{"id":5841,"date":"2018-03-16T12:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-03-16T16:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/?p=5841"},"modified":"2019-06-04T17:36:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T21:36:00","slug":"building-a-better-brain-by-not-being-a-mental-slug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5841","title":{"rendered":"Building a Better Brain. Don&#8217;t Be A Slug."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img data-opt-id=1134499925  fetchpriority=\"high\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-7361 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:200\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/iStock-1068364620-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:4000\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/iStock-1068364620.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:724\/h:483\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/iStock-1068364620.jpg 724w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In my former life as a neuroscientist (over 25 years ago), I did physiology research on certain aspects of the brain and behavior. At some point after a long week of working with monkeys, a few of us went out for a beer at the local place. And I guess because we just hadn&#8217;t had enough brain-speak during the week, we started talking about what it would take to build a better brain. Imagine that, a bunch of brain researchers using their brains to talk about how to improve our brains.<\/p>\n<p>My friends thought it was the beer talking, but I piped up that exercising improved your brain whether you used it for thinking, doing puzzles, or not. After I offered my little hypothesis, it was like one of those moments in a group where someone says something SO non sequitur that everyone all stops talking, looks, pauses during the extended blank staring epoch, and then goes back to their conversation.<\/p>\n<p>To their defense, the brain IS a unique system from the musculoskeletal system. Why in the Universe would these two be linked?<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve learned a lot since then. Like, for example, the increase in blood pressure that happens when you exercise, also happens within the brain. And that increased pressure and flow can help keep those passages open, providing more oxygen and nutrients to this cold gray cerebral organ that also happens to need more glucose than any other organ in the body (by far!).<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s why its so important to keep the arteries clean as a whistle. And a good way to help with that is to move. In fact, we now know that regular physical activity improves your cognitive skills, prevents you from sliding into that old age phase of having to act like you still remember things, and it works for any age level as well.<\/p>\n<p>So, if you want to build a better brain. Don&#8217;t be a slug. Get out and move!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In my former life as a neuroscientist (over 25 years ago), I did physiology research on certain aspects of the brain and behavior. At some point after a long week &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[528,494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activity","category-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/iStock-1068364620.jpg?fit=724%2C483&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-1wd","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2233,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2233","url_meta":{"origin":5841,"position":0},"title":"Will Clower Program Tomorrow: Build better brains, cook healthier foods.","author":"Will Clower","date":"December 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Saturday at noon (EST) I'll be talking about how to increase your BRAIN function, and how to cook foods so you don't leach out the healthy nutrients. Plus, the health news of the week.\u00a0(Please forward this to anyone who NEEDS a bigger brain :))\u00a0We're on radio, internet radio, and VIDEO!!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cooking For Health&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cooking For Health","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=317"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_HAl9r2q_-j0\/TPkV6cuFc2I\/AAAAAAAACzY\/ql3nY4feVZM\/s320\/BrainOnTray.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2513,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2513","url_meta":{"origin":5841,"position":1},"title":"Brained By Obesity","author":"Will Clower","date":"August 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Need another reason to eat well? How about brain damage?? Obesity degrades your brain. Not only obesity, even overweight does it. What does this mean? Loosing your Gray Matter can't be a good thing, but the study below only looked at the volume of brain tissue -- not how well\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8332,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8332","url_meta":{"origin":5841,"position":2},"title":"Your Brain&#8217;s Blind Spot","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 1, 2020","format":"image","excerpt":"Your brain has a bit of a blind spot as it cannot tell fantasy from reality sometimes. For example, if you have a terrible nightmare, your heart races, you sweat, and your body produces stress hormones all for a dream that wasn\u2019t real. By contrast, if you have a positive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dart Board with the words Train Your Brain on the bullseye","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9846,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=9846","url_meta":{"origin":5841,"position":3},"title":"Are You Sitting On Your Brains?","author":"Will Clower","date":"April 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It sounds funny to say that you are \"sitting on your brains\" but \u00adactually, being seated for long periods of time is harmful to our brain. This is because being sedentary for long periods of time, without movement, contributes to plaque buildup on artery walls. Why is that a problem?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Activity&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Activity","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=528"},"img":{"alt_text":"Woman is stressed sitting on a chair","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/woman-sitting-on-chair-stressed-e1620617829118.jpg?fit=1200%2C453&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/woman-sitting-on-chair-stressed-e1620617829118.jpg?fit=1200%2C453&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/woman-sitting-on-chair-stressed-e1620617829118.jpg?fit=1200%2C453&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/woman-sitting-on-chair-stressed-e1620617829118.jpg?fit=1200%2C453&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/woman-sitting-on-chair-stressed-e1620617829118.jpg?fit=1200%2C453&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2717,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2717","url_meta":{"origin":5841,"position":4},"title":"Blueberry Brains","author":"Will Clower","date":"September 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"If, by now, you don't have blueberries on the brain, you should.This food has been dubbed a \"Superfood\", and for good reason. Not only is it delicious, not only is it righteous in a pie, and stellar in yogurt, but it can also slow and even reverse the age related\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Blueberries\"","block_context":{"text":"Blueberries","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?tag=blueberries"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7899,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=7899","url_meta":{"origin":5841,"position":5},"title":"Train Your Brain For Portion Control","author":"Will Clower","date":"November 11, 2019","format":"image","excerpt":"People will say, \"I eat a lot because I am just that hungry.\" However, it is closer to the truth to say that you are that hungry BECAUSE you eat a lot. In other words, we train our brains to expect a certain volume of food. This happens physiologically and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"CG Brain Lifting Weights","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/CG-Brain-Lifting-Weights.jpg?fit=1183%2C887&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/CG-Brain-Lifting-Weights.jpg?fit=1183%2C887&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/CG-Brain-Lifting-Weights.jpg?fit=1183%2C887&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/CG-Brain-Lifting-Weights.jpg?fit=1183%2C887&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/CG-Brain-Lifting-Weights.jpg?fit=1183%2C887&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5841"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7448,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5841\/revisions\/7448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}