Skip to content
Wellness Blog
5 Quick Tips to Improve Your Focus and Energy
According to an article in the Harvard Business review, Beware of the Busy Manager, 1 our unhealthy lifestyles are diminishing our capacity at work. Only 10% of managers are high in both focus and energy, two of the main ingredients for success. The authors found that 20% were disengaged, 30% were high in procrastination, and 40% were easily distracted. This means that 90% of managers, and likely the rest of us, lack both focus and/or energy. You don’t have to be a statistic. There are many things you can do today to have better focus and energy. IMPROVE YOUR FOCUS If you want to improve your focus, it all starts by knowing your motivation. If you don’t know where you want to go and why you want to go there, how will you ever get there? Here is a great exercise to keep you focused on your goals: 1. The One-Page Miracle Clear, focused, written goals are essential to achieving what you want in your life. The One-Page Miracle is a powerful exercise that can make a dramatic difference in your life. Do NOT try to do this exercise in your head – you MUST write it down. The act of writing it down creates a greater connection between your thinking self and your doing self—and makes it appear more real than if you simply think it in your head. Here are the simple steps: On a piece of paper, write down the specific goals for each area of your life, including your health (physical, emotional, and spiritual), relationships, work/school, and finances. Post it where you’ll see it every day, such as on your refrigerator, bathroom mirror or desk at work. Focusing on what’s important to you on a daily basis will make it easier to behave in a way that makes it happen. Ask yourself, “Is my behavior today getting me what I want?” INCREASE YOUR ENERGY 2. Nourish Yourself If you want to look your best, feel amazing, perform optimally at work or in school, and have great relationships in life, eating right is one of the most effective strategies. You’ll have more energy, be in a better mood, and be mentally sharper, which is a recipe for success in every area of your life. 3. Get Restful Sleep Good sleep is essential for optimal brain and body health. It is involved in rejuvenating all the cells in your body, gives brain cells a chance to repair themselves, and activates neuronal connections that might deteriorate from inactivity. You need to sleep well if you want to have consistent, good energy. 4. Exercise One of the most important things you can do during the day to increase your energy, stay healthy and optimize your brain is to exercise. Finding ways to bring small bits of fitness into your day will help you feel energized, relieve stress, improve your mood, and keep your brain vibrant and young! 5. A Natural Boost When you are desperate to increase your energy levels, you may be tempted to try unhealthy methods. Energy boosters to avoid include diet pills, sugary caffeinated energy drinks, too much coffee, caffeinated sodas, and smoking. All of these are harmful to the health of your brain and body. Instead, whenever you need a safe, swift pick-me-up, you can count on BrainMD Health’s very own Brain Boost on the Go to provide the natural, caffeine-free energizers that will leave you feeling sharp and focused. References: 1Bruch H, and Ghoshal S: Beware of the busy manager. Harvard Business Review, February 2002
Learn more
Do You Really Need Supplements? Think Before You Buy.
Ask yourself…do you: Spend the majority of your time outside where you breathe only fresh, unpolluted air? Drink only pure, clean water? Sleep 8-9 hours every night? Exercise every day? Experience little to no stress? Have no exposure to environmental toxins? Eat wild, fresh, organic, local, non-GMO food grown in virgin mineral- and nutrient-rich soils that has not been transported across long distances and stored for weeks, or even months, before you eat it? If you answered yes to ALL of the above questions, then congratulations—you may not need to take supplements to support your brain and body health! For the rest of us, however, living in a fast-paced society where we too often get food to-go, skip meals, eat too much sugar, buy processed foods, experience stress, are sleep-deprived and dehydrated, drink too much caffeine, and don’t find enough time to exercise regularly, supplements are critical to supporting and optimizing our health. Supplements are NOT a cure-all. They can’t replace important health-supporting habits such as a healthy diet, exercise, sleep, and stress relief. But supplements CAN pick up where food and good health habits leave off, giving our bodies some of the extra firepower they need to fight disease and protect us from the everyday assaults of the toxins that surround us, such as air pollution and pesticides. Supplements can also help reduce inflammation, protect our DNA, boost our immune system, improve our moods, and contribute to brain health. So now that you understand why you can really benefit from supplements, where do you start? There are a lot of supplements out there—if you’ve ever walked down the supplement aisle of your local health food store or pharmacy, you know how many choices there are. Even grocery stores sell supplements these days. The key is to know which supplements to take and in what quantity. Taking the wrong amounts of the wrong supplements is not only a waste of money, but can be harmful to your health. That’s why I developed Brain & Body Power (and Brain & Body Power Max with a double boost of key nutrients for brains that need it). Brain & Body Power and Brain & Body Power Max deliver almost 60 vitamins, minerals, plant extracts, and other nutrients to support optimal brain and body function in a convenient packet that you take twice daily—and at a much better price than if you were to buy all the nutritional supplements separately! We want to provide you with the highest quality, science-based products and Brain & Body Power and Brain & Body Power Max are just that. In fact, there are over 150 clinical trials that have been done on the nutrients contained in Brain & Body Power and Brain & Body Power Max which provide solid evidence about the breakthrough effects that these nutrient combinations can have on brain function. “Of all our supplements, my favorite is Brain & Body Power. I take it every day to support my need and desire for high level performance.”—Daniel G. Amen, MD We are really proud of BrainMD's supplement line, and we want them to work for you. That’s why we offer a 100% money-back guarantee if you are not fully satisfied.
Learn more
Improve Your Brain and Mood with Vitamin D and Fish Oil
New research published in The FASEB Journal argues that vitamin D along with marine omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are important for serotonin synthesis, release, and function in the brain. It also suggests that vitamin D and omega-3s could work together to improve cognitive function and social behavior with particular relevance to overall mental health. In other words, all three nutrients working together may boost your mood and promote mental wellness. Nice. Who couldn’t use a mood boost and greater mental wellness? The research shows one more instance of the scientific community recognizing how vital vitamin D, and EPA and DHA from fish oil are to keeping your brain healthy and happy – and how taking them together may support your brain function and mental well-being in a powerful way. Clinical neuroscientist, board-certified psychiatrist, brain imaging expert and Amen Clinics founder Dr. Daniel G. Amen, has recommended for years that most everyone get up to 3 grams of fish oil per day and at least 2,000 IUs of vitamin D to boost brainpower, mood and other mental wellness. Dr. Amen typically makes this recommendation because most Americans are extremely deficient in both vitamin D and omega-3s – nutrients critical to brain and body health. Unless you are actively seeking to bolster your vitamin D and omega-3 intake, chances are strong that you are not getting enough either. The research study reports that 70% of all adults and 67% of children, aged 1-11, do not have adequate levels of vitamin D. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health previously suggested that having low levels of omega-3 fatty acids is a leading preventable cause of cardiovascular problems and problems with attention, memory, self-control and self-harm! So let’s take a closer look at these vital brain- and body-boosting nutrients. EPA, DHA and the Brain The omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA are really important to the optimal function of your brain and here’s why. DHA makes up a large portion of the gray matter of the brain. DHA and EPA promote healthy blood flow, which is essential to optimal brain function. These fatty acids are major building blocks for membranes, cell structures that are vital for all our cells to function – and are crucial for our cell membranes to perform at their best. Our nerve cells, and especially the connections that they make (the synapses) need to be rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Think of omega-3s as high quality motor oil for the finely-tuned engine that is your brain. Taking a quality fish oil concentrate is a great way to ensure you get enough of these healthy omega-3s. If you need a little more convincing, take note: A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that EPA- and DHA-rich fish oil helps elevate mood. One twenty-year study involving 3,317 men and women found that people with the highest consumption of EPA and DHA were less likely to have mood challenges. A tremendous amount of scientific evidence points to a connection between consumption of fish that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, healthy and cognitive function. A Danish team of researchers compared the diets of 5,386 healthy older individuals and found that the more fish in a person’s diet, the more likely were these individuals to maintain high-performance memory into old age! To choose a quality fish oil, be sure it’s ultra-pure and choose a product that supplies at least 500 mg of DHA and 500 mg of EPA per day. Some inferior quality brands are lacking in one or the other or sometimes both. Now, you may be wondering, what about vitamin D? Vitamin D, also known as the “sunshine vitamin,” is best known for building bones. But it is also an essential vitamin for brain health, mood, memory, and healthy circulation. The body transforms the vitamin form of D (D3, cholecalciferol) to a hormone that has wide-ranging importance in our tissues. Low levels of vitamin D have been associated with mood challenges and difficulties with sociability, attention, memory, circulation, and immunity. Unfortunately, vitamin D deficiencies are becoming more and more common, in part because we are spending more time indoors and using more sunscreen. Vitamin D is so important to brain function that its receptors can be found throughout the brain. Vitamin D plays a critical role in many of the most basic cognitive functions, including learning and making memories. The scientific community continues to wake up to the importance of vitamin D for a broad spectrum of brain functions. A number of studies have linked higher vitamin D levels to better cognitive function in older men and women, and some experts are convinced that the hormone produced from the sunshine vitamin is a major player in optimal cognitive function. When it comes to being happy, the scientific evidence is clear. The higher your vitamin D levels, the more likely you are to feel happy rather than blue. The current Daily Value recommended dose for vitamin D is 400 IU daily, but most experts agree that this is well below the physiological needs of most individuals and instead suggest 2,000-10,000 IU of vitamin D daily. References: Patrick, R et al. Vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2: relevance for ADHD, bipolar, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior. FASEB J fj.14-268342; published ahead of print February 24, 2015. https://www.fasebj.org/content/early/2015/02/23/fj.14-268342.abstract Danaei, G et al.The preventable causes of death in the United States: comparative risk assessment of dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic risk factors. PLoS Med. 2009 Apr 28;6(4):e1000058. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000058 Colangelo, LA et al. Higher dietary intake of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in women. Nutrition. 2009 Oct;25(10):1011-9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=depression+EPA+DHA+3317 Kalmijn, S et al. Dietary fat intake and the risk of incident dementia in the Rotterdam Study. Ann Neurol.1997 Nov;42(5):776-82. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=fish+consumption+5386+dementia Moran, LJ et al. Vitamin D is independently associated with depression in overweight women with and without PCOS. Gynecol Endocrinol. 2014 Nov 4:1-4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25366261 Perna, L et al.Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and cognitive decline: a longitudinal study among non-demented older adults. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord. 2014;38(3-4):254-63. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24969663
Learn more