Book Review: Eat to Cheat Dementia

Eat to Cheat Dementia by Ngaire Hobbins explains the effect of diet and exercise on dementia. Dementia is the abnormal decline in thinking processes. Alzheimer's disease is a common type of dementia.

Neurotransmitters
Neurotransmitters form a chemical communication pathway between nerve cells. The brain's system of neurotransmitters is unique and manufactured in the brain. The required components of amino acids (proteins), vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fatty acids must be available for assembly. Thus the influence of diet on the brain is critical.

Muscles
Muscles play an important part in supplying the brain with fuel. When we sleep or between meals, the brain still requires fuel to run the body. Muscles serve as a reservoir for this fuel (proteins). As we age, the condition of our muscles becomes critical. Bouncing back and resuming exercise after illness becomes even more important.

Blood Flow
The bloodstream carries nutrients and waste materials throughout the body. Any blood flow restriction can affect brain health. Some factors are: high cholesterol, obesity, and high blood pressure. Dietary substances like alcohol and caffeine also affect blood flow.


This book offers advice and explanations for those wishing to stack the deck against a dementia diagnosis as well as those seeking a better lifestyle with that diagnosis. In her own words, Ngaire Hobbins provides an easy read from "scientific gobbledygook." This book has a wealth of helpful information and I highly recommend it.

Book Review: Atomic Accidents - A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters

The quiet of a spring day in 1958 abruptly ended when a 30-kiloton bomb accidentally dropped from an Air Force plane near Florence, South Carolina. Even without the nuclear capsule, the bomb released horrific force gouging a 70 foot wide crater in the earth (satellite image of area at this link).

The good news is that the Mars Bluff family survived the impact. Their vehicles, home, and farm buildings would never be the same.

During this cold war period, planes routinely carried atomic bombs on training missions. This airplane out of Hunter Air Force Base was en route to Great Britain. A lever malfunctioned, and, in an effort to secure the bomb, a crew member accidentally pulled a release handle. He was lucky enough to climb back into the plane as the bomb fell to earth.

This 7-minute video describes the Mars Bluff incident and shows a visit to the area.

James Mahaffey has filled this book with thrilling accounts of atomic accidents occurring worldwide.  It's extremely interesting for anyone wanting to learn about well-known and lesser-known atomic accidents.

Book Review: The Homing Instinct - Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration

The Monarch Butterfly has a Unique Migration Pattern

Fascinating reading inside the covers of this book:

• Pacific Salmon use scent to find their way to spawning grounds.

• Birds use a variety of mechanisms to migrate that include magnetic poles and parental coaching. The author introduces us to a pair of Sandhill Cranes that have nested in the same Alaskan bog for over 15 years.

• Locust swarms are native grasshoppers that change their appearance and behavior in response to crowding.

• Still murky theories have American and European Eels spawning in the same Atlantic Sargasso Sea. The larvae rely on currents to drift enormous distances back to freshwater rivers and lakes.

Bernd Heinrich explores these and many other scientific explanations for animal migration, relocation, and homemaking in his book The Homing Instinct - Meaning and Mystery in Animal Migration. He reveals interesting detail on theories, historical anecdotes, and experiments all related to solving questions about animal movement. This book is interesting and well-written for anyone curious about the behavior of animals.

The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics - Book Review

This book is colorfully illustrated and covers basic statistics principles. Readers who are fond of cartoons will enjoy the format.

The chapters in Part I cover statistical sampling while Part II explains information to be gained from sample statistics.

The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics serves as a very friendly introduction that gently encourages the reader to further explore statistics. Alternatively, it's a nice and easy review for readers that don't use statistics every day and need a fun reminder.

National Geographic Science of Everything – How Things Work in Our World - Book Review

Do you like reading scientific explanations of things and about inventions?  National Geographic Science of Everything is the book for you!  This 398 page book has beautiful photography and brief, concise explanations of hundreds of fascinating subjects.

It is divided into 16 chapters by scientific area. The Food and Drink Chapter, for example, includes genetically modified food and hydroponics.

The book is a great review for a scientist or for a parent with an inquisitive child. Sure, there’s always the internet, but, here’s a chance to save time surfing the web, and read quality articles about today’s important scientific topics.

Book Published

A new blog post is way overdue, but I've been busy on a book publishing project. How to Cook Spaghetti Squash (And Grow It Too!) is now available on Amazon.com.

I used the CreateSpace platform offered by Amazon for self-publishing.

Make Your Brain Smarter: Book Review

What does it take to keep our brains functioning optimally into old age? Sandra Bond Chapman, Ph.D., addresses this issue in Make Your Brain Smarter: Increase Your Brain's Creativity, Energy, and Focus.

Past belief was that brain capacity was a constant until it declined, and little could be done to improve performance.

Dr. Chapman presents new science that refutes this, and indicates that the brain can repair itself and improve performance. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to reorganize and rewire by creating new neurons and neural pathways.

She discusses the barriers to concentration and deep thinking. Numerous interruptions like texts and emails as well as excessive data and multiple trivial tasks sidetrack the deep thought state.

The danger of that is deep thought improves brain performance. 

Another falacy Dr. Chapman writes about is brain function testing. Speed of the thought process and memory have often been used as determiners of brain health and intelligence, but cognitive functioning necessary for strategic planning, learning a new subject, or problem solving is a better measurement of brain function.

She sorts age ranges into groups called the Intermediates, Finders, Seekers, Thinkers, and Knowers, and gets very specific about brain issues in each of those groups.

Dr. Chapman describes aids to cognitive thinking as "powers." 

• The Power of 1 is focusing on one thing without distractions.
• The Power of 2 is selecting 2 important items on your to-do list, and truly concentrate on those. She calls the 2 "elephants" and the others, " rabbits".
• The Power of Deep is pulling together data, knowledge, experience, etc. to create a new idea. She exclaims "Get off of automatic pilot!" [It's not good for your brain.]
• The Power of Less is reducing the amount of information you're bombarded with. She  claims, "Big data freezes the brain."
• The Power of Innovative Thinking is to avoid the status quo by getting inspired.

Of course, eating healthy, sleeping adequately, and exercise are important as well.

Make your Brain Smarter is a very enlightening book about improving brain health. 

The 10 minute video above is the author giving a TED talk on brain health.
Viewing on an iPad or iPhone? Link to the You-Tube video here.