How to strengthen your mind

How many times have your forgotten:

An appointment?
A name that should be familiar?
A telephone number that you have dialed a hundred times?
An address of a relative you have visited several times?
What you went to the store for?
Your keys?

How many times have you said:
I just can’t remember!
I just read 10 pages of a book and can’t remember a single bit of information!
I’m afraid- I’m losing my mind – I’m so forgetful and fog-headed!
Maybe I’m getting old and senile!
Do I have Alzheimer’s disease?
Why am I so depressed?
Why am I so tired always?
Why can’t I learn a Bible verse or its location?

Are there available to us “mind foods” – foods or substances that can make our minds alert and responsive? Can we retard senility? Can we increase our mental capacity, or at least use more fully the mental faculties that we have at our disposal?

Scientific evidence has found that there are specific factors that could assist our retention and recall ability.
There are certain substances that have been found to be effective in increasing animal and/or human intelligence. These are various nutrients, including vitamins, amino acids, nucleic acids, and a natural hormone or two.

As far as we know the substances discussed and listed do not have any serious side effects under normal circumstances. But, with all substances, including simple foods, reactions or side effects can occur. Therefore, before undertaking any dietary program or change, it’s wise to consult with your physician, dietician, nutritionist, or some one qualified in the health field services. It might be of interest for some to know that in addition to increasing the alertness factor, some aspects of aging in the brain can be slowed or even reversed. Furthermore, mental performance can be improved in young people as well as old, with nutrients.

Firstly, the brain is very complex, and delicate. It needs special attention, care and nutrition.
One has to, consequently, change his lifestyle, diet and some habits. This, however, can change your life into one with more happiness, energy, direction and the exciting ability to solve certain problems more easily, to think more clearly, and stay younger, no matter what age you are.

You’ll be a better husband, wife, student, teacher, and worker. In essence, you’ll be more human, productive, and successful in any endeavour. You’ll even learn to be more calm, and spiritual.
Now, most importantly the brain requires OXYGEN and NUTRITION!
Where do we get the oxygen from? The blood!

Where do we get the nutrition from? The blood! But, first we have to have clean blood, not full of toxins. So, we need to clean our blood of all impurities. How?

By WATER! Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen, H20, chemically. See, it’s the oxygen or water that is so critically important for the brain. Consequently, DRINK 8-12 glasses of WATER DAILY. This does not mean soft drinks, coffee, tea, milk, soup or other liquid foods, like honey etc. The water must be clean and pure, and a little on the cold side, as you thereby drink more and it is absorbed quicker. Remember, that when you drink water only when you are thirsty, it is already too late. Your body has already become dehydrated. This can be dangerous, and one could even die if it goes on too far.

Try fasting only on water once a week, and three days a month if possible; but again check with your physician first. If difficult at first, try fasting on fresh fruit, only on these fast days. For example, only grapes, watermelon, grapefruit, but only of one fruit. Your nutritionist, or dietician, can also advise you further.

Secondly. EXERCISE!

For those that have no time or “hate exercise”, just do a few simple exercises IN BED before you “roll-off. Cats, and dogs stretch, don’t they after getting up? So, first, STRETCH! Start from your toes, bending them up and down as far as possible (a little reflexology), then tighten your muscles, from legs, hips, stomach, chest, arms neck up. Then bring both legs up to your chest, and hold with your arms crossed, and hold for 3 seconds and then let them down flat. Then sit up in bed (sit-ups) with knees up, and then the next is to tighten your buttocks, and press down into the mattress. Do all of these exercises 10 times, holding each one for 3 seconds.

While still in bed, do the “fire-hydrant” dog-lift; while on your knees now facing down lift one leg up to the side, then the other, “dog-style”. The next is the donkey-kick; still on the knees kick one leg back then the other, alternately, and then repeat this but this time stretch one arm out to the left and then the other alternately with the right arm. Do all of these 10 times.

Now, you can “roll-out” of bed, but now onto your knees, and PRAY! Give thanks to God for the miracle of another day of LIFE! Praise the Lord.

The KEY here now is CIRCULATION. All efforts should be with this in mind. Additional beneficial exercises are; walking, jogging, swimming, tennis, walking up the stairs (so no elevators), walking to your house (No more parking in front of your house), bicycling, and if all of this is not too appealing, then get a dog and walk him (Vigorously) 2 times a day!

Again, its all in the circulation – increasing the flow and speed of the brain. The Bible says there is “life in the blood”! Don’t be a couch potato. Video games, and computers can be “timerobbers” and can lead to poor circulation; which means, then “poorer thinking”!

Thirdly, before we decide which foods are “mind-foods”, let’s concentrate on foods that block the arteries and veins, impeding flow of blood to the brain, and, thereby, starve the brain of essential nutrients. This also includes harmful substances and habits that further destroy the brain cells.

Some HARMFUL FOODS:

Refined sugars (white sugar), brown sugar, sugared breakfast cereals, chocolates, chewing gum, marmalades, hard cheese, butter, eggs, dried fruits; all being “glycemic”, which produce hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, affecting the brain severely.

BENEFICIAL FOODS (Brain-Foods)

All fresh fruits and vegetables (rich in antioxidants) varieties daily. Grains; whole grains – oatmeal, barley, buckwheat, millet, wheat, etc.
Nuts, seeds; walnuts, almonds, pistachios, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower sesame, etc.

(eat seeds and nuts together for complete protein) (Also eat seeds of all fruits, apple, citrus, and pears etc. – hormone rich) Complex carbohydrates; calm the brain and nourish it; beans, lentils, brown rice, whole grain pasta, soya etc. Garlic, figs, black raisins, goat’s milk, yogurt (low-fat)

SUPPLEMENTS and Condiments (Beneficial)

Kelp, Brewer’s yeast, nutritional yeast, Vitamins E, C,A, B-complex, B12, B6, B-l, B-5, Flax seed powder or liquid, Wheat-germ oil, Gingko Biloba, Tumeric, Aloe Vera, Folic acid, Ginger (fresh), Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Garlic, Potassium, Fat -oils (olive, corn, sunflower, peanut, soy, etc.) Avocadoes, Sprouts (alfalfa, mung beans, lentils, soy etc.), Selenium, Bee pollen, Royal Jelly, Beta Carotene, Boron

RULES TO REMEMBER

Fruits are cleansers – Vegetables are builders Fruits – blood. Nuts – fats. Vegetables – minerals. Grains – muscles and energy.
Legumes – winter for calories (with brown rice) Carbohydrates – calm the brain. Proteins – energy.

IMPORTANT Nutrients aiding learning, memory and intelligence: Choline, Phenylalanine, Ribonucleic Acid, and Tyrosine

BIBLICAL CONNECTION

In Biblical times, people didn’t have all the conveniences, fast foods, microwave ovens, frozen dinners etc., yet they survived – and thrived – on tasty nourishing food. And they did it by following the dietary and health guidelines set down in the Bible itself!

The first three chapters of the Book of Genesis outline a clear, timeless set of rules for eating, drinking and generally healthful living. Modern nutritionists and other scientists are now finding to their surprise that the Biblical prophets who recorded these rules were way ahead of their time. Today for example, only recently began learning the extreme importance of low-fat eating and fiber diet, based on fruits, vegetables, and grains.

Studies in the past 20 years showed that the human physiology works best when fueled by lots of fiber and little fat. They way to get those ideal nutritional elements is to favor plant foods – fruits, vegetables and grains.

All you have to do is read Genesis 1:29; “I (God) have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit, you shall have them for food.” (a vegetarian diet) It’s easy to understand why the Bible contains information and recommends plants before any other. Animal food contains a great deal of saturated fat, a culprit in heart disease, cancer, arthritis and other deadly maladies. During the 1980’s all the major health and medical organizations in the United States adopted low-fat, high-fiber dietary guidelines. But the Bible made those recommendations some 4,000 years ago. same

You can achieve and maintain glowing health by following the simple guidelines found in the Bible. The legendary healing quality of many foods has their roots in Biblical tradition. Modern science has confirmed that.

A LAST WORD

“A rebellious son who is a glutton and a drunkard is to be stoned to death,” it says in Deuteronomy 21:20,21. These are harsh words, true, but the effects of overindulgence are just as harsh.

Excess can be deadly. “Be though not over much wicked…Why shoulds’t thou die before thy time?” The Bible asks in Ecclesiastes 7:17.

“Blessed is the land where the princes eat in due season, not for drunkenness,” adds Ecclesiastes 10:17.

And 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 and 6:19 inform you that you have a sacred obligation when it comes to diet and your health. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

“He that striveth for mastery is temperate in all things.” 1 Cor. 9:25

Dr. John S. Theodorou