Ep. 124 – Mastication-Induced Arousal: Chewing Gum Makes You Smarter?

Train Your Brain Podcast logo

Welcome to Episode 124 of The Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip 124. Mastication-Induced Arousal means that when you chew, gum in particular, you get a special little kick of energy. So, if you are taking a test and you need to focus or if you need a pick-me-up, then chewing will really do the trick. Thanks for listening!

If you have any concerns regarding the information and applications discussed in this podcast, please consult your physician and a doctor who is experienced in functional neurology. Michael Trayford DC, DACNB is available for consultation by calling (828) 708-5274. Thanks for listening.

Our tip number 24 is Take time to Reply. Do you have any idea on what direction I’m headed with that?

Jason: Yeah I guess, kind of formulate your thoughts so you can speak intelligently, instead of the kind of answers that I always give?

That’s exactly it!

Particularly in times of stress, this is really falling under the stress management category. This day and age and I’ve been guilty of it myself and really make a concerted effort to take some time to formulate thoughts, gather your thoughts. Particularly if there’s an emotional charge to the topic or something is involved that might cause you to overreact. You need time. You need a refractory period. You need a time when your brain can sort things out, settle things and possibly even get an unbiased opinion in the mix. This might involve asking somebody that would be able to put some sense into the mix there and help you formulate your opinion or even look at your reply to see if it is appropriate.

This again falls under the stress management category, because we know if we act to quickly, particularly now. This is more important now with the email age. It seems email is actually somewhat antiquated with some of the other communication methods that are out there. But digitally, replies should be monitored and should be some type of delay before responding unless it’s just a simple task that needs to be done.

Texting in particular, because when you’re trying get out thoughts in 140 characters of less. Often things will be misconstrued or misunderstood, or not interpreted appropriately.

In emails, unless somebody is typing in all capital letters, with a ton of exclamation points, it’s really hard to gauge what the emotion is behind what they’re saying. And somebody may not mean anything when you construe it to be something.

Basically taking the time to sit back, relax and think about it. Maybe give it a day. The 24 hour rule is always good to apply there. People don’t always need answers right away. Most of the time they don’t need answers right away. Often you will serve yourself and that individual will at a much higher level if you simply reflect on what you’re going write before you do. In fact you might find sometimes that you might not even need to reply to it, to begin with.

I find that probably half of the time, where if it is something with some emotional content or it is emotionally charged, you may not even need to respond to it. Somebody might have been simply venting. And that’s okay.


Links for this episode:

Click here to learn more about helmets

Learn more at APEX Brain Centers.com

Read the APEX Brain Centers BLOG

Follow us on Facebook

On Google Plus

Follow APEX Brain Centers on Twitter

And here is the Twitter handle for this podcast: @BrainPodcast365

Visit our YouTube Channel