Let's Get Physical

Humans are creatures of habit. We do things because “that’s the way it’s always been done.” We pick up habits from our culture, parents, and friends. There’s good news and bad news. Bad news: many of these habits make you ineffective while reading. Good news: it’s never too late to change.

Dr. Phil McGraw, a T.V. psychologist, is well known for saying, “How’s that working for you?” You need to spend some time reflecting on your reading habits and ask yourself, “How’s that working for me?” You will find some habits support your reading while others hinder your ability to make meaning from a text. Take time to set yourself up for success by evaluating your reading habits and choose to read smarter, not harder. Cut out your bad habits and replace them with good habits!

Your brain is often compared to a computer. Your daily habits of sleep, diet, and exercise all effect the way your computer (brain) functions. Let’s take a closer look as to why your physical health is connected to learning.

Sleep
Learning is two parts. Getting it and remembering it! In order to get it, you have to focus on what you are trying to learn. The lack of sleep affects your ability to focus on what you are reading.

Dr. Lewis Terman, originated the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, found that the longer students slept, the better they performed in school. Additional studies have confirmed the link between sleep and performance. Why? Proper sleep allows for better focus on what you are reading and increases the amount you remember from what you learned the previous day.

The scary thing is many Americans are starved for sleep. Most people focus on the “getting it” part. Once we get it, many of us take remembering the information for granted. If we do not remember, what is the point? There are many strategies to increase your memory. One of the simplest things that you can do is to get enough sleep. Yes, sleep. How hard is that?

Leslie Stahl’s report on the Science of Sleep (March, 2008) featured Matthew Walker, director of UC Berkeley's Sleep and Neuroimaging Laboratory and senior author of the study coordinated with researchers from Harvard University, suggests that getting a good night’s sleep after you learned new information make you remember it better. This new information flies in the face of the idea of pulling an all-nighter. Let’s go back to the computer analogy. All day long, you are learning. This new information is being typed into an ‘email’ to yourself. While you sleep your brain hits the ‘send’ key. The only problem is that the ‘send’ key is not hit as your fall asleep. It happens during the last two hour of the sleep cycle. You need between 8-10 hours of sleep. If you are not getting the recommended sleep, there is a good chance that your brain will not remember the information. Feel better. Learn more. Remember. Sleep.

Diet
The proper amount of sleep is just as important as a proper diet. Eating healthy is vital to a healthy body and a healthy brain. The brain uses 20% of your body’s energy and is the only organ that doesn’t store energy. You are what you eat. In fact, you are only as smart as your last meal, because your brain is using the food that you just ate. Avoid food with a lot of processed sugars. Eat fruits, dark green vegetables, eggs, lean meats, beans, and nuts. Eat a high protein meal for breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

Be a detective and investigate food labels so you are making healthy and smart choices. Eating foods with high-levels of protein increase mental alertness, energy, and motivation. Eating carbohydrates alone, without protein, has a calming effect and aids in focus. Glucose (nature’s sugar) is fuel for the brain and comes from simple and complex carbohydrates. Fruits are extremely healthy but won’t activate the food/mind/mood response. Don’t forget the water! Never get thirsty. You should drink eight or more glasses of water a day. You brain cannot function its best if you are dehydrated.


Best Proteins: Shellfish, fish, skinless chicken, veal, lean beef, low fat cottage cheese and yogurt, dried beans, peas, and tofu.

Best Carbohydrates: Whole wheat bread, crackers, muffins, rolls, bagels, pasta, potatoes, rice, corn (tortillas); cereals and oatmeal served with milk blocks the effect but is still nutritional.

Exercise
You know that exercise is important for the body, but did you know that exercise could make you smarter? When you exercise you increase your blood circulation and more oxygen and glucose pass through the brain. Exercise increases energy production and waste removal. Exercise reduces the stress chemicals that prevents learning and is also thought to anchor new information in the brain. If you exercise while you are learning or immediately after you are learning, you will more likely remember the information. Are you getting the picture? Eat right, get enough sleep, and exercise. Not only will you be healthier, but you are preparing your brain to learn. If you want to learn exactly how or why a sleep, diet, and exercise affect your brain, check out these websites.

http://www.brainconnection.com
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
http://www.newhorizons.org/neuro/front_neuro.html