by: Roel Sibayan
 |
| Illustration by: Roel Sibayan |
Brain is one of the most important vital organs in our body, for me it is an amazing built-in device in our head; it is our central processing unit (CPU), hard disk, or a super high-gig device that can record or stored many files, (memories) and retrievable at any time. It is the main control or command post of our body. It is amazing to understand the basic functions of our brain. Experts in Neuroscience already determined the left and right hemispheres of the brain, which functions differently from each other. These findings were supported by many psychologists and book authors that explained the behaviour of the right-brain and the left-brain dominated persons. Right brain dominated are said to be the emotions or creative thinking part while the left is the control and analytical. But in general, they (should) work together hand-in-hand (control and creativity) in order to come-up with a brilliant output. Dr.David Rock - a CEO of Results coaching and author of the book Quiet Leadership explained how to help a person think to be able to arrive at their best insights without them realizing during the problems occur, this is a way of helping them think on their own solutions to their problems, rather than you think a solution for them, (It’s like helping a person in-trouble with his car’s engine by pushing the vehicle from behind in the middle of the road, and he himself will do the driving). At this point, the brain is beginning to create new wire connections called dendrites that gather information for the neuron, this happen if a person is thinking for a solution to the problem. In 1883, Anatomist and artist Santiago Ramon y Cajal of Spain was first to discovered what neurons really do. He made an illustration in explaining; - his drawings changed the human understanding of the brain and nervous system. Previous studies also revealed information on how to boosts and sustain the brain or mental strength by protecting them, and some of the basics according to experts are; Regular exercise - this physical activity causes the release of feel good hormones or endorphins. In this activity, the brain will produced more of the important brain cell protein growth factor after exercise, increasing mental activity and memory. Adequate sleep may sounds like an old school for some, but this is one of the important in maintaining mental clarity and memory. On the other hand, Weight control is another important factor in protecting the brain, which research shown a strong link between obesity and cognitive with memory decline. Another one is Socialization - a person who has a lot of human interactions tend to do better both in terms of physical health and cognition according to study. Last is Eating fish and green leafy vegetables - this will reduced cognitive decline with aging. Research also shown that sugar is one of a cause of memory decline, blood supply to the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus, a portion engaged in memory formation, after a high sugar consumption resulting in a blood sugar spike which normally found out to diabetic persons. But did we know that there is an appropriate sugar that’s best for our brain? It is a sugar coming from the fruits - This made me realized and gave me better understanding and appreciation on the possible reason why our mighty creator provided Adam and Eve a variety of fruits to eat in the Garden of Eden based on Chapter 1:29 in the book of Genesis - “Then God said, Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;” .There are no rice, bread, hamburger, pizza, fried chicken, etc. provided by God for them to eat, because the sugar content of the fruits are very good for the body and for the brain, and the sugar content of the fruits is absolutely different from the “processed sugar” packed that humans are consuming. God is really good in providing fruits for us to eat, and he is also the intelligent designer of the most amazing and incredible device in the world-the brain. So, let’s include eating fruits as number 5 on the tips mentioned above, and make it a habit every day. Drop-by in the supermarket or fruit vendor and buy a bunch of Apples today. :)
