folic acid, you may suffer from forgetfulness. You’ll also be at greater risk for dementia as you get older. You may also suffer from anemia, impaired growth, and abnormal digestive function. Be careful, though! Taking too much folic acid through supplements can mask a vitamin B12 deficiency and could interfere with other medications. In the synthetic form—the form used to fortify foods and in supplements—folic acid has a UL (upper limit) of 1,000 micro grams (mcg) per day for adults over eighteen.

Your brain, like your boss, prefers success to failure. When it has a success, it re- leases dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter. This actually helps you remember what you did right so you can repeat it. In contrast, when you fail, you don’t get the nice dopamine reward—and so your brain can’t quite figure out what you did wrong. Despite what all those motivation gurus say, failure doesn’t actually teach you much. Success is how you learn. Researchers at MIT found that monkeys (which have brains a lot like ours) repeat the same mistakes over and over. Failure didn’t change the monkey’s behavior or help it do well on the next test. Success did.

Having a “streak”—where you successfully complete a certain habit or task re- peatedly over a period of time—also causes your brain to release dopamine. The more successful you are over time, the more your brain wants you to be successful. So keep track of your brain-healthy habits. For example, every time you get some aerobic exercise, mark it on a calendar. When you review the calendar you’ll see a series of successes and your brain will be motivated to continue succeeding. In other words, you can use your brain to help your brain stay healthy.

Vitamin C, an antioxidant, boosts the effectiveness of other antioxidants. It also helps your brain manufacture neurotransmitters such as dopamine and a cetyl-choline. In short, a daily dose of vitamin C can boost and maintain mental acuity. So important is vitamin C to proper brain function that it is being evaluated as a possible nutritional preventative for Alzheimer’s disease.

From the point of view of your brain, vitamin C can help:

• Prevent mood swings 

• Increase your intelligence 

• Protect your brain against deterioration 

• Guard against free radicals  

Vitamin C prevents the oxidation of LDL or “bad” cholesterol and thereby decreases the risk for plaque formation, which can clog arteries and lead to a heart at- tack or stroke. Vitamin C protects vitamin E from oxidation and may also prevent blood vessels from constricting and thus cutting off blood supply to the brain. Studies have shown that 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams of vitamin C per day can help keep arteries healthy. Supplementing with 500 milligrams of vitamin C per day may lower blood pressure. So, load up on C! 

Most fruits and vegetables provide vitamin C. Foods particularly high in C include hot chili peppers (raw), cantaloupe, sweet peppers, dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, kiwi, oranges, and mango. 

Because vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, your body excretes the excess that may be consumed. Very large doses, though, could cause kidney stones, nausea, and diarrhea. The effects of taking large amounts over extended periods of time are not yet known. Vitamin C has a UL (upper limit) set at 2,000 milligrams per day for adults over eighteen. 

Spending time with friends and loved ones makes you feel good. It increases your sense of happiness and well-being and decreases the likelihood of depression. Connecting with others can also help you ward off dementia. Research has shown the more isolated you are (socially speaking), the more likely you are to develop dementia. Other studies show that people who spend time socializing do better on memory tests and other learning. Keeping your brain strong and vital isn’t just a one-person job—it takes a village. Throw a party, chat with your friends, share a meal with your kids. It’ll help keep your brain youthful! 

Here are some other ideas for socializing that don’t require a lot of preparation and planning:  

• Go to a religious service 

• Take a class 

• Talk with your neighbors 

• Join a community group  

Skype if you must but don’t replace all of your in-person interactions with screen interactions. Being in the physical presence of other people provides the best boost for your brain. 

Drinking oolong tea can help protect your brain. An oolong tea is not quite a green tea and not quite a black tea. It falls in between (being partly fermented). Oolong tea contains catechins, a type of flavonoid, which are known antioxidants (that is, they can help prevent free radicals from running rampant in your brain and hurting it). You can also find catechins in green teas. But many people prefer the taste of oolong tea, and they find that drinking too much green tea irritates the stomach. 

One study showed that drinking catechins suppressed brain dysfunction— although mice, not humans, were the subjects of that study. Another study showed that catechins may work as chelators (substances that bond to a metal, in this case iron), and prevent excess metal from hurting the brain. Catechins are also known to protect the heart and blood vessels, potentially reducing the possibility of stroke. 

According to one study, oolong tea contains polyphenols that help reduce stress. Another study showed that drinking oolong tea may help protect your brain from Alzheimer’s—oolong tea may prevent certain toxins, such as a plaque protein, from killing brain cells. (You may recall that plaques are characteristic of brains with Alzheimer’s.) 

Oolong tea benefits your brain in another way—it generally contains more caffeine than green tea and can boost your alertness and your thinking skills. On the downside, too much caffeine can cause insomnia and make heart problems worse, so drink in moderation. 

Yoga, an ancient Indian method of exercise, involves specific postures and breathing exercises. It increases strength, flexibility, circulation, posture, and overall body condition. And it also builds your brain. Its original purpose was to help practitioners gain control over the body and bring it into a state of balance in order to free the mind for spiritual contemplation—in other words, it was used as an aid to meditation. But yoga itself, separate from any meditation practice, can provide benefits to your brain. 

A study performed at the University of Illinois found that just a single twenty-minute session of yoga can improve focus and the ability to retain new information. Other research shows that yoga can boost mood, reduce anxiety and inflammation, and lower stress levels. Separate MRI research shows that yoga practitioners who exercise regularly actually enlarge their brains as compared to people who don’t practice yoga. One study showed enlargement in the areas of the brain associated with visualization, reducing stress, and directing attention. 

If you’re just starting out with yoga, it can be helpful to take a beginner class with a certified instructor who can show you the proper way to hold your poses and teach you the right breathing techniques. 

Swimming is both fun and good for your brain. It’s aerobic, which means it in- creases blood flow to your brain, improving cognitive function. But unlike other aerobic exercise that is done on land, swimming is done in the water (okay, maybe that was obvious). The increase resistance of water boosts the benefits. One study showed that swimming increased blood flow to cerebral arteries by about 10 to 15 percent as compared to aerobic exercise done on land. One study also showed that swimming may have anti depressive effects. Aerobic exercise in general can help generate new brain cells and repair damaged ones, and swimming fires up the whole brain: you use both hemispheres and all four lobes to swim. Keeping the en- tire brain active is one way to help improve cognition. Dive on in for brain benefits!