Deadline Stress: Three Brain Boosters to Beat It!

Tags

author stress, brain boosts, chocolate, Coffee benefits, Deadline Stress, meditation, peace within, stress

©Berc-Fotolia

© 2015 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

 It’s the dread Deadline Stress again!  With your deadline looming, you’re sitting at your computer or iPad or with your yellow pad, and the words aren’t coming.  You know your topic and everything about the piece.  But the moments are slipping away, and still the words aren’t getting into the article.  You’re really stuck!

Most advice about writers’ block is all about using your thoughts to control your thoughts. But that won’t work when your brain is stuck, and you can’t grasp your thoughts in order to control your thoughts!  Your brain is depleted right now.

So don’t use your mind!  Use these physical brain boosts to get yourself going.  Here are three of my favorites:

 

• The Shoulder Shift. Roll your shoulders up and forward, then around, slowly, stretching, for one minute.  Watch the clock.  No cheating.  Now roll the shoulders up and back and around, slowly, stretching, for one minute.  Notice the warming in your ankles and feet.  You have now opened up the circulation to the whole body, and you’ll feel it in the brain in one minute.  Notice a warming sensation flowing up the back of your neck.  This is energy, and it’s recharging your energy-starved brain.  You may notice your mood changing already, with positive emotions rising.  Cool, huh?
• The Chocolate Churnover. Earlier, were you craving chocolate?  Now is a great time to munch an ounce of dark chocolate to help your brain. The antioxidants and theobromine in the chocolate will lift your energy and metabolism.  Stimulating the tongue and mouth, by eating, lifts the energy of both the Fire- and Earth Meridians.  The bitter flavor in the chocolate stimulates the Fire Meridian, and the sweetness energizes the Earth Meridian.  If you heat your chocolate in almond- or dairy milk, the warm drink will raise the energy of the entire digestive system, which stimulates brain function, increasing clarity.  Also, the potassium in either form of milk will assist brain optimization.  Now you have churned your whole energy system, and it is pumping in support of you.
• The Latte Lift. If you love lattes, try this trick first.  Get your favorite latte and set a timer for 20 minutes.  Drink your delicious liquid, and lie down or relax in your recliner for those 20 minutes. You get a break, and as you’re rising again, the antioxidants and caffeine (or in tea lattes, L-Theanine, theobromine, and theophylline) are just hitting your  blood-brain barrier.  Now you’re rested and refreshed, yet your blood, oxygen, and energy are flowing well.

 

Now, your brain has what it needs, and your words will be flowing. You no longer have to dread Deadline Stress!  Play around with these brain boosting techniques and make them part of your regular writing practice.  You never need to be stuck again.  Now you’ll be beating all those deadlines and soaring as the writer you are meant to be.

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Energy – Peace – Meditation

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and award-winning author.  She also is an ordained minister and has a natural healing practice. Among her books are: Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br),and Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition(http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc ). Her newest book is Sacred Meditation: Embracing the Divine, available through her office.  Just email SacredMeditation@kebba.com.   
• Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com.

Upbeat Living: Getting A Bigger Better Brain!

Tags

Alzheimer's Disease, antioxidants, Brain health, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Majid Fotuhi, Eating right, Kebba Buckley Button, Memory, stress, UpBeat Living

© 2014 Kebba Buckley Button, MS, OM.  World Rights Reserved.

 

© Tijana – Fotolia

Got memory problems?  Feel stressed when you can’t remember things?  Want to prevent or minimize Alzheimer’s Disease?  There’s new hope from the latest brain research!

 

Your brain is involved in everything you do!

~Dr. Daniel Amen

 

A few years ago, Dr. Daniel Amen, a clinical psychiatrist and medical director of the Amen Clinics, introduced us to a conversational level of brain science.  Dr. Amen (say, “AY mn”) has studied tens of thousands of brain scans and made many practical conclusions.  First, he offered programs on PBS about brain types and personality.  He taught us how to identify different brain types and how to feed people with different brain types, to get them to relate pleasantly.  More recently, he has given programs about how the brain ages, what affects it negatively, and how you can keep yourself and your brain young.  He also talks about the ability of the brain to recover from both injury and toxic exposures.  He illustrates his points with brain scans of patients, before and after recovery treatment.  Your brain can bounce back after injury or insult, with the right treatment!

 

Which brain do you want?

~ Dr. Daniel Amen

 

Enter neurologist Majid Fotuhi, M.D., Ph.D.  Dr. Fotuhi is not only on the neurology faculty at Harvard Medical School, but also a consultant in neurology at the Alzheimer’s disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  His specialty is research in protecting the brain from degeneration, especially in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and general memory loss.    Dr. Fotuhi has found that brain size is important in memory functions, especially the size of the hippocampus.  The hippocampus handles the relationship of short-term memory to long-term memory and to spatial orientation.  Dr. Fotuhi has studied the causes and effects of brains shrinking or enlarging.  One of his amazing findings is that patients can have Alzheimer’s disease present in the brain but have no memory loss, if the hippocampus is large.

 

Cells in other parts of your body—such as your skin, stomach, and liver– slough off and get replaced, but for the most part, the cells in your brain are the ones you were born with.

~ Dr. Majid Fotuhi

 

Large brains are good!  So how can you have a larger brain?  Dr. Fotuhi has 5 steps for you, summarized here:

1. Take a DHA supplement.  This will provide Omega-3 fatty acids, which actually reduce the plaque formation of Alzheimer’s Disease.
2. Use brain-stimulating switchups. Use your other hand to shave or clean a counter, or write backwards.  These practices will build your hippocampus.
3. Use breath exercises. Since stress increases production of cortisol, and cortisol reduces memory, any stress reduction techniques can increase your memory.  In particular, Dr. Fotuhi recommends this breath technique:  inhale to a count of seven, hold for a count of seven, then exhale to a count of seven.  Shortly, you will feel your entire system relaxing.
4. Do pushups. This pushes blood to your brain.  One third of your brain is blood vessels, so the increased circulation is powerful.
5. Eat superfoods.  Those most helpful to the brain are:

• Elderberries.  They contain corsitine, an antioxidant which stimulates the activity of the cell mitochondria, the cells’ energy factories.
• Pecans.  These contain choline, which supports brain health and specifically memory functions.
• Chicken giblets. A powerful source of Vitamin B12.  People with low B12 have a smaller hippocampus.
• Clams. In addition to B12, they contain zinc and iron, which also support brain function.
• Vegetable juice. This contains a potpourri of both known and as yet unidentified vitamins.

 

So current research shows that we can help ourselves, with simple methods, to have better brains and better memories, even with Alzheimer’s Disease.  Why not pick three of these and work them into your daily routine?  Living well is the best revenge!  Support your brain and enjoy your memory for many years to come. Now that’s Upbeat Living!

_____________________________________________________________

 

● Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Liked this article?  You can buy Kebba’s books:  just click the links!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed this post?  Please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column!  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upbeat Living: Your Mind’s Eye

Tags

blood pressure, energy, Ernest Holmes, exhaustion, fatigue, heat, Kebba Buckley Button, mind-body, Negativity, nervous system, positive thoughts, positivity, stress, Summer, UpBeat Living

© 2014 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

 

iStockPhoto.com

Whatever your belief system, it is crucial to hold the most positive thoughts and images in your mind.  Ernest Holmes (1887-1960), the founder of Science of Mind, described “The Law of Mental Equivalents.”  He said, basically, that what you hold in consciousness is what you will get in your reality.  This has been proven true in a number of fields, as the brain and body take instruction from the thoughts.

 

Do you ever wonder why some people always cheerfully achieve success, while others are down in mood and fail at many doorsteps of opportunity?  Success is very much in your mind.  Your thoughts are acted out by your nervous system.

 

Try this experiment.  Find a 10-pound object or a gallon bottle of liquid, and lift it before and after you say these phrases.  Ready?  Lift the object.  Notice how heavy or light it is for you at this moment.  Say 10 times, at any speed, “I am a weak and unworthy person.”  Your nervous system will take this literally.  Now pick up the object again.  Notice how much heavier it is?  Now reverse the effect.  Say 10 times, at any speed, “I am a vital, strong, valuable person.”  Pick up the object again.  Notice it has become lighter.

 

Affirm: I am a vital, strong, valuable person.

~ Kebba Buckley Button

 

Always remember that your brain and nervous system are listening to everything you say.  Consider the phenomenon that your brain and nervous system do not know the difference between a real situation of terrible conflict, like a nasty fight or an assault, and a portrayed situation, as in a TV show or movie.  When you are in a good mood, go to a movie theater and see any of the currently popular end-of-the human-race movies.  You know:  Machines are arising or attacking from space, and the situation is impossible.  Although not currently in theaters, Independence Day is a great example of this genre.

 

If you have a blood pressure monitor, take your blood pressure before and after you see this movie.  At the end of this movie, you will feel very stressed, your adrenaline will be rushing, and your blood pressure will be up.  You may feel hyped up or exhausted, fearful or cranky, and easily startled.  Leaving the venue, you may be driving “with a heavy foot.”

 

Your brain and nervous system thought they were in a real war.  If you really want to take in movies like this, but you want less of a stressful effect on yourself, try this.  Rent or download them, show them at home, and when you feel your stress building up, look at other objects in the room and think of puppies and babies.  Notice your whole body-mind system shifting when you shift your attention.

 

Do not get sucked into anyone’s negativity, on any subject! 

You will pay for it with fatigue and an unclear mind.

~ Kebba Buckley Button

 

Truly, you choose what stress and negativity you feed your mind and body.  Consider an apparently mundane example.  Today may be a really hot, humid summer day where you are.  It may be so hot that you would prefer to not to be out in that weather.  Your passion might be to zip efficiently from your air-conditioned home to your air-conditioned car to your air-conditioned office.  That’s a healthy strategy!  However, we all know people who, on this kind of day, must chant out loud, “Boy is it hot!  It is so sticky!  Aren’t you hot?  How can you wear that?  Aren’t you miserable?  It’s just miserable!

 

Chanting like that, the person will begin to feel hotter and hotter, because the brain is listening to every word they say.  And if you listen and/or repeat their comments, silently or to others, you will feel hotter also!  Do not dismiss this as “just psychological.”

 

The sensations are real, and you have a right to live the best and most comfortable life that you can construct for yourself.  That is the Upbeat Living philosophy.  So be ready with several cheerful replies to the heat-chanters, for when they start in.  The one I use most is (delivered in a light and cheery tone), “Yes!  You know, it’s almost like Phoenix in the summertime!”  Then I quickly leave the area so the chanter can’t argue.

 

Do not get sucked into anyone’s negativity, on any subject!  You will pay for the indulgence with fatigue and an unclear mind.  If you are a person of faith, remember God wants you to use your creativity to make the most of your life and your gifts.  God never wants you to be stalled out by negativity.

 

So do you want to live your best life now?  Great!  Then notice negative programming, make notes, and work toward creating the best brain, body, and lifestyle you can.  That’s real Upbeat Living, and it’s up to you to choose it!

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● Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert.  She is the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Liked this article?  You can buy Kebba’s books:  just click the links!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed this post?  Please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column!  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UpBeat Living: Coffee, the Health Drink

Tags

antioxidants, Brain health, Coffee benefits, energy, Feeling energized, Green coffee extract, Health, stress

Fotolia

Good news, coffee lovers!  The case for coffee as a health drink has been building.  In my book, Discover The Secret Energized You, there is a section (p. 53, “Perk With Coffee”) on the health benefits of coffee.  In the several years since the book came out, everything it said about coffee has been further proven, and more medical benefits have come to light.  So don’t stress over your love of coffee, just read on while sipping!

Of course, this article is not medical advice.  Confer with your doctor before making any dietary changes.

Coffee is one beverage found delicious by people in many cultures for centuries.  And now it is known to have many health perks.  While many think the only ingredient in coffee is caffeine, coffee actually contains thousands of organic compounds.  The lift people get from drinking it may come from the antioxidant compounds, more than from the caffeine.  And, it contains only 6 calories per cup, if you don’t add the sugar, the syrups, the milks, or the whipped cream.  Or that muffin that looks so good, over there in the glass case.  Save yourself hundreds of calories per serving by drinking coffee black.  Another reason to drink coffee black is that a compound in dairy products, casein,can block the benefits of the  antioxidants.  Darn!  But this doesn’t apply to nondairy creamers, soy milk, almond milk,  or coconut milk.

Speaking of dieting, recent medical research has shown that green coffee beans can help you lose weight surprisingly fast.  Bottles of green coffee bean extract are flying off store shelves. But if you want  less caffeine and more beneficial compounds from your coffee, use dark roasts, even espresso, and keep the brewing time short.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN), the antioxidants in coffee may reduce inflammation and thereby reduce the risk of potential disorders related to it. Cardiovascular disease is one of these. Phenols, volatile aroma compounds, and oxazoles in coffee contribute to its high antioxidant content. A typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than typical servings of grape juice, blueberries, raspberries, and oranges, according to another study in the AJCN.  Antioxidants fight aging. and give you energy right now.  Would you like to age more slowly?

Want more good news?  Coffee drinking is now associated with lower risk of cancers of the kidney, liver, and prostate.  It’s also associated with lower risk of Type 2 diabetes (tends to lower blood glucose), with Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and dementia.  Short-term, coffee helps you feel more alert and improves concentration.

Possibly the most interesting research indication currently is that coffee seems to raise the activity of Bifidobacteria in the digestive tract. You may have noticed coffee , um, stimulating elimination.  Some people even use coffee for enemas.  But lactobacillus Bifidus is a primary digestive bacterium specific to the large intestine. So you could get more efficient digestion and possibly a flatter abdomen from drinking coffee. Or taking green coffee bean extract.

So do you love coffee? Do you feel good, feel alert, and function well with a cup or several per day? Then why not relax in a favorite chair, sip your favorite blend, and let the research roll in?

———————————————

● Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Liked this article?  You can buy Kebba’s books:  just click the links!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed this post?  Please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column!  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Pump Up Your Potassium for Energy

Tags

Eating, energy foods, Feeling energized, Potassium, vitality

© 2013 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

© Pamela Hodson | Dreamstime Stock Photos

One secret—and quickly cured— source of fatigue for many is a low level of potassium in the blood.    Potassium is an essential electrolyte and the third most prevalent element in the body.  It helps your brain, muscle, and heart functions, lowers blood pressure, and increases the body’s processing of carbs and protein.  The right amount of potassium can also prevent strokes.

Especially during the hot weeks of the year, a person can sweat away potassium and end up depleted, feeling strangely lousy.  Low potassium may cause vague thinking, dry skin, fatigue, less muscle control, more muscle cramps, and heart function oddities.  People who are very athletic or who have high blood pressure often have low potassium levels. Basic blood tests will tell you if your potassium is low.

So what to do?  The USDA recommends you get 4500 mg of potassium every day.  Yes, you can drink sports drinks, which will also contain other electrolytes, and sometimes large amounts of sugars or artificial sweeteners.  Sugars can fatigue you after the initial kick, encourage future diabetes, and hurt your teeth if you don’t rinse with water. Artificial sweeteners can be hard on your kidneys and favorable to cancers.

Of course, you can take supplements.  And your doctor can prescribe potassium tablets.  However, you can quickly bring up your potassium levels by eating from a list of very pleasant foods.  Good sources of potassium include bananas, orange juice, avocados, cantaloupes, tomatoes, potatoes, lima beans, fresh or cooked spinach, flounder, salmon, cod, chicken, and other meats.  Some examples:  Whole almonds have 1006 mg per cup, bananas 806, roasted cashews 774, lima beans 765, avocados 728, orange juice 496, baked potato 239, fresh spinach 167 (that’s 1 ounce of fresh spinach in the cup).  Rotisserie chicken breast has 284 mg per 100 g (almost 4 oz), and broiled salmon 384 per 100g.  Love filet mignon?  It has 357 mg potassium per 100 g.  Love your Caesar salad?  That romaine lettuce has 247 mg potassium per 100 g.

So enjoy your proteins, fresh fruits and veggies!  You’ll get lots of potassium and notice you feel better.  Your doctor will smile, and so will you.  Have an energized summer!

 

———————————————————–

● Enjoyed this post?  Please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column!  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise of  Good Karma.

 

● Liked this blog?  Then why not buy Kebba’s books on Amazon?  Just click the links!

• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (http://tinyurl.com/abd47jr)
• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 

 

● Please comment!

 

● Get these posts by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

 

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

UpBeat Living: Food & Drink for Desert Summer Thriving, Part 3

Tags

Brain health, choices, DHA, Eating, energy, energy foods, exhausted, Feeling energized, food, Health, heat, Kebba, stress

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

The second-biggest danger of the summer heat is going out of your mind.  No, seriously, in the heat, you need to keep your brain especially well hydrated and well-nourished.  Salmon is a star in the galaxy of DHA-rich foods, which keep your brain bouncy and clear-functioning.  Here is a simple recipe with some options for fun snacking later.

Pan-Broiled Salmon  for two and for later

Note:  You will need 2 10-inch sauté pans

2-2 ½ lb salmon fillet, boneless and skinless (easy package to

find in a warehouse club, usually super fresh)

Olive oil

Sea salt

Mixed peppercorns in grinder

Use sharp kitchen shears to cut the piece in half, so one half will fit in each of your 2 10-inch sauté pans.   Lightly oil the 2 sauté pans and sprinkle salt and pepper across the oiled surface.  Heat to medium-high, until you see the oil shimmer.  Place 1 salmon filet half in each pan.  Cook on that side until well-browned.  Salt and pepper the uncooked side, and turn with wide spatula.  Cook the second side until well-browned.  Turn the heat to medium-low (4 of 10) and cover.  Set a timer for 6 minutes.  Check the thickest piece for doneness: it must have no dark pink showing in the center.  Cook for several more minutes, if necessary.  Let cool on a platter until you are ready to take the portions for your salads.  If you are weighing cooked portions, weigh the amount you want, and then break up the salmon into attractive bite-size flakes.  It will look like much more than an unbroken piece.

Use the salmon hot and serve with a side salad, or chill it to use in portions on meal-size salads.

Lowfat Creamy Herb Salad Dressing (for 2)

½ c plain nonfat Greek yogurt (tastes creamy, is high protein, yet is nonfat)

1 T white vinegar

1 ½  T dry ranch dressing mix

Blend in a rocket/bullet blender for 30 seconds.  Add water 1 t at a time, and blend 10 more seconds, if a thinner consistency is desired.

Salmon Salad for Sandwiches

For each sandwich: flake 3 oz of the pan-broiled salmon

Blend with 1 T of the dressing

Use the freshest bread, include organic baby greens, and slice in some very fresh, ripe tomatoes.  Trim the plate with a few Kalamata olives.

Quickest snacks

Part of the art of eating well and healthfully in the hottest times of summer is having quick food to grab.  Because you and your family will often come home tired on blasting hot days, you’ll be grateful to yourself for keeping healthy cool foods ready to eat.  Some of these could be:  celery sticks, jicama sticks, cherry tomatoes, cherries, berries, grapes, bananas, pineapple chunks, dates, peaches, nectarines, Pan-Broiled Chicken, Pan-Broiled Salmon, hard-boiled eggs, boiled organic potato chunks, cans of organic beans or chick peas, and raw almonds or cashews.  You might call this collection, “the fastest slow food you can get”.

Can you have great days and wonderful relationships in the desert summer season?  Absolutely, you can.  Eat well for the weather, follow the other tips in this series, and you will sail triumphantly through the hot season!

______________________________________________________________

● Your comments are welcome!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Getting Bigger Better Brains

Tags

Alzheimer's Disease, antioxidants, Brain health, choices, Health, Memory, memory loss, stress, Stress Management

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Got memory problems?  Want to prevent or minimize Alzheimer’s Disease?  There is new hope from the latest brain research.

Several years ago, Dr. Daniel Amen, a clinical psychiatrist and medical director of the Amen Clinics, introduced us to a conversational level of brain science.  Dr. Amen (say, “AY mn”) has studied tens of thousands of brain scans and made many practical conclusions.  First, he offered books and programs  about brain types and personality.  He taught us how to identify different brain types and how to feed people with different brain types, to get them to relate pleasantly.  More recently, he has given programs about how the brain ages, what affects it negatively, and how you can keep yourself and your brain young.  He also talks about the ability of the brain to recover from injury and toxic exposures.  He illustrates his points with brain scans of patients, before and after recovery treatment.

Enter neurologist Majid Fotuhi, M.D., Ph.D.  Dr. Fotuhi is not only on the neurology faculty at Harvard Medical School, but also a consultant in neurology at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital.  His specialty is research in protecting the brain from degeneration, especially in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease and general memory loss.    Dr. Fotuhi has found that brain size is important in memory functions, especially the size of the hippocampus,  He has studied the causes and effects of brains shrinking or enlarging.  One of his amazing findings is that patients can have Alzheimer’s Disease present in the brain but have no memory loss, if the hippocampus is large.

Large brains are good!  So how can you have a larger brain?  Dr. Fotuhi has 5 steps for you, summarized here:

1.  Take a DHA supplement.  This will provide Omega-3 fatty acids, which actually reduce the plaque formation of Alzheimer’s Disease.
2.  Use brain-stimulating switchups. Use your other hand to shave or clean a counter, or write backwards.  These practices will build your hippocampus.
3. Use breath exercises.  Since stress increases production of cortisol, and cortisol reduces memory, any stress reduction techniques can increase your memory.  In particular, Dr. Fotuhi recommends this breath technique:  inhale to a count of seven, hold for a count of seven, then exhale to a count of seven.  Shortly, you will feel your entire system relaxing.
4. Do pushups.  This pushes blood to your brain.  One third of your brain is blood vessels, so the increased circulation is powerful.
5. Eat superfoods.  Those most helpful to the brain are:

–          Elderberries.  They contain corsitine, which stimulates the activity of the cell mitochondria, the cells’ energy factories.

–          Pecans.  These contain choline, which supports brain health and specifically memory functions.

–          Chicken giblets.  A powerful source of Vitamin B12.  People with low B12 have a smaller hippocampus.

–          Clams.  In addition to B12, they contain zinc and iron, which also support brain function.

–          Vegetable juice.   This contains a potpourri of both known and as yet unidentified vitamins.

So current research shows that we can help ourselves, with simple methods, to have better brains and better memories, even with Alzheimer’s Disease.  Why not pick  three of these and work them into your daily routine?  Living well is the best revenge.  Support your brain and enjoy your memory for many years to come.

——————————————————————————————————-

–Your comments welcome!–

Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .