Physical Health and Mental Acuity

Yesterday, I came across this post by a fellow named Jon Davis about "brain health." The post was inspired by a PBS special on the same topic, which I happen to have seen before. The PBS special, in turn, drew from the book Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel G. Amen, which I have not read -- looking over descriptions of the book, I'm doubtful I would like it at all, but that's beside the point.

PBS (and Jon) talk about many aspects of brain health -- things as diverse as learning new things, wearing a seatbelt, and avoiding drugs.

In this particular post, I'd like to talk about just the diet and exercise stuff, because I have some personal experience to share.

Oh, and I'm not a doctor or a nutritionist or anything, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Or not salt, really -- salt is not healthy! Take what I say with a grain of non-fat vitamin enriched saline substitute.

Firstly, I very much believe that if you're a programmer, engineer, lawyer, or whatever -- anyone that makes a living solving problems with your brain -- your personal physical health directly and dramatically affects your job performance.

If you don't believe me that being physically healthy improves your ability to solve problems, try a little experiment. Three of the big physical health habits the PBS special (and Jon) hit on that are pretty easy to change are:

• diet
• sleep
• exercise

For just a single day:

• eat well: avoid junk food, drink plenty of water, etc
• go to bed early: shoot for at least 9 hours of sleep
• get some exercise: go for a walk or run -- 15 or 20 minutes is enough

Then, go to work the next day. Tell me you aren't at the top of your game. And that's after just one day.

In high school, I had completely opposite feelings about this kind of thing. I cared about math, computers, and Latin, and I didn't see why diet or exercise really mattered. Know what I took for my P.E. credit? Bowling. Seriously.

In college, though, I was lucky enough to have friends that understood the value of taking care of your body. I went to the gym a couple times with them, mostly out of beginning-of-the-semester freshman boredom. After only a couple times, I was feeling great physically, but also (surprisingly, to me) feeling mentally sharper.

I settled into just a fifteen minute run three times a week. The weekly 45 minutes I was investing at the gym paid off tenfold when I could stay focused so well while studying. Even in the middle of tough seventeen-hour math/CS loaded semesters, I would find time to go to the gym, knowing that failing to take care of myself would only lead to longer nights of unfocused and unproductive "studying."

As a bonus, eating well became sort of natural. I didn't feel like devouring half a bag of chips, because I knew it would make me feel gross while I ran later. Instead of force-feeding myself the "right" kinds of food, those kinds of food were just what started sounding good.

So, here's what I do these days to try to keep my health up:

1. I still exercise regularly -- I'll go for a 20 minute run two or three times a week, do a little weight lifting, and fence a couple times a week. (By the way, picking up a sport, especially one with a strong mental component like fencing, is a fantastic way to up your level of exercise while still having a good time).
   
2. My diet is what I like to think of as "reasonable." Most of the time, I think I do a good job keeping everything in balance. I'm not afraid to eat delicious things that are bad for me, I just try not to do it too often.
   
3. I take a daily multivitamin as a catchall for things I might be missing in my normal diet

Really, I think that's a pretty short list. I'm not super awesome fit, but I feel good, sleep well, and stay focused at work. All-in-all, not a bad deal.