3 Mainstream Publications, 3 Intriguing Articles
Yes, I’m feeling lazy today, but that’s not why I’m showing you these articles. They’re really worth your time. Promise.
How The City Hurts Your Brain
(Boston Globe)
Every once in a while, I run across an article so fascinating and well written it’s not worth putting my bizarre personal spin on it. This is one of those articles. The subject? The impact of urban vs nature environments on the brain.
So go read the article, then go for a walk in the nearest park.
Blood Sugar Control Linked To Memory Decline
Whenever I make a list of things to help my brain function better, reducing sugar is always on that list. For me, it’s especially crucial, because I tend to have some pretty wild hypoglycemic reactions that immediately affect my cognitive ability.
But increasingly, it seems like good advice for almost everyone - sugar causes blood glucose spikes, glucose spikes reduce blood flow to parts of the brain crucial to memory and learning.
As we age, our ability to regulate glucose levels begins to falter, meaning that even those with seemingly healthy blood sugar levels can be affected.
But it’s not all about what we eat - physical exercise helps regulate blood sugar levels, too, and the Times article suggests this may be partially responsible for the well-publicized cognitive benefits of exercising.
So again… go for that walk in the park!
Self-Experimenter Freed Himself from Insomnia,
Acne and Love Handles
I figure that the majority of “Tweakers” are self-experimenters of some sort or another, constantly running little tests on ourselves. The more scientific our approach to those little experiments, the more likely they are to give us accurate results. And what might have interested me the most about this article? The successful changes the subject made in his life were not things his doctor would have likely ever thought to suggest.
BTW, the “subject” is Seth Roberts: He turned some of his results into the best-selling Shangri-La Diet. Who knows. Maybe if we document our walks in the park, there’s a best seller in our futures too!
