Monday, April 25, 2011

Mentor Monday--You Are What You Eat!

You are what you eat--what a thought! So what does this have to do with writing? Do you have a deadline and you can't get started? Is your well of ideas completely dry? Perhaps your brain needs nourishment.

Over the past decade there have been a gazillion magazine articles on the five, or ten foods that are best for brain function. The problem with those lists, though, is that you may find some funky items on them! Take, for instance, this list of "Top 5 Brain Health Foods." Although I am tickled pink by the inclusion of #2 cacao--think dark, dark chocolate, I have to run to "the Google" to find out more about #3, "Matcha." Green tea powder? I'll pass.


Without depending on "best" lists, eating brain-healthy is something you can do fairly easily. Brain food lists contain things that should be included in any healthy diet like antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, olive oil, nuts. Eat healthy and your brain benefits, too.

If you learn how the brain uses food, it all starts to make sense. Psychology Today has a page called What is Good Brain Food?--check it out.

For those who need mnemonic devices or graphics, the Franklin Institute employs a brain food pyramid. Click here.

You can literally "exercise" your brain, too! Puzzles are just one way to keep it agile. Try the puzzles found on this page called Brain Food to give those brain cells a workout. Plain old physical exercise, like walking or jogging, is therapeutic, too!

Take a walk, balance your checkbook without using a calculator, and have a bit of dark chocolate. It's all good, and it may improve your writing.

--Diane

4 comments:

Andrea Murphy said...

This is a timely post. I'm embarking on a week-long writing vacation. Let's see if I get to my goal of 3 completed biographies by week's end. I'd better start popping walnuts and dark, dark chocolate.

Thanks, Diane!

I'm Jet . . . said...

Yummy post, D!

Mur said...

The very idea of feeding my brain by balancing my checkbook without a calculator, causes me to want to raise my endorphin levels with Cadbury Cream Eggs. I only wish they counted as brain food, too, Diane!

Diane Mayr said...

Another report stating the obvious:

http://www.wbur.org/npr/135575490/sitting-all-day-worse-for-you-than-you-might-think

We need to be reminded every once in a while! Especially those of us who work all day at a desk and then come home to sit all evening in front of a computer.