10 FOODS THAT HEALS

1. Banana

Next time you feel stressed, reach for a banana, says Molly Kimball, RD. With only 105 calories and 14 g of sugar, a medium banana fills you up, provides a mild blood sugar boost, and has 30% of the day’s vitamin B6, which helps the brain produce mellowing serotonin, getting you through a crisis peacefully.

    Benefits

1. Bananas help us overcome depression due to high levels of tryptophan, which is converted into serotonin -- the happy-mood brain neurotransmitter.Protect against muscle cramps during workouts and night time leg cramps by eating a banana.

Yogurt 

Cure for: Constipation or gas One and a half cups of live-culture yogurt (high in gut-friendly bacteria) pushes food more efficiently through the gastrointestinal tract, finds a 2002 study in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics. The beneficial bacteria also improve your gut’s ability to digest beans and dairy lactose, which can cause gas, adds Kimball.

benefits

1. Face saver

No need for pricey derm treatments to perfect your complexion. "Yogurt contains lactic acid, which is a component in some in-office chemical peels, "It gently exfoliates the top layers of the epidermis, which can clear up blemishes and discolorations, and may even reduce fine wrinkles.", Hmm wrinkles you say! ya. wrinkles.

2. Digestive aid

Let the creamy stuff ease your tummy troubles: The probiotics (beneficial bacteria) in some yogurts balance the microflora in your gut, which can aid with digestion as well as keep you regular.

Apricots

Cure for: Preventing kidney stones
Eight dried apricot halves have 2 g of fiber, only 3 mg of sodium, and 325 mg of potassium—all of which help keep minerals from accumulating in urine and forming calcium oxalate stones, the most common type of kidney stones, says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, an integrative nutritionist in private practice in Sarasota, FL, and a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

Benefits

1. It's Good for Your Heart


Given that the fruit is high on fiber content, it helps to reduce the bad cholesterol content in the body, and that means your heart is protected. And at the same time, it increases the good cholesterol. Plus the potassium content in the fruit balances the electrolyte levels in our system, keeping our heart muscles in order. All you have to do is eat one or two fresh apricots every day, or a handful of dried ones..

2.  Good for Your Blood:

Any plant produce that contains iron has non-heme iron, and that includes apricot. This type of iron takes its time to be absorbed by the body, and the longer it stays in the system, the better your chances in preventing anemia. It’s recommended that you take some vitamin C along with it to ensure better absorption of the non-heme iron.

3 Tuna fish.

Cure for: A bad mood
Yeah, you ask if there is a cure for for bad mood and i say yes there is, I feel super right now.

A 3-ounce serving of canned white tuna has about 800 mg of omega-3s, which research suggests may treat the kind of blues that leave you feeling low or anxious. The fatty acids in fish have been endorsed by the American Psychiatric Association as an effective part of depression treatment, says Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of Eat Your Way to Happiness. The 37 g of carbs will give you a dose of mood-boosting serotonin.

Benefits

1.Reduce Blood Pressure: The combination of omega-3 fatty acids, which are anti-inflammatory and can help reduce blood pressure, along with potassium, a vasodilator, make tuna fish very good for lowering blood pressure. Reducing hypertension can significantly boost your health by lowering the strain on your cardiovascular system. This will help prevent heart attacks and strokes, as well as conditions like atherosclerosis, which can lead to a number of health complications.

2. Cancer Prevention: Tuna fish has very good antioxidant properties thanks to selenium and various other nutritional components, making it effective at preventing some types of cancer. Numerous studies are ongoing, but those already conducted have connected tuna to a reduction in the occurrence of breast cancer, while other studies have also revealed a benefit against kidney cancer as well. Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals before they can cause mutations in healthy cells, thereby turning them into cancer cells. Other promising results have shown a reduction in colon cancer, thanks to the high levels of omega-3 fatty acid.

 And so on get more benefits at www.organicfacts.net

4. Ginger tea

Cure for: Nausea/ vomiting

Dozens of studies reveal that ginger (¼ teaspoon of powdered, ½ to 1 teaspoon of minced gingerroot, or a cup of ginger tea) can ease nausea from motion sickness and pregnancy, says Gerbstadt. Researchers are unsure which oils and compounds in ginger suppress nausea, but it’s safe and has none of the side effects (dry mouth, drowsiness) of OTC meds.

BENEFITS

1. Helps with Irritable Bowel Syndrome

IBS is a common disorder that affects nearly 40-50% people on earth. Some symptoms include cramps, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, and mucus in the stool. People who suffer from painful IBS will be happy to hear ginger can offer some relief. That’s because ginger can help relax the intestines during a flair up.

2. Protects Against Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system. It accounts for nearly 60–70 percent of dementia cases in people over 65 years old worldwide. If Alzheimer’s runs in your family or you are worried you may one day suffer from the disease, you should think about incorporating more ginger into your current diet and daily routine.

5. Pear.

Cure for: High cholesterol

One medium pear has 5 g of dietary fiber, much of it in the form of pectin, which helps flush out bad cholesterol, a risk factor in heart disease.

BENEFITS

 1. Prevents Heart Diseases

Pears benefits include the presence of fiber, which reduces the cholesterol in the body and thereby protects us from heart diseases. Daily intake of fiber rich food like pears can reduce the risk of stroke by up to 50%.

 2. Controls Blood Sugar Level

Even though it is slightly sweet, with low glycerin index and high fiber content pears helps in controlling the sugar levels in the blood and prevents diabetes.

3. Boosts Immune System

The high content of anti-oxidants like vitamin C and copper helps in boosting the immune system of the body to fight against various diseases.

6. Honey

Cure for: Coughing

In a study at Pennsylvania State University, 2 teaspoons of thick, dark brown honey were more effective than cough medicines at limiting the severity and frequency of a cough in children. Honey’s antioxidants and antimicrobial properties may soothe inflamed throat tissues.

BENEFITS

1.  Reduce ulcers and other gastrointestinal disorders

Recent research shows that honey treatment may help disorders such as ulcers and bacterial gastroenteritis. This may be related to the 3rd benefit.

 2. Increase athletic performance

Ancient Olympic athletes would eat honey and dried figs to enhance their performance. This has now been verified with modern studies, showing that it is superior in maintaining glycogen levels and improving recovery time than other sweeteners.

3.  Reduce cough and throat irritation

Honey helps with coughs, particularly buckwheat honey. In a study of 105 children, a single dose of buckwheat honey was just as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep.

7. Cabbage

Cures: Ulcers

Cabbage can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in cabbage do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they've been steamed. When this binding process takes place, it's easier for bile acids to be excreted, and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw cabbage still has cholesterol-lowering ability, just not as much as steamed cabbage.

BENEFITS

1. Eye Health: Cabbage is a rich source of beta-carotene, so many people, particularly as they get older, turn to cabbage for its ability to prevent macular degeneration and generally promote good eye health and the delay of cataract formation. Beta-carotene has also been positively linked to reduced chances of prostate cancer, which is an extra bonus on top of the other anti-carcinogenic effects of cabbage!

2. Brain Health: Let’s not forget that cabbage is a very powerful brain food! The presence of Vitamin K and anthocyanins within cabbage can give a strong boost to mental function and concentration. These are primarily found in red cabbage, and vitamin K has been well-researched, although it is often called the “forgotten vitamin”. Vitamin K is essential in the production of sphingolipids, the myelin sheath around around nerves. This wrapping is what protects nerves from damage and decay. Therefore, consuming vitamin K can improve your defense against neural degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia.

8. Turkey

Cures Sleepless nights

Did i hear someone say yummy? A 3-ounce serving of turkey has nearly all the tryptophan (an essential amino acid that helps the body produce serotonin and melatonin, hormones that regulate sleep) you need in a day, says La Puma. Studies show that people who suffer from insomnia are deficient in tryptophan.

Benefits

1. Turkey is a rich source of protein.

2. Skinless turkey is low in fat. White meat is lower in kilojoules and has less fat than the dark meat. A typical turkey consists of 70 per cent white meat and 30 per cent dark meat.

3. Turkey meat is a source of iron, zinc, potassium and phosphorus.

 But be careful cos turkey is kinda high in sodium which is not too good for you if you have a high blood pressure

9.Orange juice

Cure for: Fatigue

The fructose in a 4-ounce glass is a perfect pick-me-up. Some studies suggest that vitamin C’s ability to combat oxidative stress caused by free radicals may provide energy, and the vitamin plays a key role in metabolizing iron, which helps your body move energizing oxygen through your bloodstream.

Beneefits

1. Healing Phytonutrients: Oranges have particularly high levels of certain phytonutrients that are thought to be helpful for reducing inflammation, lowering blood pressure and balancing cholesterol! Adding a glass of organic orange juice per day to your diet can provide enough of these phytonutrients to contribute to an improvement in your overall health

2. Consuming Citrus Lowers Risk of Certain Diseases: Oranges contain many of the elements that are thought to reduce the risk of heart disease and cardiac arrhythmias, and some studies have even shown a slight reduction in the occurrence of many types of mouth, throat, esophageal, stomach and liver cancers in people who have a lot of citrus fruits in their diets.

3. Lower Cholesterol: Certain compounds in oranges are being studied as possible means to lower cholesterol. These compounds may interact in such a way with the body that they reduce its ability to produce LDL cholesterol. Lowered cholesterol then translates into a reduced risk for many types of health issues from heart disease to stroke.

10. Potatoes

Cure for: Headache

The 37 g of carbs in a medium potato can ease a tension headache by upping serotonin levels, as long as you keep the fat and protein below 2 g.

Benefits. 

1. Maintain blood pressure

Bananas are famous for their potassium-a mineral that helps control our blood pressure. But while a banana has nine percent of your daily needs, a baked regular potato has twice as much-20 percent-and a sweet one has 12 percent. But watch how you cook them: Cubing potatoes before boiling can reduce potassium by 75 percent. The best way to maintain it? Bake with the skin on.

2. Feed your bones

Maintaining bone health requires a complex mix of nutrients, yet a Spanish study found that manganese on its own helped prevent bone loss in rats. Sweet and regular potatoes are good sources of this mineral: A baked medium sweet with skin has 32 percent of your daily needs; a baked regular with skin has 22 percent.

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SECRET TO EATING A BALANCED DIET EVERYDAY

Many have the problem of eating healthy, I mean most of us just wake up in the morning, rush to work and when its lunch time we just get meet pie and some juice to go with it and later for dinner, we eat something that has little or less nutrients.

The key to a healthy diet is to:

1.Eat the right amount of calories for how active you are, so that you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use. If you eat or drink too much, you'll put on weight. If you eat and drink too little, you'll lose weight. 

2.Eat a wide range of foods to ensure that you're getting a balanced diet and that your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.

It is recommended that men have around 2,500 calories a day (10,500 kilojoules). Women should have around 2,000 calories a day (8,400 kilojoules). Most adults are eating more calories than they need, and should eat fewer calories.

Base your meals on starchy carbohydrates

Starchy carbohydrates should make up just over one third of the food you eat. They include potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and cereals, for my guys in Nigeria, you can also eat garri, but am not saying too much.

Choose wholegrain varieties (or eat potatoes with their skins on) when you can: they contain more fibre, and can help you feel full for longer.

Most of us should eat more starchy foods: try to include at least one starchy food with each main meal. Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram the carbohydrate they contain provides fewer than half the calories of fat.

Keep an eye on the fats you add when you're cooking or serving these types of foods because that's what increases the calorie content, for example oil on chips, butter on bread and creamy sauces on pasta.

Eat lots of fruit and veggies 

It's recommended that we eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and veggies every day. It's easier than it sounds. A 150ml glass of unsweetened 100% fruit juice or smoothie can count as one portion, and vegetables cooked into dishes also count.

Why not chop a banana over your breakfast cereal, or swap your usual mid-morning snack for a piece of fresh fruit, like apple or cucumber?

Eat more fish with some oily fish

Fish is a good source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals.Target to eat at least two pieces of fish a week for those that like eating beef, including at least one portion of oily fish. Oily fish contains omega-3 fats, you can also get omega-3 from (soya beans(Roasted) and Spinach(cooked or boiled)),which may help to prevent heart disease. 

Oily fish include:

• salmon
• mackerel
• trout
• herring
• fresh tuna
• sardines
• pilchards.

Non-oily fish include:

• haddock
• plaice
• coley
• cod
• canned tuna
• skate
• hake

If you regularly eat a lot of fish, try to choose as wide a variety as possible.

You can choose from fresh, frozen and canned: but remember that canned and smoked fish can be high in salt which is not good for someone who has hypertension.

Moderate yourself on saturated fat and sugar

Saturated fat in our diet

We all need some fat in our diet, but it's important to pay attention to the amount and type of fat we're eating. There are two main types of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases your risk of developing heart disease and also raises the level of cholestrols in your blood.

The average man should have no more than 30g saturated fat a day. The average woman should have no more than 20g saturated fat a day, and children should have less than adults.

Saturated fat is found in many foods, such as:

• hard cheese
• cakes
• biscuits
• sausages
• cream
• butter
• lard
• pies.
• fatty beef
• lamb
• pork
• chicken with the skin.

Try to reduce your saturated fat intake, and choose foods that contain unsaturated fats like Almond, Avocado and peanut butter, vegetable oils, oily fish and avocados.

For a healthier choice, use just a small amount of vegetable oil or reduced-fat spread instead of butter. When you're having meat, choose lean cuts and cut off any visible fat. 

Sugar in our diet

Regularly consuming foods and drinks high in sugar increases your risk of obesity and tooth decay and you don't like your tooth to get decay, do you?.

Sugary foods and drinks, including alcoholic drinks, are often high in energy (measured in kilojoules or calories), and if eaten too often, can contribute to weight gain. They can also cause tooth decay, especially if eaten between meals.

Many packaged foods and drinks contain surprisingly high amounts of free sugars. Free sugars are any sugars added to foods or drinks, or found naturally in honey, syrups and unsweetened fruit juices.

Cut down on:

• sugary fizzy drinks
• alcoholic drinks
• sugary breakfast cereals
• cakes
• biscuits
• pastries

These foods contain added sugars: this is the kind of sugar we should be cutting down on, rather than sugars that are found in things such as fruit and milk.

Food labels can help: use them to check how much sugar foods contain. More than 22.5g of total sugars per 100g means that the food is high in sugar, while 5g of total sugars or less per 100g means that the food is low in sugar.

Eat less salt – no more than 6g a day

 for adults

Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke from eating too much salt.

Even if you don’t add salt to your food, you may still be eating too much. About three-quarters of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy, such as breakfast cereals, soups, breads and sauces.

Use food labels to help you cut down. More than 1.5g of salt per 100g means the food is high in salt. Adults and children over 11 should eat no more than 6g of salt (about a teaspoonful) a day. Younger children should have even less.

Get active and be a healthy weight

Eating a healthy, balanced diet plays an essential role in maintaining a healthy weight, which is an important part of overall good health.

Being overweight or obese can lead to health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, heart disease and stroke. Being underweight could also affect your health.

Check whether you're a healthy weight by using our Healthy weight calculator.

Most adults need to lose weight, and need to eat fewer calories to do this. If you're trying to lose weight, aim to eat less and be more active. Eating a healthy, balanced diet will help: aim to cut down on foods that are high in saturated fat and sugar, and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Don't forget that alcohol is also high in calories, so cutting down can help you to control your weight. 

Physical activity can help you to maintain weight loss or be a healthy weight. Being active doesn't have to mean hours at the gym: you can find ways to fit more activity into your daily life. For example, try getting off the bus one stop early on the way home from work, and walking.

Being physically active may help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. For more ideas. 

After getting active, remember not to reward yourself with a treat that is high in energy. If you feel hungry after activity, choose foods or drinks that are lower in calories, but still filling.

Don't get thirsty

We need to drink plenty of fluids to stop us getting dehydrated – the government recommends 6-8 glasses every day. This is in addition to the fluid we get from the food we eat. All non-alcoholic drinks count, but water and lower-fat milk are healthier choices. 

check out the benefits of Drinking water

Try to avoid sugary soft and fizzy drinks that are high in added sugars and calories, and are also bad for teeth. Even unsweetened fruit juice and smoothies are high in free sugar, so limit how much you drink to no more than one 150ml glass of fruit juice each day.

When the weather is warm, or when we get active, we may need more fluids.

Don't ever ever skip breakfast

Some people skip breakfast because they think it will help them lose weight. In fact, research shows that eating breakfast can help people control their weight.

A healthy breakfast is an important part of a balanced diet, and provides some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health.

A wholegrain, lower-sugar cereal with fruit sliced over the top is a tasty and nutritious breakfast.

I hope you have gained enough tips to get you through to your life of balanced diet.

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FAILURE

In life, people have to fail you in other to improve there chance of success in you. but when you fail and admit you failed and do nothing about it, that's what is called failure but when you fail and know you really failed and keep trying to do everything to get an answer then i think you will be great after that. i know i have failed you in some way but, hell, am not ready to give up now and not never. gud afternoon.

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WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK ABOUT WHEN THEY LOOK AT YOU

WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK ABOUT WHEN THEY LOOK AT YOU

Have you ever wondered what people think when they are looking at you! Or what’s in their minds and sometimes you feel scared or afraid when they look at you because you feel kinda guilty or something you basically don’t know

    So here are few reasons for someone looking at you and how to stay confident when they look at you.

  1. They might probably be looking at you because of the dress you are wearing, how you wore it or how it is positioned on your body

  2.      They might probably be looking at you because they expect a complimentary of some sort from you either to greet them or notice them.

  3.      They might be looking at you maybe because you are new to them, seeing you for the very first time and they probably can’t resist looking.

  4.      Some people just like looking; really, I don’t know what they get from that.

  5.      Some people do it just for fun, they might just be looking at you for fun wanting to see how you will react or just to make you feel uncomfortable.

Here is how you keep your confident against anybody looking at you like that.

   1. Just look straight and don’t look at them

   2.  Think of something other than thinking of someone looking at you

   3. And you can simply walk up to them and ask them for a reason for why they are looking at you.

Simple as that, just don’t let anybody make you feel uncomfortable just by looking at you, you are better than them and that’s why they are looking at you, so that’s a reason

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FUN SEX GAMES YOU CAN PLAY WITH YOU GF AND BF

At times you need some curry and maggi to keep the love alive.

Have you Ever found yourself spending a whole afternoon with your boyfriend and you have nothing to do? well Both of you may love each other like crazy, but on a sloppy afternoon, it can get rather boring or slow even when with the best company.

so here Sexy games to play with your boyfriend

love and romance is great for a relationship, but sometimes it’s not just enough to keep the excitement alive.To enjoy each other’s company, you need some twitters and sexy times too.Tease your boyfriend, have fun with him and you’ll see how easy it can be to turn a boring afternoon into a day of fun, games and sex that both of you will love.

No1.  Cross dress in each other’s clothes. hahahahaha funny right, stand in front of each other’s wardrobes and start wearing each other’s clothes. Don’t forget the underwear too, yes the underwears too. With each dress up game, you’ll have more fun with each other, especially if you both decide to make out wearing each other’s clothes.yeah, i can see you are smiling now.

No 2. Webcam chat. I can't say this is a common thing in Nigeria here but,but Atimes just Sit in front of your computer with your boyfriend and log onto any webcam chatting sites like skype or imo. You don’t need to have sex in front of your webcam if you don’t feel like it.

Just indulge in a bit of foreplay while watching other couples or singles on the cam. It’s a sexy time killer that’s also exciting and a lot of sexual fun. But just a word of caution, avoid showing your face on your webcam to protect your identity if you’re getting naked.

No 3. Doctor and nurse. Remember that play we used to while we where small( Engineer and lawyer). Role playing is a game that’s definitely fun and sexy. You can dress up as characters and try to convince each other to have sex. One of you can be the doctor while the other is a patient or a nurse. Just choose your own characters and have fun executing them. 

No 4. The sexy 20 questions. Cuddle up next to each other or get in bed and cover yourselves completely so you’re in the dark under the blanket. Kiss each other or start making out. But while doing that, take turns to ask each other sexy intimate questions about crushes, fetishes or favorite times.

When you’re horny and in the dark, the truth will flow easily and both of you will feel less awkward to confess any dirty secrets. This game will not only be fun, but it’ll also bring both of you and your sexual desires closer.

No 5. Strip poker and dice. These are all time classics in sexual games. While strip poker may be more fun involving another couple, it can still be a lot of fun if you add a few dares and truths in the game if it’s just the both of you.

Or just pick up a couple of sexy dice and roll away. Don’t have dice? Make little sex notes by tearing small sheets of paper and write a few dirty things to do, and take turns to enact what’s written on the piece of paper.

No 6. Play drunk. Playing drunk can be a really sexy game to play with your boyfriend, especially if both of you like drunk sex. Pretend like you’re drunk and wasted, and tell your partner to imagine if he was somewhere else and walked into you *he doesn’t know you in this fantasy*.I hear someone say yuk.

Ask him to do anything to you and pretend like both of you are complete strangers. You can either have your eyes closed the whole while, or you can resist him mildly like a drunk girl would do!

No 7. Massage or body paint. Give your boyfriend a happy ending massage. It’s easy and a sexy game that can bring his fantasies to life. Or slather a bit of lotion or massage oil on him and move your hands all over him.

No 8. Read out from an erotic book and play the characters. Pick out your favorite erotic novel or collection of short stories and read out to each other, taking turns to play the lead characters. And each time one of you have to read out an erotic passage that involves touching or fondling body parts, read the action and do the exact same thing on your partner’s body.

No 9. Sex toy. Dress your boyfriend up as a sex toy, and don’t forget the makeup! He may protest at first, but if both of you have some time in your hands, this would definitely be fun. Dress him up like a sex toy and don’t forget to have sex with him. After all, he is a sex toy!

No 10. Spell out words on the body. This is a fun game to play with your boyfriend that can be hilarious and sexy too. Get him to lie down naked on his stomach. Spell out words on his back and ask him to recognize it. As he gets better at recognizing it, scribble faster so it becomes tougher for him.

For each right answer he gets, you get to kiss him wherever he wants you to. For each wrong answer, you get to smack his butt or spank him with a stick. Switch roles now and then and you’ll see just how funny and sexy this game can be.

I hope with this 10 ideas i have given you guys you will be able to turns things around for your and your over

source lovepanky.com/

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HOW OUR BRAIN WORKS,FACTS THAT WILL WOW YOU

Really my brain does creative work better when am tired!!!. wow

I couldn't possibly know anything about how the brain works only that it does my calculus for me and possibly tell me what to eat and what not to do but here are amazing facts about our brains that you need to know. Thanks to www.blog.bufferapp.com

one of the things that surprises me time and time again is how we think our brains work and how they actually do.

On many occasions I find myself convinced that there is a certain way to do things, only to find out that actually that’s the complete wrong way to think about it. For example, I always found it fairly understandable that we can multitask. Well, according to the latest research studies, it’s literally impossible for our brains to handle 2 tasks at the same time.

Recently I came across more of these fascinating experiments and ideas that helped a ton to adjust my workflow towards how our brains actually work (instead of what I thought!).

So here are 10 of the most surprising things our brain does and what we can learn from it:

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1. Your brain does creative work better when you’re tired

When I explored the science of our body clocks and how they affect our daily routines, I was interested to find that a lot of the way I’d planned my days wasn’t really the best way to go about it. The way we work, in particular, actually has a lot to do with the cycles of our body clocks.

Here’s how it breaks down:

If you’re a morning lark, say, you’ll want to favor those morning hours when you’re feeling more fresh to get your most demanding, analytic work done. Using your brain to solve problems, answer questions and make decisions is best done when you’re at your peak

For night owls, this is obviously a much later period in the day.

On the other hand, if you’re trying to do creative work, you’ll actually have more luck when you’re more tired and your brain isn’t functioning as efficiently. This sounds crazy, but it actually makes sense when you look at the reasoning behind it. It’s one of the reasons why great ideas often happen in the shower after a long day of work.

If you’re tired, your brain is not as good at filtering out distractions and focusing on a particular task. It’s also a lot less efficient at remembering connections between ideas or concepts. These are both good things when it comes to creative work, since this kind of work requires us to make new connections, be open to new ideas and think in new ways. So a tired, fuzzy brain is much more use to us when working on creative projects.

This Scientific American article explains how distractions can actually be a good thing for creative thinking:

Insight problems involve thinking outside the box. This is where susceptibility to “distraction” can be of benefit. At off-peak times we are less focused, and may consider a broader range of information. This wider scope gives us access to more alternatives and diverse interpretations, thus fostering innovation and insight.

2. Stress can change the size of your brain (and make it smaller)

I bet you didn’t know stress is actually the most common cause of changes in brain function. I was surprised to find this out when I looked into how stress affects our brains.

I also found some research that showed signs of brain size decreasing due to stress.

One study used baby monkeys to test the effects of stress on development and long-term mental health. Half the monkeys were cared for by their peers for 6 months while the other half remained with their mothers. Afterwards, the monkeys were returned to typical social groups for several months before the researchers scanned their brains.

For the monkeys who had been removed from their mothers and cared for by their peers, areas of their brains related to stress were still enlarged, even after being in normal social conditions for several months.

Although more studies are needed to explore this fully, it’s pretty scary to think that prolonged stress could affect our brains long-term.

Another study found that in rats who were exposed to chronic stress, the hippocampuses in their brains actually shrank. The hippocampus is integral to forming memories. It has been debated before whether Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can actually shrink the hippocampus, or people with naturally smaller hippocampuses are just more prone to PTSD. This study could point to the stress being a factor in actually changing the brain.

3. It is literally impossible for our brains to multi-task

Multi-tasking is something we’ve long been encouraged to practice, but it turns out multitasking is actually impossible. When we think we’re multi-tasking, we’re actually context-switching. That is, we’re quickly switching back-and-forth between different tasks, rather than doing them at the same time.

The book Brain Rules explains how detrimental “multi-tasking” can be:

Research shows your error rate goes up 50 percent and it takes you twice as long to do things.

The problem with multi-tasking is that we’re splitting our brain’s resources. We’re giving less attention to each task, and probably performing worse on all of them:

When the brain tries to do two things at once, it divides and conquers, dedicating one-half of our gray matter to each task.

Here is how this looks like in reality. Whilst we try to do both Action A and Action B at the same time, our brain is never handling both simultaneously. Instead, it has to painfully switch back and forth and use important brainpower just for the switching:

When our brains handle a single task, the prefrontal cortex plays a big part. Here’s how it helps us achieve a goal or complete a task:

The anterior part of this brain region forms the goal or intention—for example, “I want that cookie”—and the posterior prefrontal cortex talks to the rest of the brain so that your hand reaches toward the cookie jar and your mind knows whether you have the cookie.

A study in Paris found that when a second task was required, the brains of the study volunteers split up, with each hemisphere working alone on a task. The brain was overloaded by the second task and couldn’t perform at its full capacity, because it needed to split its resources.

When a third task was added, the volunteers’ results plummeted:

The triple-task jugglers consistently forgot one of their tasks. They also made three times as many errors as they did while dual-tasking.

4. Naps improve your brain’s day to day performance

We’re pretty clear on how important sleep is for our brains, but what about naps? It turns out, these short bursts of sleep are actually really useful.

Here are a couple of ways napping can benefit the brain:

Improved memory

In one study, participants memorized illustrated cards to test their memory strength. After memorizing a set of cards, they had a 40-minute break wherein one group napped, and the other stayed awake. After the break both groups were tested on their memory of the cards, and the group who had napped performed better:

Much to the surprise of the researchers, the sleep group performed significantly better, retaining on average 85 percent of the patterns, compared to 60 percent for those who had remained awake.

Apparently, napping actually helps our brain to solidify memories:

Research indicates that whena memory is first recorded in the brain—in the hippocampus, to be specific—it’s still “fragile” and easily forgotten, especially if the brain is asked to memorize more things. Napping, it seems, pushes memories to the neocortex, the brain’s “more permanent storage,” preventing them from being “overwritten.”

Let’s look at that in a graph – the people who took a nap, were able to wildly outperform those who didn’t. It’s like they had a fresh start:

Better learning

Taking a nap also helps to clear information out of your brain’s temporary storage areas, getting it ready for new information to be absorbed. A study from the University of California asked participants to complete a challenging task around midday, which required them to take in a lot of new information. At around 2p.m., half of the volunteers took a nap while the rest stayed awake.

The really interesting part of this study is not only that at 6p.m. that night the napping group performed better than those who didn’t take a nap. In fact, the napping group actually performed better than they had earlier in the morning.

What happens in the brain during a nap

Some recent research has found that the right side of the brain is far more active during a nap than the left side, which stays fairly quiet while we’re asleep. Despite the fact that 95% of the population is right-handed, with the left side of their brains being the most dominant, the right side is consistently the more active hemisphere during sleep.

The study’s author, Andrei Medvedev, speculated that the right side of the brain handles ‘housekeeping’ duties while we’re asleep.

So while the left side of your brain takes some time off to relax, the right side is clearing out your temporary storage areas, pushing information into long-term storage and solidifying your memories from the day.

5. Your vision trumps all other senses

Despite being one of our five main senses, vision seems to take precedence over the others:

Hear a piece of information, and three days later you’ll remember 10 percent of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65 percent.

Pictures beat text as well, in part because reading is so inefficient for us. Our brain sees words as lots of tiny pictures, and we have to identify certain features in the letters to be able to read them. That takes time.

In fact, vision is so powerful that the best wine tasters in the world have been known to describe a dyed white wine as a red.

Not only is it surprising that we rely on our vision so much, but it actually isn’t even that good! Take this fact, for instance:

Our brain is doing all this guessing because it doesn’t know where things are. In a three-dimensional world, the light actually falls on our retina in a two-dimensional fashion. So our brain approximates viewable image.

Let’s look at this image. It shows you how much of your brain is dedicated just to vision and how it affects other parts of the brain. It’s a truly staggering amount, compared to any other areas:

6. Introversion and extroversion come from different wiring in the brain

I just recently realized that introversion and extroversion are not actually related to how outgoing or shy we are, but rather how our brains recharge.

Here’s how the brains of introverts and extroverts differ:

Research has actually found that there is a difference in the brains of extroverted and introverted people in terms of how we process rewards and how our genetic makeup differs. For extroverts, their brains respond more strongly when a gamble pays off. Part of this is simply genetic, but it’s partly the difference of their dopamine systems as well.

An experiment that had people take gambles while in a brain scanner found the following:

When the gambles they took paid off, the more extroverted group showed a stronger response in two crucial brain regions: the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens.

The nucleus accumbens is part of the dopamine system, which affects how we learn, and is generally known for motivating us to search for rewards. The difference in the dopamine system in the extrovert’s brain tends to push them towards seeking out novelty, taking risks and enjoying unfamiliar or surprising situations more than others. The amygdala is responsible for processing emotional stimuli, which gives extroverts that rush of excitement when they try something highly stimulating which might overwhelm an introvert.

More research has actually shown that the difference comes from how introverts and extroverts process stimuli. That is, the stimulation coming into our brains is processed differently depending on your personality. For extroverts, the pathway is much shorter. It runs through an area where taste, touch, visual and auditory sensory processing takes place. For introverts, stimuli runs through a long, complicated pathway in areas of the brain associated with remembering, planning and solving problems.

7. We tend to like people who make mistakes more

Apparently, making mistakes actually makes us more likeable, due to something called the Pratfall Effect.

Kevan Lee recently explained how this works on the Buffer blog:

Those who never make mistakes are perceived as less likeable than those who commit the occasional faux pas. Messing up draws people closer to you, makes you more human. Perfection creates distance and an unattractive air of invincibility. Those of us with flaws win out every time.

This theory was tested by psychologist Elliot Aronson. In his test, he asked participants to listen to recordings of people answering a quiz. Select recordings included the sound of the person knocking over a cup of coffee. When participants were asked to rate the quizzers on likability, the coffee-spill group came out on top.

So this is why we tend to dislike people who seem perfect! And now we know that making minor mistakes isn’t the worst thing in the world—in fact, it can work in our favor.

8. Meditation can rewire your brain for the better

Here’s another one that really surprised me. I thought meditation was only good for improving focus and helping me to stay calm throughout the day, but it actually has a whole bunch of great benefits.

Here are a few examples:

Less anxiety

This point is pretty technical, but it’s really interesting. The more we meditate, the less anxiety we have, and it turns out this is because we’re actually loosening the connections of particular neural pathways. This sounds bad, but it’s not.

What happens without meditation is that there’s a section of our brains that’s sometimes called the Me Center (it’s technically the medial prefrontal cortex). This is the part that processes information relating to ourselves and our experiences. Normally the neural pathways from the bodily sensation and fear centers of the brain to the Me Center are really strong. When you experience a scary or upsetting sensation, it triggers a strong reaction in your Me Center, making you feel scared and under attack.

Here is how anxiety and agitation decreases with just a 20 minute meditation session:

When we meditate, especially when we are just getting started with meditation, we weaken this neural connection. This means that we don’t react as strongly to sensations that might have once lit up our Me Centers. As we weaken this connection, we simultaneously strengthen the connection between what’s known as our Assessment Center (the part of our brains known for reasoning) and our bodily sensation and fear centers. So when we experience scary or upsetting sensations, we can more easily look at them rationally. Here’s a good example:

For example, when you experience pain, rather than becoming anxious and assuming it means something is wrong with you, you can watch the pain rise and fall without becoming ensnared in a story about what it might mean.

More creativity

Researchers at Leiden University in the Netherlands studied both focused-attention and open-monitoring mediation to see if there was any improvement in creativity afterwards. They found that people who practiced focused-attention meditation did not show any obvious signs of improvement in the creativity task following their meditation. For those who did open-monitoring meditation, however, they performed better on a task that asked them to come up with new ideas.

Better memory

One of the things meditation has been linked to is improving rapid memory recall. Catherine Kerr, a researcher at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and the Osher Research Center found that people who practiced mindful meditation were able to adjust the brain wave that screens out distractions and increase their productivity more quickly that those that did not meditate. She said that this ability to ignore distractions could explain “their superior ability to rapidly remember and incorporate new facts.” This seems to be very similar to the power of being exposed to new situations that will also dramatically improve our memory of things.

Meditation has also been linked to increasing compassion, decreasing stress, improving memory skills and even increasing the amount of gray matter in the brain.

9. Exercise can reorganize the brain and boost your willpower

Sure, exercise is good for your body, but what about your brain? Well apparently there’s a link between exercise and mental alertness, in a similar way that happiness and exercise are related.

A lifetime of exercise can result in a sometimes astonishing elevation in cognitive performance, compared with those who are sedentary. Exercisers outperform couch potatoes in tests that measure long-term memory, reasoning, attention, problem-solving, even so-called fluid-intelligence tasks.

Of course, exercise can also make us happier, as we’ve explored before:

If you start exercising, your brain recognizes this as a moment of stress. As your heart pressure increases, the brain thinks you are either fighting the enemy or fleeing from it. To protect yourself and your brain from stress, you release a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). This BDNF has a protective and also reparative element to your memory neurons and acts as a reset switch. That’s why we often feel so at ease and things are clear after exercising and eventually happy.

At the same time, endorphins, another chemical to fight stress, are released in your brain. The main purpose of endorphis is this, writes researcher McGovern:

These endorphins tend to minimize the discomfort of exercise, block the feeling of pain and are even associated with a feeling of euphoria.

10. You can make your brain think time is going slowly by doing new things

Ever wished you didn’t find yourself saying “Where does the time go!” every June when you realize the year is half-over? This is a neat trick that relates to how our brains perceive time. Once you know how it works, you can trick your brain into thinking time is moving more slowly.

Essentially, our brains take a whole bunch of information from our senses and organize it in a way that makes sense to us, before we ever perceive it. So what we think is our sense of time is actually just a whole bunch of information presented to us in a particular way, as determined by our brains:

When our brains receive new information, it doesn’t necessarily come in the proper order. This information needs to be reorganized and presented to us in a form we understand. When familiar information is processed, this doesn’t take much time at all. New information, however, is a bit slower and makes time feel elongated.

Even stranger, it isn’t just a single area of the brain that controls our time perception—it’s done by a whole bunch of brain areas, unlike our common five senses, which can each be pinpointed to a single, specific area.

When we receive lots of new information, it takes our brains a while to process it all. The longer this processing takes, the longer that period of time feels:

When we’re in life-threatening situations, for instance, “we remember the time as longer because we record more of the experience. Life-threatening experiences make us really pay attention, but we don’t gain superhuman powers of perception.”

The same thing happens when we hear enjoyable music, because “greater attention leads to perception of a longer period of time.”

Conversely, if your brain doesn’t have to process lots of new information, time seems to move faster, so the same amount of time will actually feel shorter than it would otherwise. This happens when you take in lots of information that’s familiar, because you’ve processed it before. Your brain doesn’t have to work very hard, so it processes time faster.

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