Pursuing a youthful mind, body, and soul. - The 15 Minute Fix

Is There a Fountain Of Youth In Your Nose?

10/27/2014

You've heard me talk about how important your sense of smell is for quality of life and as an early warning system for failing health. This may be the tip of the iceberg.

This story about how Darek Fidyka, who was paralysed from the chest down as the result of a 2010 knife attack, gives a little insight into how amazing the olfactory system is. Fidyka’s spinal cord was severed, and he had little hope of ever walking again. In an experimental procedure though, doctors transplanted cells from his olfactory bulb (the main smell organ) into his spine, and two years later he has regained some lower body muscle and organ control.

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BBC

That is so cool! If you want to learn more, watch this BBC show on Fidyka and the groundbreaking surgery that took regenerative cells from his olfactory bulb and put them in his spine.

The scientists who discovered this process became interested in the olfactory bulb because olfactory nerves are the only part of the human nervous system known to regrow after being damaged. Having had some experimental success, scientists will begin the long process of researching how best to get access to and utilize these cells (Fidyka had somewhat risky invasive brain surgery and had an entire olfactory bulb removed - not ideal). During this long research process, they will certainly also discover more about the potential of these cells.

Do these cells hold the secret to superior cell generation? Is there a fountain of youth in our noses? Does day to day use of our sense of smell have any impact on the number or quality of these cells? All questions that I am not qualified to answer. All I know is that there is some pretty sophisticated equipment in there, so I encourage you to take good care of it.

Age well my friends....

Want To Age Well? Get Your Sleep

10/24/2014

My readers know that all 15 Minute Fix programs recommend making healthy lifestyle choices in addition to doing specific exercise programs. Along with eating well and not smoking, getting enough sleep is absolutely necessary if you want to feel and look younger than you actually are. Want to improve your vision? Get your sleep! Want a more youthful looking face? Get your sleep! Want to improve your sensory perception? Get your sleep! Want to slow hair loss? You know… get your sleep!

And these are just the things that are covered in 15 Minute Fix programs. This infographic courtesy of The Huffington Post highlights tons of other things that can happen when you don’t get enough sleep.

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I admit that I struggle with getting enough sleep. I have always been a night owl, so I really have to make myself get in bed. Even when I am determined, life seems to throw up all sorts of obstacles that seemed designed solely to deprive me of sleep. Kids homework, bills to be paid, things that need to be cleaned up, that prime time football game that I just have to watch - these are not extraordinary things, just life moving along.

If you get enough sleep, but you are still tired or worried about the quality of your sleep, you might try one of these products to help you figure out what’s going on.

Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband

Fitbit One Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker

Misfit Shine - Activity and Sleep Monitor

If you do have sleep issues, try to figure them out - the long-term return on this investment is huge.

Age well my friends....

Managing Computer Vision Syndrome

10/22/2014

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If you are reading this, you probably spend enough time looking at screens (computer, tablet, and/or smartphone) that you need to be aware of the symptoms, risks, and treatments for Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS).

The most common symptoms associated with CVS are:

Eyestrain
Headaches
Blurred vision
Dry eyes
Neck and shoulder pain

These problems can all be compounded by vision problems such as farsightedness, astigmatism, poor convergence insufficiency, and aging conditions, such as presbyopia.

While many of the problems resulting from CVS are temporary, their impact on your well being can be significant. CVS frequently causes fatigue which can lead to minor issues such as loss of productivity at work to more major issues like falling asleep at the wheel. Those who experience CVS symptoms over longer periods of time, may find that their existing eye conditions worsen more than they otherwise would have, that CVS symptoms are no longer temporary, and that they begin to the effects of stress - both mental (anxiety, depression, etc.) and physical (neck and back problems).

So, other than abandoning your computer and phone, how do you combat CVS?

Have your eyes checked regularly and discuss your usage patterns with your eye doctor. If you wear glasses your optometrist might be able to recommend computer friendly lenses; if you don't wear glasses, try these.
Manage your environment - good lighting, seat position, and distance to screen will all help.
Take breaks - 20 seconds every 20 minutes and 15 minutes every two hours.
Eye exercises - both simple ones such as blinking that you can do throughout the day and structured eye workouts will help keep your eyes and brain from atrophying..

The American Optometric Association has a good summary of CVS along with other tips for taking care of eyes.

Age well my friends….

SENSES and SCALP available in print!

10/22/2014

Print versions of The 15 Minute Fix: SENSES - Exercises To Elevate Your Sensory Perception and The 15 Minute Fix: SCALP - Exercises To Promote Scalp and Hair Health are now available on Amazon!

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Age well my friends....

Another Dimension to Vision Training - Color

10/16/2014

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"The Eyes Have It! Tetrachromat Artist Concetta" ConcettaAntico.com

This recent article in Popular Science about tetrachromacy - having four channels for conveying color to the brain rather than the usual three - really got me thinking about the vast potential for tapping into the plasticity of the brain. Tetrachromacy is a rare genetic condition to begin with, but taking advantage of it is rarer still, because tetrachromats’ brains are wired to interpret vision through three color receptors - the same way as everyone else. What researchers have found however, is that with training, a tetrachromat can teach their brain to use the fourth color receptor to see an exponentially greater range of color.

The article profiles Concetta Antico, who is a tetrachromat and, as a lifelong artist, has naturally trained her brain to use this fourth receptor. As a result, she “can process more than 100 million colors compared to the average person who processes only 100,000 to one million.” Although it sounds hard to believe, Ms. Antico’s tetrachromat ability has been confirmed in a study by Kimberly Jameson, a cognitive scientist at the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences at the University of California in Irvine and Alissa Winkler at the University of Nevada in Reno. They are also principal members of The Human Tetrachromacy Research Collaborative, an excellent resource on tetrachromacy.

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"A Tetrachromat Fanfare" ConcettaAntico.com

Although Ms. Antico’s gift is enviable, no amount of training will allow you to see color the way she does if you don’t have a fourth color receptor. Nevertheless, her case also highlights the potential to improve one’s ability to see by training the brain to better interpret the data sent to it by the eyes. We may not all have an untapped channel of data, but neither do most of us optimally process all of the information the eyes are taking in. Remember, exercising your eyes is, to a large extent, about training your brain. Ms. Antico herself is trying to use her gift and her understanding of how she has trained her brain, to help people at the other end of the “spectrum” - those with color blindness - teach their brains to interpret color.

One final thought: The 15 Minute Fix: VISION does not focus much on training the eyes to better interpret color. Having read this article and the research, I’m excited to explore this area to find specific exercises for a future edition that might improve one’s ability to distinguish between colors, see greater depth of color, and to identify subtleties of color. Meanwhile, if you want to experiment with improving your ability to see color, I would suggest adapting the following exercises from VISION:

8. Visualization - focusing on a color rather than an object,
33. Round and Round - use paint chips (like these Pantone color cards) instead of letters and try to work through the rainbow (if using a full range of colors) or from light to dark (if using different shades of the same color), and
39. Colored Dot Drill - make the colors more similar so that they are harder to tell apart.

I have never been great with color myself, so I’m really excited to play around with this. I’ll share what I find.

Age well my friends….

Be Smart With Loud Noises - Protect Your Hearing

10/14/2014

This infographic is a great visual representation of how easily sound can damage your hearing. There are risks all around us, and we often simply put up with loud noises without understanding the risk of doing permanent damage to our hearing. The infographic was put together by Earplug Superstore. While their focus is obviously selling earplugs and earmuffs to protect hearing, the data here is useful and compelling.

Because hearing loss can lead to depression, anxiety, social isolation, balance problems, and fatigue, taking care of your hearing will help you maintain a high quality of life. Loss of hearing (along with reduced sense of taste and smell) is also associated with Alzheimers and Parkinsons. Readers of SENSES know that in addition to maintaining good hearing through exercises, I believe it is important to take very good care of your hearing. This graphic will help:

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Age well my friends....

Taste Is an "Image" Created By Multiple Inputs

10/10/2014

Earlier this year, Popular Science had a nice little article on things that affect your sense of taste. The author (Amber Williams) highlighted 7 things that influence taste (besides smell and the actual taste of whatever you are eating or drinking):

Language
Utensils
Temperature
Color
Environment
Expectations
Memory

The 15 Minute Fix: SENSES has an exercise called “Taste Comprehension.” I have included it below:

Ignite the connection between taste buds and brain. Preparation Pick three different things to taste. They should vary in taste, texture, and temperature and be clean and safe. The Exercise Put the first item in your mouth and spend 30 seconds thinking about its taste and texture. You already know what it is, so you are not trying to guess what it is, rather you are trying to heighten your awareness of different kinds of tastes. Repeat with the other two items, rinsing your mouth out between each. Examples of things to taste include: lemon, ice, soda water, pepper, salt, sugar, and even plastic, metal, wood, or paper (use eating utensils to make sure it’s safe to put in your mouth).

It struck me, after reading Ms. Williams article, that some of the external influences she describes could be woven into this exercise to broaden the range of our olfactory perception by getting more of the brain contributing to the perception and interpretation of particular tastes (and smells for that matter). For example, try tweaking the exercise so that you are tasting one food using three different types of utensils or at three different temperatures. Try drinking liquids out of different color cups or even use food coloring in relatively clear liquids. Use the same three tastes in subsequent sessions, but in different environments (city/country, indoor/outdoor, dry/damp, light/dark, etc.). Invoke different memories while tasting the same thing over multiple sessions - any difference in taste? Have a partner give creative names to things before you taste them.

There are no rules for this kind of experimentation. Play around with these external factors (throw smell in as well), trying to discern whether or not these seven things influence your perception of how something tastes. Some may work for you, some may not, but you’ll be pushing your brain to take in more information from multiple sources as part of the process of “tasting.” I would only suggest that if you want to maximize the benefit you get from taking this exercise to the next level, you get in the habit of carefully recording your perceptions of each and every thing you taste - both in an absolute sense and on a comparative basis.

Remember, our senses are part of a complicated web of input, information processing, and analysis systems. Developing a fully functioning sense of taste is not simply a matter of exercising your taste buds. The best way to get your sense of taste to thrive is to exercise the entire system that contributes to your understanding of taste. Although the sensory process is scientifically complex, you don’t need to be too concerned with it, because all you need to do is experiment and have fun tasting things.

Age well my friends….

Study Of Baseball Players Highlights Benefits of Vision Training

10/6/2014

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A recent study by psychologists at the University of California, Riverside showed that engaging in a vision training program significantly improved the vision of UCR baseball players. The two really interesting things about this study are 1.) that by using baseball players, the researchers were able to quantify real world results (team and individual baseball statistics) not just lab tests (Snellen charts), and 2.) the conclusion that eye exercises are largely about improving the brain’s ability to interpret the information sent by the eyes (something 15 Minute Fix readers are familiar with).

While the UCR researchers found that the players who underwent training showed a 31 percent improvement in visual acuity (tested with a Snellen chart) compared to a control group. The more interesting thing though was that the researchers found that players who underwent training showed significant improvement in their baseball statistics (strikeouts, hits, runs created, etc.), while those in the control group and on other teams in the league did not. According to one of the study leads Professor Aaron Seitz, “Players reported seeing the ball better, greater peripheral vision and an ability to distinguish lower-contrast objects.”

Readers of The 15 MInute Fix: VISION know that while I advocate and see real benefits from physically exercising the eyes, I also believe that eye exercises work best if they are also taking advantage of the brain’s plasticity by training it to better interpret the information sent to it. Although programs that just focus on exercising ocular muscles have had some success, this study shows that if brain training is an integral part of an eye exercise program, results will be significantly better.

It has become commonplace in recent years for elite athletes in many sports to spend significant time and effort on vision improvement. This study supports that trend and also suggests that certain vision exercises provide real benefits for athletes at all ages and levels and for anyone who relies on vision to get through their day (which includes most of us). The 15 Minute Fix: VISION includes exercises that specifically focus on improving and developing new neural networks (brain training) and exercises with particular benefits for athletes. Athlete or not, I encourage you to give them a try.

Age well my friends….

Loss of Sense of Smell May Predict Failing Health and Death

10/3/2014

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A new study has found that an impaired sense of smell may be a sign of serious health problems and an increased likelihood of dying within five years. University of Chicago scientists found that among adults aged 57-85, those with a poor sense of smell were four times likelier to die within five years than those with full olfactory function (i.e. those whose sense of smell works well). Even after taking age, nutrition, smoking habits, poverty and overall health into consideration, a poor sense of smell was the most accurate indicator of impending death.

The study found no evidence that impaired olfactory function was the reason for the increased likelihood of dying within five years. Rather, they believe that an impaired sense of smell may be an indicator of more serious problems. According to the study’s lead scientist, Prof Jayant Pinto, “The sense of smell is like the canary in the coal mine. It doesn't directly cause death, but it is a harbinger, an early warning system that shows damage may have been done. Our findings could provide a useful clinical test, a quick inexpensive way to identify patients most at risk."

It would be a stretch to say that by improving your sense of smell through sensory exercises you will keep the grim reaper at bay. However, by practicing and tracking sense of smell exercises and regularly testing your ability to pick up and discern different odors, you may be able to identify a serious health problem earlier than you otherwise would have. If you do become aware of any loss in olfactory function, talk to your doctor about getting a more thorough examination.

Hopefully, you will never have to use this tool, but you never know, so it’s a good one to keep in your belt. You'll find sense of smell exercises, tracking tools, and tests in The 15 Minute Fix: SENSES.

Age well my friends...

Massage Your Scalp With Essential Oils

10/1/2014

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Almost half of the scalp exercises in The 15 Minute Fix: SCALP involve some element of massaging the scalp. The results of a 1998 study by researchers out of the Department of Dermatology at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (Scotland) indicate that massaging essential oils into the scalp is more likely to prevent or reverse hair loss than massaging with an oil or lotion that does not contain essential oils.

Essential oils are the aromatic compounds that give plants their characteristic odors, protect them from predators and disease, and support pollination. They are obtained from various parts of plants (flowers, leaves, bark, etc.) by steam distillation, expression, or extraction. Essential oils are used in aromatherapy, massage therapy, and in other alternative therapies. You can find them in health food stores and online (typically sold in small vials). I would suggest diluting them with a "carrier oil" before applying to your scalp (start with a ratio of 6-12 drops of essential oil for each ounce of carrier oil).

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The study participants massaged thyme, rosemary, lavender, and cedarwood essential oils in a mixture of jojoba and grapeseed oil into their scalp daily. Another essential oil to consider is Ylang-Ylang, which has long been used to promote hair and scalp health. Other popular essential oils include lemon and sandalwood. Other carrier oils you might consider are coconut oil and castor oil. With all essential oils and carrier oils, make sure you are buying products that are 100% pure.

Use your essential oil mixture with any and all massage exercises in SCALP. In addition to fighting hair loss, massaging essential oils into your scalp will lower your stress, sharpen cognitive function, increase energy levels, and generally improve your overall health and quality of life.

Age well my friends!