Reality Upgrade

If you are having trouble with your memory, or just want to study more efficiently for that big test, check out this list of 9 ways to improve your memory.

Also, check out the video about it from Howcast, here.

1) Play games

Puzzle games like Sudoku or crossword puzzles stimulate the brain and help you develop new neural pathways.

2) Drink grape juice

Drinking 8 oz of purple grape juice (or anything else high in antioxidants) per day, can improve your memory by up to 20%.

Note: Organic fruits and vegetables have up to 40% more antioxidants than conventional produce…spring for organics.

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This awesome website by the New York Times has a flash chart of what Americans are doing with their time, by hour of the day. It is also broken down into categories, like male and female, enployed and unemployed, etc.

Check it out here.

Difficulty getting to sleep can be one of the most frustrating things in the world.

With the busy lives that we all live these days, it is hard enough to find the time to get a good night’s sleep. When you finally do get the chance to go to bed, and your body won’t cooperate…well, let’s just say bad dreams would be better than no dreams at all.

The typical remedies of keeping a consistent sleep schedule, not drinking caffeine before bed, even having a glass of warm milk are all good, but new research shows that room temperature might play an even bigger role than anyone thought.

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As you probably know, the human body has a daily cycle, know as the Circadian Rhythm.  

This is a perfectly natural pattern of sleep and alertness, dealing with cell regeneration, melatonin production, and so on.

However, if for some reason your Circadian Rhythm does not match your actual sleeping pattern, as in the case of Jet Lag, the symptoms can be serious, including loss of appetite, nausea, headaches, disorientation, and mild depression.

Recovering from jet lag can take several days, or even a week, of gradual adjustment to the new timing.

However, there is a way to reset your biological clock in only one day. By fasting for 12-16 hours, your body’s “hunger clock” will override your Circadian Rhythm, and reset your biological clock.

According to an article by the Globe and Mail:

Scientists have long known that our 24-hour “circadian rhythm” is regulated by a group of cells in the hypothalamus region of the brain. These cells, which represent the body’s main clock, are sensitive to changes in light conditions registered through the optic nerve in the eye.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston have now pinpointed a second clock that is set by the availability of food. Their study, published today in the journal Science, is based on research on mice. But they believe all mammals, including humans, possess an internal food clock, too.

Clifford Saper, the senior author of the study, said this second clock probably takes over when food is scarce. It may have evolved to make sure mammals don’t go to sleep when they should be foraging for food to stay alive.

“A period of fasting with no food at all for about 16 hours is enough to engage this new clock,” he said in a statement released with the study. Once you eat again, your internal clock will be reset as though it is the start of a new day.

The way to do this is to determine when your breakfast time should be on your new schedule, and then fast for 12-16 hours before that. Then break your fast at your new breakfast time, and your Circadian rhythm should be reset.

For example, if you are flying from New York to Israel, and you want to have your breakfast in Isreal at 8:00 AM, you should start fasting sometime between 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM the day before, in New York time. 

The calculation, in case you are interested:

8:00 AM - Breakfast, Israel

-7 hrs - Time difference = 1:00 AM New York

-16 hrs - Fasting time = 9:00 AM New York (the day before)

Hopefully, next time you are travelling, this will help you make the most of your trip.