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14 Simple Ways to Super Charge Your Brain

dumblittleman.com — No matter how powerful our brains are, they need recuperation time, to be kept in shape, and even an occasional charge. Think of it as a tune up for your brain. Skipping brain maintenance is as silly as the person wandering the parking garage because they forgot where they parked. Is that you? Are you that person? Sure. We all are at some point.

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  • LadyLibrary, on 06/25/2008, -18/+2My brain needs supercharging today. Great write!
  • DrNicole, on 06/25/2008, -17/+7Really great tips. I love all of these brain boosting ideas. A very comprehensive list to fall back on when you feel frazzled or fried.
    • IglooBurner, on 06/26/2008, -1/+1I was wondering why my office fridge is always full of apple and orange juice. I'm a developer, and my office is all developers... I guess someone already knew about Simple Way number 2.
    • megamod, on 06/26/2008, -1/+4I agree...let me go tell my girlfriend!!! I've been referring it as the wrong thing all along. I'll just ask her if she wants to supercharge my brain from now on.
  • spamdragon, on 06/26/2008, -15/+1This is a great read full of useful advice.
  • skleiner, on 06/26/2008, -12/+3Those are great idea's and yet quite simple - we all need to take care of the mind - it's as simple as just turning the tv off, putting on some peaceful music and breathing!
  • limevelyn, on 06/26/2008, -14/+1Great tips! Really enjoyed them!
  • Maryj2007, on 06/26/2008, -13/+1Great article! It's chockful of good advice.
  • ath1337, on 06/26/2008, -11/+3816. Cannabis can increase the amount of alpha brainwaves our brain produces, which is a direct link to our creativity :)
  • mrblaack, on 06/26/2008, -4/+15I'm going to hug the crap out of every stranger I see, so I can be a super genius.
    • pwnerofnoobs, on 06/26/2008, -3/+8I'm afraid it's too late for you.
    • cutething, on 06/26/2008, -1/+6These articles are always suspect to me, especially in light of the fact that few articles online or in print cite sources, much less cite them accurately. But hugging strangers... man, I would love to see how that one is justified. This is just stupid.
      • quasipolymath, on 06/26/2008, -2/+3These articles are suspect. The unfortunate thing is that most people don't look for things like citations or outright contradictions. I particularly liked this combo:

        Drink Apple Juice, followed later by, Reduce Sugar intake. Aagh, what do I do? I'm supposed to drink apple juice AND reduce my sugar intake!
        • pwnerofnoobs, on 06/26/2008, -2/+3The critical thinking involved in that decision process super chargers the brain.
  • danielrichard, on 06/26/2008, -11/+3Love the tips there! Didn't know apple juice and almonds are helpful in supercharging the brain. :D
  • DiggLive, on 06/26/2008, -2/+36Take Alzheimer drugs like House did.
  • serinity, on 06/26/2008, -7/+1Got to take care of our brain!
  • Kom0221, on 06/26/2008, -8/+0Great simple tips to supercharge your brain. It is very cost effective to be smart following these tips!
  • TimeIsTissue, on 06/26/2008, -1/+16I've never seen drinking apple juice and sex is in the same list before.
    • rootsm3, on 06/26/2008, -0/+7Are we supposed to drink applejuice while banging? They didn't clarify that.
    • CrackyJSquirrel, on 06/26/2008, -0/+3If you read the Teacher/Student Relationship Guide. Its in there..
  • theliamburns1, on 06/26/2008, -1/+6Take GALANTAMINE.

    Not only will it give you the most amazing lucid dreams you have ever experienced but it increases the level of Acetylcholine in your brain. Increasing your memory power. good stuff.
    • baylat, on 06/26/2008, -0/+5lucid dreaming... good stuff
      • artofwar420, on 06/26/2008, -0/+4Not if you're getting eaten, by a toothy vagina.
      • theliamburns1, on 06/26/2008, -0/+6Lucid dreaming = Becoming Neo in the Matrix.

        Seriously though, I think lucid dreaming is possible for a reason. It is our ability to be able to access the administrative options of your subconscious. It is like reaching the control panel of your brain. You can conjure up forgotten memories or even program it to your liken. I have a theory that you can literally program your subconscious mind in a lucid dream to actually create physiological changes in your body.

        It's insanity. It is literally the only altered state of consciousness which enables your conscious ego to dialogue direct with your subconscious mind.
    • Luigison, on 06/26/2008, -1/+7From Wikipedia:

      Caution
      The FDA and other international health authorities have published an alert on galantamine based data from use on two studies during the treatment of mild cognitive impairment; higher mortality rates were seen in drug-treated patients.
  • vespasarefun, on 06/26/2008, -5/+2Yes!! time go grab a pound of juice boxes! apple flavor please!
  • mediaspree, on 06/26/2008, -2/+14Ok who paid to have this dugg. These comments suck.
  • TheMachine1, on 06/26/2008, -3/+2Acetyl-l-carnitine and green tea are my suggestions.

    http://digg.com/health/Blood_pressure_and_cognitiv ...

    I submited that story. It basically says get your blood presure to the gold standard (115/75 or so).
  • voodoochild461, on 06/26/2008, -4/+12cocaine
    • CrackyJSquirrel, on 06/26/2008, -0/+4It's a hell of a drug..
    • je12u, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1...in moderation!! At first it'll make you speedy, social, and thinking a mile a minute. Then the deeper you go you'll eventually get to the point where you're withdrawn, can't speak to others, and only focused on spending endless hours watching computer porn.
  • aquireworth, on 06/26/2008, -10/+1This is a good list of things that is easy for all to do!
  • renegadeafk, on 06/26/2008, -8/+4I'm ***** I hate almonds and apple Juice and never sleep.
  • Feep, on 06/26/2008, -9/+1If there were ever a time for the bury brigade...

    ...TO APPROPRIATELY BURY ***** COMMENTS AND NOT BLINDLY FOLLOW THE HERD...

    ...now would be that time.
  • Camspoozel, on 06/26/2008, -6/+22"Fasting cleans and detoxifies our body"
    I've never read an article full of so much crap!
    • xeren, on 06/26/2008, -2/+3what do these toxins look like? has anyone ever seen a toxin?
      • Renian, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1If you want to see them, fast, urinate into a clear container, and allow them to settle and crystallize on the bottom.
      • KingGorilla, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2Play Dr. Mario
    • alexjordan, on 06/26/2008, -1/+10I stopped reading after that BS.
      • cryptomystic, on 06/26/2008, -1/+2I never heard of this either, unless you observe Ramadan I don't suggest you try this.
    • rhinopig, on 06/26/2008, -1/+10"Fasting relieves toxic emotions"

      toxic emotions? are you ***** me?
    • Renian, on 06/26/2008, -3/+10Have you ever fasted before, or researched it's effects at all?

      I have. Fasting does that to an extent. I've fasted for two weeks before. One of things that it does to improve your memory--and the most noticeable thing--is that it causes your body to release BDNF ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDNF ), which improves your cognitive ability and memory. During my two-week fast, I was still in school, taking four AP classes. During and after the fast, my GPA (percent-based, not letter based) improved by 10 points for the last two quarters. Would I have done better intermittently fasting instead? Fasting also improves insulin resistance and defense against neurotoxins. It also causes your body to go into autolysis, which makes it burn unhealthy cells for fuel--including cancer. It also slows cellular mitosis, giving cancerous cells more times to suicide.

      I need to find all my articles, but for now, here's two:
      http://www.nia.nih.gov/NewsAndEvents/PressReleases ...
      http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/2006/09/13/fast ...
      • zkirill, on 06/26/2008, -0/+4So have I and I can testify to this as well. People that are calling BS on this have obviously never tried it because effects are very apparent.
      • MadroxKran, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0Cancer does not die on it's own. It continues to grow and the cells are effectively immortal if left alone.
    • mightyslick, on 06/26/2008, -1/+5its gives your digestive system time to catch up...that is about it
    • MadroxKran, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0You just need to find the Toxic Avenger.
  • bippitybop1, on 06/26/2008, -5/+3don't forget to Dance!

    /stolen
  • raze888, on 06/26/2008, -2/+2Can anyone post the content for those of us behind firewalls???? Thanks in advance
  • papastout, on 06/26/2008, -0/+12Dugg for Sex
  • pandikukka, on 06/26/2008, -3/+1I really liked the 3rd tip..
    sleep well
  • fakekevinrose, on 06/26/2008, -0/+23masturbation overclocks my brain
  • LZeppelinJ0, on 06/26/2008, -1/+3Basically all I took away from this: Start a Blog. Can somebody please gouge out my eyes with a spoon now please.
  • cdhill, on 06/26/2008, -4/+16For those who need a Mirror / behind a Firewall:
    Have you ever felt exasperated when you bumped into someone at the store but absolutely couldn't remember their name? Sure, it happens to all of us.

    Despite being the strongest computer on the planet, our brains do lapse. It's hard to blame them really. As humans, we spend much of or existence stuffing our brains with stuff. Some stuff is worthless, some of it's meaningful, some of it, well, it's just stuff and there is an endless amount of it.

    No matter how powerful our brains are, they need recuperation time, to be kept in shape, and even an occasional charge. Think of it as a tune up for your brain. Skipping brain maintenance is as silly as the person wandering the parking garage because they forgot where they parked. Is that you? Are you that person? Sure. We all are at some point. No worries, there is hope.

    Now I am not a brain surgeon and I am not going to suggest you do anything surgical or dangerous. I am however an astute student of human behavior, so I always look for simple ways to super charge my brain.

    Here are some things you can begin doing as soon as today to begin the great brain tune up.

    1. Eat Almonds
    Almond is believed to improve memory. If a combination of almond oil and milk is taken together before going to bed or after getting up at morning, it strengthens our memory power. Almond milk is prepared by crushing the almonds without the outer cover and adding water and sugar to it.

    2. Drink Apple Juice
    Research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) indicates that apple juice increases the production of the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain, resulting in an increased memory power.

    3. Sleep well
    Research indicates that the long-term memory is consolidated during sleep by replaying the images of the experiences of the day. These repeated playbacks program the subconscious mind to store these images and other related information.

    4. Enjoy simple Pleasures
    Stress drains our brainpower. A stress-ridden mind consumes much of our memory resources to leave us with a feeble mind. Make a habit to engage yourself in few simple pleasures everyday to dissolve stress from your mind. Some of these simple pleasures are good for your mind, body and soul.

    * Enjoy music you love
    * Play with your children
    * Hug a stranger
    * Appreciate others
    * Run few miles a day, bike or swim
    * Start a blog
    * Take a yoga class or Total Wellness routine

    5. Fast for a day
    Fasting cleans and detoxifies our body. It is known fact that heavy food not only causes stress on our digestive system but also drains our brainpower. Fasting relieves toxic emotions such as anger, grief, worry, and fears - before they accumulate and cause disease. By cleansing toxic emotions, fasting strengthens metal clarity with increases memory, concentration, creativity and insight.

    6. Exercise your mind
    Just as physical exercise is essential for a strong body, mental exercise is equally essential for a sharp and agile mind. Have you noticed that children have far superior brainpower than an adult does? Children have playful minds. A playful mind exhibits superior memory power. Engage in some of the activities that require your mind to remain active and playful.

    * Play scrabble or crossword puzzle
    * Volunteer
    * Interact with others
    * Start a new hobby such as blogging, reading, painting, bird watching
    * Learn new skill or a language

    7. Practice Yoga or Meditation
    Yoga or Meditation relives stress. Stress is a known memory buster. With less stress, lower blood pressure, slower respiration, slower metabolism, and released muscle tension follows. All of these factors contribute significantly towards increases in our brainpower.

    8. Reduce Sugar intake
    Sugar is a non-food. It’s a form of carbohydrate that offers illusionary energy, only to cause a downhill slump once the initial burst has been worn off. Excess intake of sugar results in neurotic symptoms. Excess sugar is known to cause claustrophobia, memory loss and other neurotic disorders. Eat food without adding sugar. Stay away from sweet drinks or excess consumption of caffeine with sugar.

    9. Eat whole wheat
    The whole wheat germs contain lecithin. Lecithin helps ease the problem of the hardening of the arteries, which often impairs brain functioning.

    10. Eat a light meal in the night
    A heavy meal at night causes tossing and turning and a prolonged emotional stress while at sleep. It’s wise to eat heavy meal during the day when our body is in motion to consume the heavy in-take. Eating a light meal with some fruits allows us to sleep well. A good night sleep strengthens our brainpower.

    11. Develop imagination
    Greeks mastered the principle of imagination and association to memorize everything. This technique requires one to develop a vivid and colorful imagination that can be linked to a known object. If you involve all your senses - touching, feeling, smelling, hearing and seeing in the imagination process, you can remember greater details of the event.

    12. Sex
    Our sexual imagination often empowers our ability to daydream, which strengthens our brainpower with greater imagination, visualization and association.

    13. Control your temper
    Bleached food, excess of starch or excess of white bread can lead to nerve grating effect. This results in a violent and some time depressive behavior. Eat fresh vegetables. Drink lots of water and meditate or practice yoga to relieve these toxic emotions of temper and violent mood swings.

    14. Take Vitamin B-complex
    Vitamin B-complex strengthens memory power. Eat food and vegetables high in Vitamin B-complex. Stay away from the starch food or white bread, which depletes the Vitamin B-complex necessary for a healthy mind.

    I don't believe these are that tough. If you find yourself increasing stumped, give a couple of these a try.

    Fun article.
    • DatoeDakari, on 06/26/2008, -2/+1You'd think for an article about super charging your brain, the author would've made sure to proof-read it and fix any grammatical errors.
      • alexjordan, on 06/26/2008, -0/+0You'd think for an article about super charging your brain, the author would've checked the facts.
  • flocktest, on 06/26/2008, -7/+1DOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • leerayIG88, on 06/26/2008, -5/+4 tired? why not snort some cocaine. Get a nice boost of energy.
  • Apollyon0810, on 06/26/2008, -9/+8Dug for having a gay brain on display.
    • Apollyon0810, on 06/26/2008, -1/+3I thought it was pretty funny :-(

      How did they even know the brain was from a gay person?
      • CrackyJSquirrel, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2It smelled nice and its shoes matched its shirt..
    • Jennefah, on 06/26/2008, -0/+5Woa, I digg you for observation. Didn't notice that at first. Perhaps I need to be drinking more almond milk and having more sex...
    • ojacie, on 06/26/2008, -4/+1"*****" is latin word for species called "human". Try eating more almonds and have more sex.
      • xeren, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2no, that was actually a gay brain, otherwise it would have said heterosapien
      • hiPpymIck, on 06/26/2008, -1/+2***** sapiens = man with intelligence from Latin

        homosexual homogeneity etc
        from Greek ***** - the same
  • MarshalBanana, on 06/26/2008, -5/+5I heard fasting is actually bad for your body.
  • myass666mlong, on 06/26/2008, -0/+7Hug a stranger ?
    • IglooBurner, on 06/26/2008, -0/+5I'm from NYC, if some guy tries to hug me on the street I will probably punch the guy.
      If its a girl, I will probably get the wrong idea, and do a little more than hugging... heh heh...
      • cryptomystic, on 06/26/2008, -0/+7What if she is 300 pounds and has mouth sores?
    • rootsm3, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1I tried that and now I have to stay 40 miles away from that person. Great advice.
    • KingGorilla, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1A stranger is just a friend you've never met!
  • myass666mlong, on 06/26/2008, -5/+6or smoke some weed and shut up
    • anatraj, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1doesn't seem like smoking weed is helping you much... the whole point is to relax, no?
  • teethandeyes, on 06/26/2008, -7/+1No wonder I am so smart, I already do 8 of these regularly.
  • Nohpex, on 06/26/2008, -2/+0Am I the only one that found an assload of typos in an article for supercharging your brain?...
  • gamingspartan, on 06/26/2008, -4/+2Cool
  • ixid, on 06/26/2008, -3/+2I hate these lists because I tend to already do everything that's on them but would prefer to be a little brighter. No room left for improvement. =(
  • maxhrk, on 06/26/2008, -3/+2i wish that hard drive of my computer has rechargability. :p

  • kmattso, on 06/26/2008, -2/+8Stick your tongue into a light socket.
  • rootsm3, on 06/26/2008, -2/+3Orly?

    Pssh, why is every single health article the same?
  • nynety, on 06/26/2008, -2/+3How come blogging is listed under "simple pleasures" AND "exercising your brain"?
    • YukosEyes, on 06/26/2008, -0/+0Writing can be a simple pleasure in that it can be expressive. The process of translating thoughts and feelings into words and composing those in such a way that they can be understood by somebody other than yourself is an exercise for the brain.
  • MattTheGr8, on 06/26/2008, -4/+41I am a neuroscientist, and this list is mostly junk. The only one that is totally legit is sleeping well. Most of the others are either not backed up by science (notice the near-total lack of citations), or the science cited is misquoted. For example, if you click on the link in #1, you see that the almond research really applied only to treating Alzheimer's Disease and had nothing to do with people who are healthy. If you are not at risk for Alzheimer's (e.g. under 60ish), almonds will probably not do anything noticeable to your mental functioning. If you start eating a lot of almonds and think you notice a difference, it is probably just a placebo effect.

    In general, if you want your brain to work right, you should get enough sleep, avoid stress, eat generally healthy food (the specifics, like apple juice, aren't really that important -- most of us have no shortage of acetylcholine in our brains), avoid excessive amounts of psychotropic substances that aren't medically necessary (including caffeine, alcohol, legal and illegal drugs, etc.), and exercise. According to recent research, physical exercise actually seems to have greater neuroprotective effects than mental exercise. On the other hand, regular mental exercise (reading, engaging in creative activities, problem solving) will probably make you a more interesting person, and there's no point in having a healthy brain if you don't do interesting things with it.

    If you give it enough rest and proper fuel (by the way -- fasting is not actually good), your brain is remarkably good at maintaining its own internal state. Sorry, no magic bullets the way this list implies.
    • belzoradon, on 06/26/2008, -10/+4for someone that bitches about lack of citation, your missing ALOT of citation. perhaps you could link us to your various sources? or at the very least wikipedia?

      buried for hypocrisy.
    • Rikkochet, on 06/26/2008, -0/+7But, but, the author says I can be a super genius if I start a blog and do yoga! How can you possibly argue against THAT?
    • MMilitia, on 06/26/2008, -0/+7Yeah, sentences like "X detoxifies the body" always set alarm bells ringing. Not surprised to learn this is mostly junk.
    • irishjays, on 06/26/2008, -2/+2I'm a neuroscientist verifier and you are not a neuroscientist. Why should I cite how I know this, no one else cites anything.
    • known, on 06/26/2008, -1/+1You are a product of your environment. --Clement Stone
    • skinnypup85, on 06/26/2008, -0/+5Health and Wellness are not rocket science.

      1. Eat Well
      a. Inactive people should consume less calories.
      2. Rest
      a. 7-8 hours
      3. Drink Water
      a. 8 glasses is *****. Most fruits and vegetables contain water.
      4. Exercise
      a. 30 minutes of medium to intense training.

      Does my research require citation?

      • bipolarruledout, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0No but it's also not very specfic. Not everyone has the same requirements.
    • cornfedbiff, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1Moving your eyes from side to side for 30 seconds improves your memory.

      http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,268405,00.html

      Does fox news count as a citation? ...probably shouldn't
    • Haoie, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1You're darn right, there are hardly ever simple answers for self improvement.
    • KingGorilla, on 06/26/2008, -0/+3Tell me more about these...placebos
    • bipolarruledout, on 06/27/2008, -1/+0Avoid neuroscientists whenever possible. :)

      Most of this is common sense but the big problem is that brain research and health is still very controversial in those who are already healthy. You will get few doctors to agree on antioxidants, lifestyle, "smart drugs", etc. so it's best to do you own research but follow the advice of a professional if you don't feel comfortable in this area.
  • Gumbos, on 06/26/2008, -1/+10"By cleansing toxic emotions, fasting strengthens metal clarity with increases memory, concentration, creativity and insight."

    I'd like to see the peer-reviewed evidence behind this statement. What a load of crap.
    • zkirill, on 06/26/2008, -1/+1Don't eat for a day or two and find out for yourself!
  • Luigison, on 06/26/2008, -0/+2Which drug did he take? Galantamine?
  • jaggedja, on 06/26/2008, -5/+1How to recondition your mind for success...

    1. Understand the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking... if you think positively... positive things will attract to you

    2. Meditate... meditation activates your reticular activation cells which are some of your most powerful memory cells, and are untapped in day to day thinking

    3. Practice Affirmations.... tell yourself repetitively that you will accomplish X and you will accomplish X by doing Y... you will set a mental non-conscious standard for yourself.. which will push you to achieve whatever it is you want to do.

    More great tips here... www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
  • digitallysick, on 06/26/2008, -0/+1615. Water cool your Brain, then raise the vcore and fsb
  • DeltaWolf, on 06/26/2008, -1/+5What kind of loser feels so strongly about the advice about fasting that they are digging down everyone that criticizes it?
  • jaggedja, on 06/26/2008, -4/+0How to recondition your mind for success...

    1. Understand the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking... if you think positively... positive things will attract to you

    2. Meditate... meditation activates your reticular activation cells which are some of your most powerful memory cells, and are untapped in day to day thinking

    3. Practice Affirmations.... tell yourself repetitively that you will accomplish X and you will accomplish X by doing Y... you will set a mental non-conscious standard for yourself.. which will push you to achieve whatever it is you want to do.

    More great tips here... www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2
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