From:
Christopher B. Jeffers
Just Down The Road A Bit
North by Northwest of Hickory Junction
Tuesday, 9:46 AM
Hello Friend!
Something just isn’t right.
You walk into a room and forget why. You misplace things you held in your hand just a few minutes ago. When reading or studying, details just slip away. Simple tasks that were once routine, now require intense focus and concentration.
It isn’t just about “getting older.” Brain fog is real, and it’s increasingly prevalent.
A lot of people just blow it off. Life is more complicated and so fast-paced these days, they reason. There are so many distractions, and so much more to remember and forget.
These things are certainly true, but they aren’t the whole story.
Brain Fog
Brain fog is a collection of symptoms related to your cognitive function. These are often characterized as difficulty in thinking clearly, focusing, concentrating, remembering, and paying attention.
Age, certainly, but also lack of physical activity and mental stimulation. Other factors may include things like medications you are taking, hormonal changes, nutritional deficiencies (such as B12, and other B-complex vitamins), and exposure to environmental toxins such as mold. [1]
Like modern weight gain (why do we all look so much like stuffed potatoes these days?) that research is increasingly linking to our over-consumption of corn, corn syrup, and other high-fructose sweeteners, researchers are also now starting to link many brain disorders to the consumption of things like artificial food dyes, and flavor-enhancing additives such as glutamate (like MSG or monosodium glutamate, but also as an un-listed component of additives like “hydrolyzed protein,” “autolyzed,” any protein “isolate,” and maltodextrin, to name just a few.) [2]
So, when they say, “You are what you eat,” they’re not kidding.
GABA and Glutamate
As it turns out, in order to function properly, our brain relies on a tight balance between two chemicals – glutamate, the main excitatory neurotransmitter, and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), the main inhibitory neurotransmitter, which works to calm down nerve activity.
So, while glutamate is a natural and necessary neurochemical in the brain, too much glutamate from food – particularly artificial, manufactured glutamate – can cause nervous overstimulation when the amounts being ingested exceed an individual’s tolerance level.
It is the hippocampus, the brain’s center for memory formation, that is particularly sensitive and vulnerable to the manufactured forms of glutamate found in processed foods.
Symptoms can include headaches, and problems with focus, learning, and memory. Chronic stress further increases natural glutamate release in the brain, compounding the problem.
Just when you thought it was safe to venture back into the refrigerator!
If you’re looking for a reason for hope, it is this: Many people who experience glutamate-related problems with memory, mood, and PTSD symptoms are able to experience significant improvements in their symptoms within weeks of removing the processed food ingredients from their diets.
To do this, avoid ultra-processed additive-laden foods as much as possible. Instead, include in your diet as much fresh, sustainably grown, and organically-raised food as you can.[3]
Successful Eating
Your diet plays a big role in your health, and maintaining good health is a critical aspect of being successful and achieving your goals. [4]
But good habits and lifestyles don’t happen automatically or overnight, however. We’re human, after all, and part of our human condition is to occasionally slip and fall along the way.
What is important to remember in this is that failing on a single day does not alter your long-term performance, or your chance to succeed.
When you fall off your horse (or your bicycle), get back on … and ride!
Eating is like that.
I mean, who doesn’t like a hot, fresh pizza, or a slice of chocolate cake, or an occasional fast-food hamburger?
I sure do.
Consistency makes the difference. The trick is not to avoid every mistake, the trick is to not repeat the mistake, over and over again.
Or your dietary lapse (mmm … pizza), but you get the point.
Get Back on Track
Do what you can. Don’t try to make up for your weaker moment with double the effort the next day. You’ll burn yourself out, make your new habit or routine even more unpleasant, and well … it just doesn’t work.
Ok, so that happened. You had the piece of cake, or ate half the pizza, or had that double-scoop bowl of ice cream for desert.
A lot of people will try to do penance for their transgression by starving themselves the next day, or try to run an extra mile (to burn off the extra calories – right?), or do extra sets of reps at the gym.
Did you stay up half the night partying, or binge-watching videos, with your alarm going off (like clockwork) at 6 AM?
Many people will tell themselves (after three cups of coffee) that they can just “sleep in” on the weekend to make up for it.
Neither of those strategies actually work. An extra mile won’t burn off that many calories, and that extra hour you spend in bed on Saturday won’t make up for your sleep deficit.
What you need to do is focus on getting back into the groove. Even if it’s a little less than usual, or than your ideal.
If you fall off your diet because you’re away from home and eating a lot at restaurants, or your food options aren’t 100% what you want them to be, just choose the healthiest option you can, and eat less of it. Keep the momentum (habit) going!
Cultivate a Routine
Routines are good. Routines are a harbor of stability in our stormy lives of chaos and uncertainty. Having established routines can help us make sure we are taking care of the important foundational stuff, so we have more mental energy to spare for the new and unusual.
Can you imagine having to think through every single thing, every step of the way, every day?
For example, I have a bit of a coffee routine in the morning (as do a lot of people.) By the time I’ve worked my way through that, I’m ready to sit down to my morning reading. And after that, to whatever is on my to-do list for the day.
Without that routine – like for example when I’m traveling away from home – I end up with that nagging sense of possibly having missed doing something important.
And the coffee isn’t nearly as good.
Environmental Change
We act in many ways according to our environment. Our habits become routine because our environment gives us cues and signals about what we need to do.
Like my coffee routine, when I am out of my normal environment (like traveling) my routine will be off, if only because my coffee pot and my favorite coffee mug aren’t where I am used to them being when I stagger half awake out of the bedroom.
The trick is to make your environment work FOR your habit and lifestyle changes.
Motivational speaker Jim Rohn (1930-2009) liked to say that “You become the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
Monkey see, monkey do, I guess.
If you are trying to become a better reader, join a book club, or a class, and hang around with other people who are active learners and readers.
If you want to become more fit, join a gym, and hang out more with other people who are physically active, and who like to do things.
If you want to become a better writer, join an authors group, or a writers coaching group … well, you get the idea.
The biggest reason for criminal recidivism is that when people convicted of crimes are released after doing their time, they most often end up back in the very environment and with the very people who led and encouraged them into the criminal behavior to begin with.
Everyone misses on their good habits at one time or another. A habit take practice … practice to the point that something feels off if you don’t do the thing, and you feel better when you do.
One step at a time, one day at a time, wins the race. [5]
That’s why I’m currently writing a book.
My goal and purpose is to share what I’ve learned, and what I continue to learn about the way to success and successful achievement, so that I can keep my life moving forward, accomplish my goals – and live the life of my dreams (and so you can, too)!
It is a book that I hope will help others – perhaps you – learn how to pursue a life-long path of personal development, find their true path, and achieve the things in life they most desire.
You see, there exists dormant in most people a power … a power that most people don’t even suspect they have. As a result of this not knowing, or even suspecting, they wander aimlessly through life, wondering why things just never seem to work out for them.
Such people don’t actually lead their own lives, they passively accept the limited life that is handed to them by others … and wonder why they aren’t happy.
My Goal
The goal of the book I am writing is to INSPIRE you to action … to show you how you can tap into and UNLEASH that now-dormant power within yourself, and use it to achieve your WILDEST dreams, faster than you ever thought possible!
My book is rolling off my typewriter now (okay, actually it’s a Logitech keyboard) and will be released in print (according to my plan) in mid- to late-February 2025.
As a regular reader of these emails, you will have the first, exclusive opportunity to get a real, actual printed copy of my book – a copy that you can actually hold in your hands (and underline the best parts of) – for just the bare cost of printing and mailing it to you.
This book won’t be available on Amazon (where independent writers go to see their manuscripts die) and you won’t ever find a copy of it remaindered in the clearance bin down at your local bookshop. The ONLY place where you’ll be able to get a copy – at any price – will be direct through me and my publisher.
In the meantime, I’ll be keeping you up-to-date with more exclusive insights and sneak peeks, PLUS a lot of related material that I won’t have space for in the book and will only be shared here.
That’s it for now. Until next week … remember to Keep It Awesome, my friend!
Warmest regards,
Christopher B. Jeffers
“A Man Who Is Resolved To Eat A Better, Brain-Healthy Diet – Every Day!”
P.S. – Early in 2025 I will be releasing my latest book, a deep-dive into how you can unleash your inner power and talents to achieve your goals and wildest dreams, without making irreparable mistakes! Be sure to keep reading these emails for updates, sneak peeks, and early notification (with a special shipped to you at-cost price exclusive for readers of these emails!)
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Amaze Your Friends!
[1] I am NOT a physician, nor do I play one on TV or pretend to be one in Congressional hearings. Anything I share with you that is health-related is from my own reading and research and is offered for general informational purposes, and not to diagnose, treat, or claim to cure any disease. If you want qualified expert advice, consult with your allopathic or your naturopathic doctor. Or at least a dietician.
[2] Genrich, Sheridan. BHSc. Glutamate: The Processed Food Additive That May Be Harming Your Brain. www.theepochtimes.com/health/glutamate-the-processed-food-additive-that-may-be-harming-your-brain-5797665
[3] Many of the biggest offenders for food additives are condiments, seasonings, ready-made meals, packaged meats, protein powders and bars, plant-protein foods, commercial sauces, and canned soups.
[4] Hill, Napoleon. Maintenance of Sound Health. PMA Science of Success. Principle 15. USA:BN Publishing. 2014.
[5] A nod to The Tortoise and the Hare, from Aesop’s Fables.
[6] Ok, this one’s not actually a footnote to anything, I just wanted to see if you were paying attention! If you haven’t read it, be sure to check out my email from last week, www.theprosperityproject.com/the-success-habit/ .