Saturday, April 3, 2010

Save Your Brain

Sometimes when a new book arrives - I cannot wait to read it. Save Your Brain - 5 things you must do to keep your mind young and sharp by Paul David Nussbaum is just such a book. For some reason, I am attracted to books on keeping the mind sharp. For example, I loved Making a Good Brain Great and Brain Rules.

I was interested to read in the Globe and Mail that people with advanced Parkinsons cannot walk but can ride a bicycle. The brain is interesting.

The book starts with a survey to see how good you are on brain stuff. It includes questions on exercise, diet etc. I was surprised I scored "poor". Perhaps that is partly because I am a tough self grader but partly because the questions did not allow me to use alternatives that I do that are likely comparable. EG - dancing once per week (which I do not do) is surely comparable to martial arts.

Of course it has a technical section on how the brain works and what it is. And part convincing me that I need to work on saving my brain.

The 5 things to do to Save Your Brain:

1 - Socialize. Basic human interaction.
2 - Exercise. 25% of the blood circulation goes to support the brain.
3 - Mental Stimulation. Use it or lose it. Learn something new always. Challenge yourself.
4 - Spirituality. He includes "mental rest" in this category.
5 - Nutrition. The obvious - eat like your mom told you to and use supplements if you cannot. He is also a big advocate of fish oil.

These are all obvious and not new. He did not emphasize the things not to do (like drugs, alcohol and boxing). It was a good reminder of things I already knew.

1 comment:

  1. When our brains work right, we work right. But we unknowingly endanger and injure our brains, stress them by working and not getting enough sleep, pollute them with alcohol and drugs and deprived them of proper nutrients. Luckily, it's never too late to start treating your brain better. Change your brain to change your life.

    Joe Ann T. Lacasandile
    CSS1-HGLUMP

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