Yikes! Smartphones can dumb you down
Before Super Bowl XIII, Dallas linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson told reporters: “He (Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw) is so dumb, he couldn’t spell ‘cat’ if you spotted him a C and an A.”
Bradshaw laughed it off, the Steelers defeated the Cowboys 35-31, and Bradshaw went on to spell “MVP.” But what if Bradshaw had had a smartphone?
Researchers from the University of Waterloo in Canada recently published a study in the journal Computers in Human Behavior concluding that most people “forgo effortful analytical thinking” and let their smartphones do their thinking for them. Apparently, folks who think more intuitively (emotionally) and less analytically even use their smartphones when it comes to reasoning out problems.
Another study declared that most folks use their smartphones for “cognitive offloading.” And those researchers found that the more people rely on smartphones for answers — even the folks who at first preferred to rely on memory — the more reliant they become on the device to do their thinking for them. Sounds like an addiction.
So while we say “bravo” to phones that can provide directions, medical records and phone numbers, it’s not doing your brain any favors to let a machine do your thinking for you. Keeping your cognitive powers sharp as you age depends on expanding your intellectual horizons, learning new things and challenging yourself. Read a map the next time you take a trip to a new city. Memorize it, and look around. Play brain-training games on your smartphone. Don’t let your smartphone be smarter than you.
Don’t let brain food make you fat
Before the 2008 Olympics, swimmer Michael Phelps ate up to 12,000 calories a day. His intense workout regimen let him consume what amounts, for most people, to five to six days’ worth of food every 24 hours. That’s the power of physical activity.
But brain workouts can be depleting, too. Haven’t you noticed that after putting in hours of intense mental activity, you crave calories?
Well, there’s a reason for that.
Scientists say that when your brain works hard, it feels depleted of the glucose it lives on. That triggers hunger signals — you’re thinking of something sweet, maybe? Unfortunately, a bout of intense thinking doesn’t burn many calories. So when you get the brain-drain munchies, chances are you’re taking in excess, weight-gaining calories.
But you can win the Battle of the Brain-Bulge!
A study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that people who exercised, even briefly, after a brain workout ate 25 percent fewer calories than folks who had a similar mental workout and then rested.
The researchers think this is because physical exercise generates lactate, a potential source of energy for your brain. When the brain senses it’s getting needed nutrition, it no longer sends out “Feed me!” commands. So the next time your brain is fried, try 15 minutes of exercise before you reach for a snack. You want a bigger brain, not a bigger waist.
Q: My sister has a 6-yearold son who’s on the autism spectrum. When she was pregnant she ate right, took prenatal vitamins, exercised and never went near alcohol. So how did this happen? Adele F., Fresno, California
A: Having a child with autism spectrum disorder can be very challenging. Fortunately, early intervention can make a huge difference in how the child develops, but timely treatment doesn’t change the confusion families feel when they try to figure out why this happened to their child.
So what’s the cause? We do know it’s not because of vaccines, despite the mistaken adherence to that theory by celebrities and politicians. But evidence is accumulating that environmental triggers play a huge role.
Drexel University researchers recently investigated whether prenatal exposure to two banned chemicals, DDT (the pesticide) and polychlorinated biphenyl or PCB (a compound once widely used in electronics and in heat-transfer fluids), are responsible for the huge spike in autism, from one in 150 children in 2000, to one in 68 in 2010.
The researchers found that out of 1,144 children born in Southern California between 2000 and 2003 to moms who’d been exposed to PCBs and DDT (second trimester blood tests showed that), 545 were diagnosed with autism and 181 had intellectual disabilities.
But how did the moms get exposed to chemicals that were banned in the 1970s? Seems the chemicals are still widespread in water and soil and bioaccumulate in the food chain. And, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Currently, the primary source of exposure to the general population is through the consumption of fatty foods. Levels are still measurable in blood samples today, including those from pregnant women, as well as in breast milk samples.”
Another great reason to go veggie strong and avoid red meats. And, we’d like to add: Only about 1 percent of the 85,000 chemicals in use today, including GMOfriendly pesticides and fracking chemicals, have been verified as safe.
So write to your representatives; ask for legislation that would protect future generations from the mistakes we may be making today.