Keeping Your Brain Healthy: Brain-FX

Your Brain on Caffeine

This post comes from Robert Krakoff, founder of Mind-FX.com, based on the book, Making a Good Brain Great, by Daniel Amen.

If you want a healthy brain stay away from caffeine. Large doses of caffeine constricts blood flow to the brain and many other organs. A little caffeine a day is probably not a problem, but more than a cup or two can certainly be trouble.

New coffee shops seem to spring up on every street corner every day, selling highly caffeinated drinks full of sugar and fat. As a society we are going from one to two cups a day to one or two cups three or four times a day.

Understanding the drug’s actions will help understand why we consume so much caffeine and why we should significantly curb our use.

Adenosine, a chemical in the brain that causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cell activity, is a key to understanding caffeine addiction. When we are tired adenosine triggers the brain to slow down so we will go to sleep and naturally rejuvenate brain function. The purpose of sleep is to replenish certain chemicals in the brain to help with efficient nerve cell firing. Adenosine tells us when we need to sleep.

Caffeine blocks the effects of adenosine by occupying the adenosine receptor sites and preventing the brain from seeing it. So even if you are tired and are in need of sleep to rejuvenate your brain chemistry, caffeine tricks the brain into thinking it is wide awake.

We are a sleep deprived nation and caffeine addiction is a leading cause. Caffeine, a stimulant, causes the release of adrenalin from the adrenal glands, putting the body into a fight-or-flight mode, where the pupils dilate, the heart beats faster, blood vessels on the skin surface constrict to slow blood flow from cuts and also increase blood flow to muscles … blood pressure rises, blood blow to the stomach slows, the liver releases sugar into the bloodstream for extra energy, and muscles tighten up, ready for action. Caffeine puts us in a ready state for trouble.

Caffeine Jolt: Good or Bad for Your Brain?

Here's some irony: People are loving coffee and other caffienated beverages, yet we are a nation of stressed out individuals. The new energy drinks are really jolting us. Caffeine...stress...caffeine...anxiety...could there be some connection?

You see people in Starbucks, working excitedly on their laptops, or conversing with high animation. Love that coffee buzz. You see energy drinks sold everywhere, 7-11s and supermarkets alike.

Forty years ago, people were loving martinis; thirty years ago it was pot, twenty years ago valium, and throughout history we've had a love affair with beer and wine. There was a time when doctors freely dispensed diet pills. Then lately there's been a period of Prozac, Paxil, and anti-anxiety meds. Just because we accept something and it becomes popular, doesn't mean it isn't harmful in the long term.

This is nothing new. As soon as we feel down, we want up. Then we want down again. Caffeine has enjoyed a long history of acceptability, mainly because too much of it really doesn't feel good. Nothing worse than an overdose of it.

But what about the slow-drip technique of a little caffeine all day long? There is no addiction per se, and no overdose here, no bad side-effects...or at least we think not. What are the long term effects on our brains? We already know that long term stimulants on the heart have long-lasting deleterious effects.

For sure, the brain habituates and continues working the way we want it too even after a drug is withheld. I think people are actually adrenalin junkies, and coffee is just a way of jump starting that whole process. The adrenalin pumping does the rest.

Here's an interesting report on the caffeine content of popular beverages.

Download caffeine_jolt.doc

What do you think about this issue? Hit the comment link below and reply.

In the Zone: Wu-Wei & NeuroCharge

 
An Effortless Effort (Wu-wei)
Posted by Zack Lynch at Corante Brain Waves Blog

We all work hard at what we do, yet some of us seem to be continually moving forward with amazing ease while others appear to be fighting a daily grind. I am always searching for tools, ways to look at reality, through which I can obtain a higher level of continuous contentment in my never ending life-work.

One perspective I've been working with lately comes from the Taoist concept of "effortless effort." A short piece Fortune magazine last week summed it up amazingly well:

Wu-wei (the state of effortless effort) describes a state in which the world seems to be working for us. We feel calm yet alert, focused yet receptive, drawing force from the storm while standing in its eye. Like the marathoner who feels pulled forward, we accomplish the most with the minimum of energy. In this state hard work does not feel like hard labor. Nor does it feel like play.

It feels a lot like the Aristotelian concept of doing. Edison and his researchers felt it at Menlo Park. They didn't get much sleep, but many would later look back at the periods as the happiest of their lives. "There is no substitute for hard work," Edison said. And indeed, we go rotten without it.

For me, this state of Wu-Wei is when we are "in the zone," whether during sports, work, or just living life. If only we could get the formula right, and package it, we'd have another healthy product to sell at Mind-FX Science!

For now, our NeuroCharge supplement is about the closest we've come to finding a way to artificially stimulate the brain towards wu-wei, or "the zone." Not to be getting up on my selling soap box, but two NeuroCharge 1/2 hour before a tennis match works for me.

The Power of Three's

Does the brain see things in groups of three's? It is easy for us to remember things in three's? Here's a blog post that says yes:

How the Brain Sees Things

The brain finds it relatively easy to grasp threes – elements, colours and fonts. Push that marginally up to four and the brain gets confused about where to look and what to do, and sends the eye scampering like a frisky puppy on a sunny day.

So why does this happen? For that we might have to go back a little to diaper country. As a child, everything you did and learned seemed to be centered around three — A,B,C; 1,2,3; Three blind mice, Three musketeers, Trinity, Three Stooges and Huey, Louie and Dewey. (Quack! Quack! Quack!)

This article was written by Sean D'Souza and posted on the Me, Myself, and I blog.

What do you think about this idea?

Multi-tasking ain't what it used to be...

If you think you can read email, listen to the news, talk on the phone, while chewing gum AND you think it's no big deal...think again. Kathy Sierra writes a good post about your brain and multitasking. Go read it here.

When Are You the Most Alert?

Our brains have natural daily cycles of alertness and relaxation which we inherited from our primitive ancestors. According to those who study these circadian rhythms, there are two times during the day our brains are most alert and receptive to incoming signals.

The first time is early in the morning when we wake up. Our ancient relatives became alert after sleeping, to sounds of danger, so they could protect themselves and their families from harm.

The second time is around 7 or 8 p.m., when we prepare ourselves for sleep. The cavemen had to be alert again at this time, in order to be aware of possible dangers during sleep.

In modern life, of course, we have many choices and a lot less dangers when we sleep. Yet our brains continue to operate with daily cycles of alertness followed by relaxation.

I am one of those modern beasts who chooses to use the morning hours. I love taking advantage of my brain's natural rush of activity. I can't stay in bed because my thinking becomes creative. The juices flow and I gladly get up to write or do something else creatively.

I am married to a modern beast who chooses to use the evening hours. He loves being creative in the evening.

Looking at our natural rhythms from an evolutionary perspective can help you decide when to capture your natural energy.

The pharmaceutical industry is working very hard to find pills that can enhance alertness. Read about one such effort over on the Brain Waves blog.

Until then, the best way to go is natural. There are some natural herbs that can enhance alertness for work and sports, such as those developed by Mind-FX Science.

How do you know when your own mental alertness cycle kicks in? Staying off of alcohol and drugs will clear your mind and make you more alert to your body, mind, and brain.

Power Sleeping

My cats, Huey & Dewey, have mastered the art of power sleeping. Unfortunately, their favorite pillow is my keyboard...

Without being silly and going on about the dear little monsters, we humans can learn much from animals when it comes to giving in to deep sleep. Why is it that I hear people proclaim with a certain amount of pride, "I only sleep 4-5 hours a night!"?

Turns out that if you only allowed yourself 4-5 hours of sleep a night for two weeks, you could have the same amount of cognitive deficits as someone who didn't sleep for 3 days straight! Only, you wouldn't even know it. You might feel slightly sleepy, but you wouldn't even be aware of how much your thinking is impaired.

How dangerous is that? I guess it depends on whether you work driving heavy machinery or managing people, but either way, I wouldn't want you for a boss.

If you have an active and busy life, going to bed at night may be the only time you are quiet long enough to think. Hence, going to sleep at night becomes a problem. Worries and concerns crowd the brain. Problems that were unresolved during the day pop up.

Insomnia and incomplete sleep results when too much stimulation doesn’t allow the brain to go into deep sleep mode. Research shows that the average person needs about seven to eight hours of sleep each night, although this diminishes with age.

Sufficient sleep is necessary for the normal brain to repair itself, and to facilitate connections between brain cells.

When sleep patterns improve, so do memory and mood. To achieve maximum brain fitness, do not ignore the quality and quantity of your sleep. For most people just getting to bed 30 to 60 minutes earlier can make a meaningful difference.

Avoid daytime naps of more than 20 minutes so that you don’t wake up groggy. Avoid taking sleep medications as well, as these can become addictive and in the long run interfere with the brain’s natural sleep cycles.

Avoid too much stimulation, either physical or mental, in the evenings. If you have a hard time falling asleep, learn relaxation methods such as meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga, stretching, or listening to relaxing music. If you are married or in a relationship, mutually relaxing massage or making love is another way of inducing sleep and being kind to your bodies and brains as well.

Getting vigorous physical exercise during the day is known to improve sleep quality at night. It also helps reduce stress and regulates moods. Stress, both emotional and physical, must be managed in order to promote brain health and good sleeping habits.

Your body needs certain vitamins, minerals and in order to repair itself during sleep at night. Consider using supplements if you don’t always eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, or have stress and poor sleeping habits.