6 Natural Medicines for Brain Health | Jim Kwik

When you wanna improve your cognitive performance, your brain health, it's not just your neurological networks, it's your social networks. Who you spend time with is who you become, right? You have these mirror neurons. We're constantly imitating the people around us. We start developing the same habits of the people around us, the same behaviors, the same language and thoughts and thinking and standards and character, right? In 2018, there was a joint study done by New York University and Virginia Tech, and they found that 13 minutes of meditation over 8 weeks not only enhanced mood, but also enhanced things like focus, concentration, and working memory. Just 13 minutes a day for 8 weeks. Welcome back to the Kwik Brain Show. I am your host and your brain coach, Jim Kwik. And what are we going to talk about today? I'm going to share with you 6 natural medicines to be able to upgrade your brain. To have greater levels of intelligence, greater levels of income, and greater levels of impact. Some of you heard this meme or this quote somewhere on social media saying the 6 best doctors in the world, and no one can deny it, are what? Sunshine, water, rest, air, exercise, and diet. Right. And it's kind of true, right? If you want natural ways to be able to be healthy, To be able to improve your learning and your life. Those things are there. And besides diet, things are really, they're free. They could come at absolutely no cost. Now I'm gonna go a level deeper. I'm gonna share with you 6 medications that are actually natural. They're not real medicine, but I'm gonna give you an acronym on 6 things you could do when you feel stressed, when you feel like you're overloaded, overwhelmed, you kind of don't know where to start. I want you to pick one of these 6 things. So what are these 6 natural medicines? I want you to think about this acronym: MEDS. MEDS. MEDS RX. Now, I didn't create this. There's a book that talked about it. It's called Slow, talked about MEDS. Also recently, Brendon Burchard, who wrote Motivation Manifesto, he's been— he's spoken at our stages at our Brainpower Conference, been on our podcast. He said MEDS RX. MEDS RX. Rx. So there's six things you could do to be able to tap into that I want to share with you. Simple things that you could do that are easy and mostly free, right? They just take your time. So meds Rx, and Rx is usually like those pharmaceutical drugs, but this no side effects. Then best of all again, take very little time, very little money. So what does the M stand for? The M in meds Rx. The M stands for meditation. Now, in this podcast, we will link all of it, by the way, in the notes. Make sure you always go to jimkwik.com/notes. It's priceless information. It won't cost you a thing. You just have to pay attention. So the M stands for meditation. We've done so many episodes, over 300 episodes total, but many of them are on the power of your mind through meditation and mindfulness. We've had guests come on like Emily Fletcher sharing her process for how to be able to meditate. So I'm not going to go through it in this podcast. Make sure you go through the links. All right, now meditation is great for the brain. Sometimes we have to disconnect to be able to reconnect with ourselves. It's kind of like a little pit stop or a pause. For me, I meditate twice a day. It's kind of my non-negotiable because you know what, your brain isn't meant to go fast all the time. You need these little rests. You're taking deliberate rest for yourself, and that's where you could actually consolidate information, take your short-term, convert it to long-term memory. It actually could help accelerated learning. In 2018, there was a joint study done by New York University and Virginia Tech, and they found that 13 minutes of meditation over 8 weeks not only enhanced mood but also enhanced things like focus, Concentration, and working memory. Just 13 minutes a day for 8 weeks. This study also concluded that it helped to decrease things like anxiety and improved emotional regulation. So are you taking the time? Are you scheduling your meditation each and every day? Remember, when we're talking about routines and habits, first you create your habits and then those habits create you. So schedule it, put it into your planner. The number one productivity tool that you For peace of mind is your calendar. And so remember, when you're going, going, going, you feel like you're burnt out. Sometimes you're burnt out not because you're doing too much, but because you're doing too little of the things that make you feel alive. So take that rest for yourself once or twice a day and post on social media. Let me know if it's working for you. Now, the E in MEDS Rx stands for— you can probably guess— exercise. Now we've done many episodes on our podcast about the power of what? Movement. We've had people like Shawn Stevenson talk about exercises for the brain. We've had episodes with Aaron Alexander, who wrote Alignment, talk about the power of movements and how to maximize your body for a better brain. So many episodes, make sure you go to jimkwik.com/notes. And there've been many studies on the power of exercise, probably more than any other area. That when you move your body, as your body moves, guess what? Your brain grooves. When you move your body, you create brain-derived neurotrophic factors, fancy word, BDNF, which is like fertilizer for your brain. And we live in this very sedentary lifestyle. Many of us, me included, we sit behind a computer, we're behind a screen, and they say sitting is the new smoking. So are you taking time to move? There was a study done in 2015 at Cambridge University where they took participants, they did a baseline in terms of cognitive ability and tests, and they had part of the group exercise. They did aerobic exercise in this case, and part of the group, they watched videos of people exercising. And then they followed up, and those who actually exercised, there was enhanced activity in the prefrontal cortex, and this lasted for hours. So if you feel stuck throughout the day, Right, if you're just studying and you're cramming information and you're at work, make sure you take those brain breaks. Take 5, 10, 15 minutes and go for a walk, right? Clear your mind and move your body. We know that people, when they're listening to our podcast or our audiobook, or they're listening to something, when they're doing something rhythmic, maybe they're on an elliptical, maybe you're going walking the dog and you're listening, it actually helps you to enhance your retention of the information and your comprehension. So move your body, exercise, and that's the E in MEDS-R. Do you have too much to read but too little time? Are your shelves full of books that you haven't read yet and become shelf help, not self-help? And that's why I created the Kwik Reading Course. 15 minutes a day, 21 days will absolutely transform your life. Just go to kwikbrain.com/reading, use the code PODCAST15, and you'll get instant access. Now, the D, you probably guessed, right, is your diet, right? We talked about this in our programs. We did a whole chapter of it in Limitless on neuro nutrition. Your brain is an energy hog. It's only 2% of your body mass, but it requires 20% of the nutrients. And your brain actually requires different nutrients than the rest of your body. So I'm not going to go through our brain diet. We've done many episodes on that. We have. We will link jimkwik.com/notes with our interviews with individuals like Dr. Lisa Mosconi, right, talking about the best brain foods. Dr. Uma talking about the best brain foods and supplements and nutrition for your brain. You want to be able to feed this machine because what you eat matters, especially for your gray matter. My team just sent me this study in 2015. There was a study by Dr. Drew Ramsey. The Journal of Missouri State Medical Association discusses in detail the benefits Specifically, severe nutritional deficiencies in vitamin B12, B9, which is folate, and zinc can cause things like depression, low mood, fatigue, cognitive decline, and irritability. Eating food with high nutrition reduces inflammation, which is linked to higher rates of mental illness, increased risk of depression, mild cognitive impairment, and irritability. So, I'm going to go ahead and ADHD. So bottom line, you can control your mood and your mind, even your memory, by the food that you decide to eat, because food is information, right? And there's a lot of junk food out there. You want to reduce the processed food. You want to reduce the sugar, because sugar is very detrimental to the human brain. We did an episode with Leanna Warner Gray talking about anxiety-free foods, foods you could take to be able to reduce anxiety and reduce Stress, because chronic stress is shown to shrink the human brain. So make those wise decisions every single day, because food is information. And there's no such thing as like junk food. There's junk, and then there's real food. Eat that food. The S in MEDS RX, you could probably guess it, is what? Sleep. And we've done multiple episodes, podcast episodes, on mastering your sleep. When you don't get a good night's sleep, how's your brain the next day? How's your mental energy? How's your memory? How's your ability to solve problems, make good decisions? Every function is impaired by lack of sleep. When you sleep, specifically for your memory, I know a lot of you join us because you want to better your memory, better your ability to learn. When you sleep, you consolidate short-term to long-term memory, right? When you sleep, you Potentially can clean out that beta amyloid plaque that could lead to brain aging challenges. And so are you getting enough rest? Go to jimkwik.com/notes and listen to the episodes or watch on our YouTube. Many of you subscribe to our YouTube channel, about a million of you have. Our episodes with Dr. Michael Breus, right? The sleep doctor. With Shawn Stevenson, who wrote Sleep Smarter. We've done so many episodes, probably a dozen episodes on mastering your sleep. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society released this study recommending adults get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night to avoid adverse health problems such as weight gain, obesity. And we know that as your waistband increases, your brain actually grows smaller, right? Diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, depression— individuals who get less than 7 hours of sleep were shown to experience impaired immune function, increased pain, lower cognitive and physical performance, were prone to make more errors during the day, and had a greater risk for getting into accidents. So make sure you prioritize your sleep. We have in our podcast so many brain tips, you know, starting with get sunlight first thing in the morning, reset your circadian rhythm, right? Sleep in an environment that's more cool. Because the triggers to produce melatonin, which helps you to relax, there's a drop in 2 things. What are they? This is like me quick quizzing you. Like, this is your quick recall. Drop in temperature. And some of you know, like, you drop your temperature. I use a mattress topper to help reduce the temperature that actually could regulate the amount of temperature that you have. And also what? Reduce in lighting. Sometimes our screens are keeping us awake because it's mimicking sunlight. And it's not— you're fooling your mind into thinking it's still daylight. So you want to sleep in a dark environment. Ideally, you have these blackout curtains. Some people use an eye mask. But remember, temperature and light. And if you want more, read Limitless, listen to our podcast. We have all the links at jimkwik.com/notes. But make sure you prioritize your sleep. You have an alarm to wake up, have an alarm to go to sleep. Your brain loves consistency. Now, the RX part I got from our friend Brendon Burchard again. The R stands for relationships. We've done many episodes that when you want to improve your cognitive performance, your brain health, it's not just your neurological networks, it's your social networks. Who you spend time with is who you become, right? You have these mirror neurons. We're constantly imitating the people around us. We start developing the same habits of the people around us, the same behaviors, the same language and thoughts and thinking and standards and character, right? So you want to make sure you build your positive peer group. We all need people to cheerlead for us. We all need people to pat us on the back, to encourage us, to challenge us, to be kind to us. I always say, if you haven't found that person yet, be that person for somebody else. Especially be that person for who? Be that person for yourself, right? And we've done many episodes on the power of belonging with Mickey. We did many episodes on the power of connection, and we even had Dr. Waldinger on the show. He talked about that study. It's an 84-year-old study, the longest one on happiness at Harvard University, and the power of being healthy and happy. The number one contributor— it wasn't diet and it wasn't exercise— it was the people around you. Because who we spend time with is who we become. So if you haven't listened to those episodes, make sure you go to jimkwik.com/notes. I know I'm repeating myself because repetition is the mother of memory, right? Go and listen. Do a deep dive. Favorite it. Follow it, right? Subscribe to it so you don't miss it. Because if you miss one of these episodes, you could tell you miss a lot, all right? So really be conscious of the people you have around you. If you're around energy vampires and they're taking your energy away and you wonder why you're not motivated, why maybe we're shrinking our level of growth, and people around us, they could care about us because maybe they're like, why are you listening to podcasts all the time? Why are you always going to those events and reading those books? Maybe because they're sincere. They don't want you to get your hopes up. Or maybe they don't want to lose you because maybe you're changing and growing, right? They could be sincere, but they could also be sincerely wrong. And then finally, MEDS Rx. X stands for all the extras, right? Up to now, everything is kind of free, right? When you're going through it and you're thinking, wow, meditation, that's free. Exercise, that's free. Your diet is your food, so it does cost, but you know, you want to make sure you're eating whole foods and you're eating as pure as possible without the toxins. The S is sleep, and hopefully that, that's free. And the R is relationships. And then finally, the X is just anything extra you want to put on it. You might have listened to the episode on YouTube at this point, has a quarter million views. We put it up recently on the 4 elements of my morning and evening routine, and all those are free as well, but these are the extras. What were some of the things? Well, I talked about the power of breathing, right? And that's free air. It's wonderful. A lot of times when you're tired, it's because you're not getting enough oxygen. Because most of us, our postures, they're collapsed at the desk or when we're on our phones and you collapse the lower third of your lungs, absorbs two-thirds of the oxygen. So you need to be able to get air, getting grounded first thing in the morning, you know, touching the ground if possible, getting water. Staying hydrated, wonderful for your brain. So those are all the extras. Some of the other things I do is get direct sunlight. We talked about that, that's free. And so things don't have to cost you in terms of money, they cost you your focus and your time. And every single day, you know, we're making these kinds of choices, but I believe every single morning when we wake up, we have a chance because we have choices and you can make these choices. You know, simple things that I do in the extras, Cold and hot therapy, right? You heard me talk about— we've had Wim Hof on the show. I met him over 10 years ago at an event we were both speaking at in Boston. But are you taking your cold showers to reduce inflammation, reset your nervous system, you know, doing it for 11 minutes total in a week? Many of you are familiar with Dr. Susanna. She's— we're going to get her on the show also. And she talks about the 11 minutes of cold each week and the 57 minutes Of sauna time for the entire week. Obviously consult your physician, your healthcare practitioner, but hot therapy, you go into a sauna and what? Heat shock proteins, right? You get that hormesis effect and we've talked about it on many different episodes. And so these are the extras. You could add supplementation as an extra as well. We'll do a special episode on neuro nutrition and some of the supplements and the nootropics that I take as well. We'll talk about brain nutrition. But these are the extras above and beyond. And here's the thing, remember, you don't have to do everything. You want to make small incremental progress because little by little, a little becomes a lot. So again, medsRx, follow this 6 things that you could do. They're natural. You don't get— need a doctor's prescription to do these things. There are zero probably side effects. The side effects probably are positive for you as well. And make your smart choices. Right. Ultimately, you are the superhero in your own journey, right? But the little things that you do, that you're feeding your mind, that you're feeding your body at the same time, but it really makes common sense. But remember, common sense is not often common practice. So all I'm gonna ask you to do is take one simple action. What's one thing you could do out of the 6 to make a positive difference? Remember that question we talked to Dr. Daniel Amen, who wrote Change Your Brain, Change Your Life? Is this good for my brain or is this bad for my brain? Because those little choices add up to big choices that become habits that become our life. I want to thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you got value out of it, make sure you share it. Share with your family, share with your friends, leave a review. We read every single review. It's— our team starts out every single day by reading the feedback that you give us. So I want to thank you for being on this journey with us. I think there's a version of yourself that's patiently waiting. How do we meet them? We show up every single day until we're introduced. I'm your brain coach, your host of the Kwik Brain Podcast. I'll see you in our next episode. Until then, be limitless.