Five Quick Ways to
Supercharge Your Memory

Posted November 18th, 2008 By: Ahalya

Super-Charge Your Memory

Quick! What day of the week is it? When is your best friend’s birthday? How many times did you answer the phone yesterday? Where have you parked your car?

Got you stumped, eh?

Does your brain buzz and hum along like a power saw? Or do you feel like your life resembles the memoirs of the absent-minded professor?

Not to worry, you’re about to learn some easy ways to boost your brain into hyper-drive.

Don’t take your body for granted, especially not your brain. This super organ will see you through life and needs to be juiced up and kept running all the time. Here’s what you can do to rev up your brain, today.

Enlist Your Eyes

Visualize your plan for the day. Say, you have to pay the phone bill and pick up pineapples for a fruit salad and meet your colleague for lunch at 2. Make a story. Imagine you’re holding a pineapple shaped phone and calling your colleague while standing under a huge clock that is chiming two ‘o clock. Or, whatever!

Before you move on to a new task, take a look at what you have achieved. This means… You take a look at the place where your car is parked before you walk away. You pause for a second and see where you’ve placed you key. You turn back and see that the geyser is really switched off, before you get out of the bathroom.

When you enter a room full of people you have to talk with, let your eyes move across their face, from left to right, then right to left. Moving your eyes horizontally activates the brain, and British researchers have found that this exercise even helps you retain information you’ll hear. The secret is in the horizontal movement that spurs the brain’s hemispheres to interact, which also helps in memory retrieval.

Recharge With Meditation

Got an important and long meeting lined up right after lunch, can’t keep from drifting off? Well, first, it’s a good idea not to eat rice for lunch. Second, snatch a few minutes before the meeting, shut yourself in your cubicle, and meditate. Sit still, close you eyes and focus on your breathing. You will feel your tiredness lift off you.

With as little as 20 minutes of meditation, you’ll feel as if you have slept for eight refreshing hours. Once you are alert, you’ll be better able to commit information to your memory.

Challenge Your Brain

Brush your teeth with your left hand. Take a new route to your office. Try to remember the phone numbers you are supposed to dial.

Once you slip into a routine, you stop thinking about simple tasks, and spend time worrying about the day ahead. This time will be more productively spent, by challenging your brain.

Change the way you normally do things, pick up new tasks or hobbies, multi task. By pushing your brain, you’ll create new pathways to carry information that will help you later in life.

Recharge It With Oxygen

Your brain needs to breathe too. The more oxygen you give it, the easier it will be for you to stave off age-related memory loss. Exercise is the best way to do this. If you can’t go to the gym, walk briskly for at least 30 minutes, as often in the week as you can.

Eat Brain Super-Foods

The Journal of Neuroscience published a report recently that spinach, strawberries and blueberries are literally food for thought. Research by the USDA has found that eating blueberries every day dramatically slows the impairment of memory associated with old age. Polyphenols in blueberries prompt the signals that help brain cells communicate with each other.

Spinach is a storehouse of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds that also slow brain aging and protect your memory. Spinach is also well known as one of the very few food sources of alpha lipoic acid – a powerful antioxidant.

Ginkgo is another super food. Not only does ginkgo extract reduce the progress of dementia, but it also helps you retain your memories for longer and boosts the speed of thinking. It does this is by increasing circulation to the brain. And because it’s an antioxidant it protects the brain from cell damage.

There you have it, five ways to boost your memory. Can you remember what they are?

Photo credit: Axel Rouvin

Related article: 5 Ways to Sharpen Your Mind

Posted in Mental Fitness | 1 Comment »

Religion & Family Ties
Catapult You to 100

Posted November 13th, 2008 By: Ahalya

Is there really a connection between religion and health; between going to church and enjoying a longer than average life; between spending Sunday at home and celebrating your 101st birthday with your great-grandchildren?

Several studies seem to indicate this is so. Here is what the jury has found so far:

Time Well Spent

What most studies have found is that people belonging to all faiths across the globe, spend lots of time socializing with like-minded people, helping the community, and carrying out rituals that mostly emphasize a healthy, austere kind of life.

Support

Although it may seem like an endless chore sometimes, spending time with family members results in a stronger support system to rely on should you ever need help. Just knowing support is there relieves unnecessary stress. Plus, older family members tend to insist on balanced meals and eating on time, thus improving the health of the younger ones at home.

Shouldering Responsibilities

Studies show that marriage improves the health of most men. This is because the emphasis on cooking meals at home gets stronger. And having a partner to take care of chores around the house reduces stress.

However, the modern day story is changing a little. Working women, single or married, tend to skip cooking meals sometimes, opting for ready-to-eat foods. Working women also need partners who are willing to share responsibilities such as cooking and cleaning.

Hope As An Antidepressant

Those who are spiritual or practice religion have an abiding faith in love and divine justice. This hope for goodness is enough to function as a powerful antidepressant. The body feels less stress, thus reducing chances of high blood pressure, various heart diseases and even cancer. In fact, some researchers have found that very few senior citizens who regularly attend religious gatherings suffer from cognitive decline, an essential feature of Alzheimer’s disease.

Discipline Your Mind

Meditation makes you happy. Not just because you spend some quality time calming yourself, but because the act of meditating disciplines the amygdala (the area in the brain that is activated in fearful situations). The amygdala plays an important role in motivation and emotional behavior. Regular meditation can help you keep your temper in check, ensure that you do not get flustered too easily and thus include self-control in its list of life-long benefits.

Being Involved, Being Important

Studies have found that having faith is associated with a constructive outlook. This includes taking part in community efforts, maintaining relationships with others of the same community, and having a more positive attitude about life.

Editor’s Comment

I’m not suggesting you go out and join your local church, synagogue, mosque, or temple if you don’t already belong to one. If that works for you at this time, fine.

Religion is about belief in the Supreme Creator and a life beyond this mortal body. How you choose to acknowledge that has nothing to do with a building or belonging to a group. The scriptures of every major religion in the world are available to read and study without depending on someone else to interpret them and interject their own prejudices.

Of course religion & family ties alone will not bring you longevity, but they go a long way to improving the quality of life.

Photo credit: mudpig

Posted in Lifestyle, Mental Fitness | 2 Comments »

Dates – Natural Sustenance
From Ancient Mesopotamia

Posted November 3rd, 2008 By: Rod Newbound

Although the exact origin of the date palm is lost in antiquity, it is known to have been used in construction of the temple of the moon god near Ur in Southern Iraq (Mesopotamia) as early a 4000 BC.

Dates were considered very important in both the Jewish and Islamic religions, and were believed to be a curative for many ailments.

Ancient Phoenicia was known as “the land of palms” and no doubt dates sustained them as they sailed around the Mediterranean and became the predominate maritime trading culture of the time.

Nutritional Powerhouse

Dates are one of the most nourishing natural foods. Containing 3,000 calories per kilogram (2.2 lbs.), just a handful taken with a glass of milk, can provide all the nutrition a person needs for the entire day. And because the natural sugars in dates are fructose and glucose, diabetics can safely consume them.

Dates are also high in dietary fiber and low in sodium and fat. They are also a valuable source of antioxidants (ranked #11 out of 100 fruits and vegetables in ORAC score).

100 grams (about 3 ½ oz.) of dates contains

• Carbohydrates 75 gm (including 63 gm sugar)

• Dietary fiber 8 gm

• Protein 2.5 gm

Full to the brim with super-healthy benefits this dry fruit is a must-have in your kitchen.

Cancer Fighter

Fresh, dried, or semi-dry dates pack a nutritious punch when it comes to getting your daily requirement of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, and especially magnesium.

One study indicates that 64% of men and 67% of women fail to get enough of this important mineral. Bone density, blood pressure and insulin activity are just some of the things affected by magnesium levels.

A Swedish study, conducted over 14.8 years among 61,433 women showed that a diet high in magnesium rich foods cut the risk of colon cancer by 34%. And the evidence is clear that a high fiber diet is very important in the prevention of colon cancer.

It is known that date consumers in Saharan areas have the lowest incidence of cancer, which is attributed to the high magnesium content of dates.

Top 5 Things to Know About Dates

• Fresh dates are a useful source of Vitamin C and when dried, they are richer in potassium than bananas.

• Dates can have a mild laxative effect, making them ideal for children and convalescing adults who need to clean up their intestines.

• Dried dates are a rich source of niacin, copper, iron and magnesium. Just drinking a juice made of dates soaked overnight in water will strengthen the heart and purify the blood.

• Certain cultures use dates to provide all the body’s necessary nourishment by stuffing dry dates with nuts and raisins to use as a snack during fasts. This is an easily made treat for those suffering from low blood sugar. Eating just two stuffed dates can quickly raise your blood sugar to normal levels.

• Dates are also rich in calcium, and date syrup added to milk strengthens bones. Even breast-feeding mothers can benefit from dates, because it is known to enrich the milk and boost the child’s immune system.

Caution: Use moderation. Eating too many dates at a time could lead to dental caries and gum disease as the sugar in the dates is fermented in the mouth and forms plaque. Dates are also known to trigger migraines in some people.

Quick and Easy Ways to Use Dates

• Chop and add to the dough when you are making cookies or brownies

• Put some in your milkshake instead of sugar or honey

• Dice and serve with ice cream or yogurt

• Blend with milk and use as syrup

• Stuff with nuts and a chunk of cheddar cheese

• Add to hot cereal to punch up the nutritional value

• Dice and put in your pancake or waffle batter

• For a super healthy snack, stuff with raw chocolate nibs

More exotic dishes include Moroccan tajines (a slow-cooked spicy stew) and ka’ak bi ajwa (an Arab cookie filled with ground dates). In Manila, a cake similar to fruitcake made with nuts and dates is called “Food for the Gods”.

It is estimated that there are 100 million date palm trees growing today. And because of that, you can easily enjoy one of the most nutritious and sustainable fruits in the world without traveling to Mesopotamia.

Photo credit: kspoddar

Posted in Food & Diet, Medical | 2 Comments »