Lia

“It’s about growth versus decay, activity versus inactivity. The body was designed to be pushed, and in pushing our bodies we push our brains too. Learning and memory evolved in concert with the motor functions that allowed our ancestors to track down food, so as far as our brains are concerned, if we’re not moving, there’s no real need to learn anything.”
― John J. Ratey, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

“Scientists induced Parkinson’s in rats by killing the dopamine cells in their basal ganglia, and then forced half of them to run on a treadmill twice a day in the ten days following the “onset” of the disease. Incredibly, the runners’ dopamine levels stayed within normal ranges and their motor skills didn’t deteriorate. In one study on people with Parkinson’s, intensive activity improved motor ability as well as mood, and the positive effects lasted for at least six weeks after they stopped exercising.”
― John J. Ratey, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

“In 2005, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that eating three and a half ounces (100 grams) of dark chocolate daily decreased blood pressure and significantly improved sugar metabolism by increasing sensitivity to insulin.”
― Nina Planck, Real Food: What to Eat and Why

“The trouble with multitasking. In study after study, researchers have shown that performing multiple tasks at once makes the brain less efficient. Basically, the brain doesn’t become proficient at doing multiple tasks, it simply becomes faster at skipping back and forth between them and blocking other information out.”
― Lynne C. Lancaster, The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace – From Generational Experts: Understanding Born 1982-2000 Talent