Study: A Day of Hard Thinking Can Lead to Bad Choices

AHA Publisher — Mon, 14 Nov 2022 07:24:55 +0000

Christine Ruggeri, CHHC via Dr. Axe – Have you ever noticed a feeling a brain fog and fatigue after a day of thinking hard? Perhaps after a difficult day at work or long test, your brain just feels … tired. A new study suggests that your body may be pushing you to make poor choices after a long day. It’s not that you’re being lazy or trying to punish yourself, but natural biological regulations are working to combat cognitive fatigue by favoring easy, short-term decision making. Study Findings: Thinking Hard Can Lead to Bad Choices A study published in August 2022 in Current Biology explored cognitive fatigue with magnetic resonance spectroscopy during a workday. This tool measures electromagnetic signals within metabolites of the brain. For the study, two groups of participants performed either high-demand or low-demand cognitive control tasks and economic decisions. Data showed that choice-related fatigue markers were only present in the high-demand group, and those participants were more likely to prefer short-delay and little-effort options during decision making. Researchers found that the hard thinking group displayed increased glutamate levels in the cognitive control region of the brain compared to the low-demand thinkers. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter (or chemical messenger) in the brain that has “excitatory effects,” meaning that it can actually excite cells to their death, according to prior research. Study data also shows that this glutamate increase triggers a natural regulation mechanism in the cognitive region of the brain, which reduces a person’s control over decision making. What It Means This study indicates that after a day of hard thinking, you may experience a reduced ability to make decisions, and your brain will prefer little-effort options. Because there’s a natural increase of glutamate levels in the brain after a day of intense thinking, it becomes more difficult to use the prefrontal cortex, the region of the brain that controls our thoughts and decision making. We can learn from the study that it’s normal to feel brain fatigue after a day of hard thinking, and although we may not be aware of how tired our brains are, we should consider our abilities to make good decisions in these moments. Tips to Support Cognition Clearly, your brain is impacted by hard thinking and needs nourishment and rest to function optimally. Here are some tips to support cognition that you can practice every day: Eat nutrient-rich brain foods. Your diet has a tremendous impact on the health of your brain, so opt for foods that are rich in nutrients, including antioxidants, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. Some of the best brain foods include avocado, berries, cruciferous vegetables, leafy greens, walnuts, coconut oil, bone broth and dark chocolate. Try nootropics. Nootropics are supplements that help cognitive function and support concentration. Some of the most popular nootropics include ginseng, ginkgo biloba, medicinal mushrooms, omega-3 fish oil, ashwagandha and vitamin B12. Get enough rest. It’s clear from this study that the brain needs time to rest. For starters, make sure you get enough sleep every night — at least seven hours is needed. It’s also important to take breaks throughout the day to reset and recover. This can include taking a leisurely walk outdoors, chatting with a loved one or sitting quietly over a cup of tea. Reduce stress. Stress increases cortisol levels, which impacts cognitive function, energy, sleep and more. When stress is chronic, or occurs daily, it can have a detrimental effect on your ability to think and make good decisions. Some effective ways to reduce stress include spending time outdoors, practicing meditation or quiet time, doing gentle exercise, and spending time with loved ones or pets. Move your body. Daily movement increases energy and cognition, improves sleep, and helps balance your hormones. Opt for at least 30 minutes of exercise every day. This can include walking, jogging, biking, swimming, dancing, lifting weights, yoga, pilates and more. Conclusion A study published in Current Biology indicates that after high-demand thinking the brain will experience fatigue, resulting in a preference for short-delay and little-effort options during decision making. Hard thinking increases neurotransmitters that excite brain cells, triggering a natural regulation system in the brain that can cause cognitive fatigue. As a result, people have a hard time making difficult decisions, sometimes without even noticing the difficulty. To avoid this brain fatigue, make sure you get enough rest and support your brain health with nutritious foods, proper sleep and exercise. To read the original article click here.

The post Study: A Day of Hard Thinking Can Lead to Bad Choices appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Eating Organic Helps Kids Score Higher on Cognitive Tests, According to Study

AHA Publisher — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 07:19:05 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – Have you ever noticed that you have more energy when you eat nutrient-rich, organic food and have a better overall feeling of wellness than when you eat fast food? There’s a reason for that, and researchers are linking an organic diet to improved cognition and higher academic performance in children. The study, published in Environmental Pollution, was conducted by researchers at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health. It took an in-depth look at environmental hazards that children come into contact with regularly. Without examining unique lifestyle factors individually, the researchers concluded that “healthy diets, including eating organic diets, are richer than fast food diets in nutrients necessary for the brain…” According to the study, antioxidants, vitamins, and fatty acids found in a balanced, healthy diet are credited with enhancing cognitive function in children. A Large-Scale Study of 1,300 Participants Examines the Connection Between Children’s Diet and Cognitive Development The researchers chose nearly 1,300 mother-child pairs from those enrolled in the pan-European study, Human Early Life Exposome (HELIX) Project. HELIX has a number of various projects spanning several European countries The children participating in the study ranged in age from 6 to 11 years old, all in good health. In addition, because the participants were already a part of HELIX, researchers already had data on the mothers’ pregnancies and birth experiences as well as urine samples for all participants. They used each participant’s home addresses to evaluate the area for environmental exposures, such as level of pollution and how close they were to parks and natural areas. The researchers administered tests to both child and mother to determine specific lifestyle factors, alcohol use and smoking by either or both parents, the child’s diet, their environment indoors, level of physical activity, and other habits. Researchers tested the children’s working memory, attention function, and fluid intelligence through both clinical tests and computer evaluations. Then, they combined these scores as an overall level of cognition. Pesticides and Other Chemicals Have a Detrimental Impact on Cognitive Health The researchers concluded that eating organic foods helped children score higher in tests measuring working memory and fluid intelligence. Lower scores on each of the tests were found to have several contributing factors. For instance, children who scored lower on fluid intelligence tests tended to have a diet high in fast food. They were also regularly exposed to tobacco smoke and experienced house crowding. Children with lower scores on working memory tests tended to regularly be exposed to poor indoor air quality. Pesticides and other chemicals in conventional foods – and their absence in organic foods – are believed to be the primary reason for the study results. Children are smaller, so the levels of these dangerous chemicals in their bodies are higher. Other studies have linked pesticides to ADHD, developmental problems, and lower IQ in children. It is important to note that organophosphate insecticides which are specifically associated with lower IQ scores in children are still commonly used on vegetables and fruit in the United States. What’s the bottom line? While the test results seem to reveal a direct link between test scores and diet and environmental factors, more research is needed to provide solid evidence that an organic, nutrient-rich diet improves cognitive performance. Nevertheless, this offers some solid evidence to switch to an organic diet, dramatically lowering pesticide levels in the body. No doubt, eating organic food will take you one step closer to better health and higher brainpower. Sources for this article include: BeyondPesticides.org ScienceDirect.com App.Dimensions.AI ScienceDirect.com To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

The post Eating Organic Helps Kids Score Higher on Cognitive Tests, According to Study appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

nutrient-rich food Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Study: A Day of Hard Thinking Can Lead to Bad Choices

Eating Organic Helps Kids Score Higher on Cognitive Tests, According to Study