You Can Learn to Remember: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life pdfdrive com

memory and health
O
ver the centuries people have looked for physical ways to tune their
memories. In the seventeenth century it was believed by some North Americans
that wearing a beaverskin cap would enhance their recall. At other times the
favoured treatment has been a few drops of castor oil rubbed into the head or the
back.
While health fads will always come and go, we now realize that one of the
most effective ways to improve our recall and keep our memory in optimum
working order is to keep fit. A well-nourished body is one of the keys to a well-
nourished mind.
Most experts agree that the path to fitness is simple: take regular exercise
and eat a healthy diet. Whether your exercise is 20 lengths of the swimming pool
every other day or a daily brisk walk around the block, if it gets your limbs
moving and your heart beating faster it increases the blood flow to your brain.
This blood feeds our neurons with oxygen and nutrients, keeping them healthy.
My own practice is to run every morning (or at least as often as I can) and play
golf regularly; when I’m in training for a memory competition, I gradually step
up the length of the runs. However, the exertion need not be strenuous for your

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brain to feel the benefit.
Evidence suggests that the leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree (in ancient
times this was known as the “tree of memory”) can help to improve memory by
increasing blood flow to the brain. The German philosopher Johann Wolfgang
von Goethe (1749–1832), who retained his mental agility well into old age, was
said to eat a ginkgo leaf with his breakfast every morning.
Studies have shown that if we maintain a low-calorie diet, even for a short
period, our memory performance is noticeably poorer than when we eat foods
with a full complement of nutrients. The cal ories in food give us energy, which
our body uses to power our brains (as well as our other organs). If our brain is
starved of energy, then our memory is one of the first functions to falter.
Foods that are rich in the anti oxidant vitamins A, C and (more especially)
E are particularly beneficial to the health of the brain and therefore that of the
memory. These vitamins are found in richly coloured fruit and vegetables, such
as bananas, red peppers, spinach and oranges, among others. They help to “mop
up” chemicals known as free radicals, which are naturally present in the body,
but which, when we overproduce them (usually if we are under stress or subject
to the harmful effects of pollution), can cause extensive cell damage in the brain
(as well as in other parts of the body).
Your prayer must be for a sound mind in a sound body.
JUVENAL C
.60–
C
.130
CE
Another good tip is to eat plenty of oily fish. This is so important for the
health of our minds that it is often nicknamed “brain food”. Oily fish contains
folic acid and several essential fatty acids – all of which are vital in the
development and functioning of the brain and nervous system. Try to include
fish in your diet at least twice a week. Other sources of protein (such as white
meat, dairy products and tofu) have similar, if not so pronounced, benefits for
memory.