Memory aides

rsutton

Does anyone use any sort of memory aides or supplements (herbal)? I find that I have a hard time retaining a lot of what I read. I recall seeing something at the herb store - ginko boloba IIRC that is suposed to improve memory retention. Wondering if anyone has experience here.

Plantwiz

rsutton wrote: »

Does anyone use any sort of memory aides or supplements (herbal)? I find that I have a hard time retaining a lot of what I read. I recall seeing something at the herb store - ginko boloba IIRC that is suposed to improve memory retention. Wondering if anyone has experience here.

There is a bit of irony in your post....:D


****

Are you getting enough sleep?
Eat better foods, add fish to your weekly menu if you already don't eat fish.
but Sleep is critical (and tough even for me to get, but if you do, you'll find it makes a HUGE difference and is much cheaper then Ginkgo).

AND yes, Ginkgo is 'said' to be helpful.

rsutton

Thanks for the tips. I don't get nearly enough sleep and I eat fish maybe once every other month. I will need to research the fish thing, not that I don't believe you, but I'm curious why/how it works. Maybe there is a supplement I could take instead as I'm not a big fish fan, unless it's crab or lobster.

RobertKaucher

It's because of the fatty acids. There is a theory in human evolution that what actually increased human brain size was the addition of :sea food" to our diets.

Human Brain Evolution And Eating Fish From Shoreline Environments

crrussell3

Or just take Fish Oil supplements instead of eating fish.

msteinhilber

crrussell3 wrote: »

Or just take Fish Oil supplements instead of eating fish.

I used to (will again when I get to the store to pickup another bottle that I keep forgetting) supplement 5 1000mg of the Sam's Club brand a day. Not typically for most people, but had been taking them as they have been shown to help stabilize mood disorders, depression, and add/adhd if you achieve the right amount of EPA and DHA derived from the fish oil. It worked well and I did feel more focused and sharper when I was doing this. Perhaps in my case it was helping other issues I had which resulted in an increase in focus, who knows.

If you decide to supplement fish oil, I would suggest the enteric coated capsules. They have a special coating that basically eliminates the possibility of fish smell/taste burps.

mikedisd2

Ginkgo is supposed to aid in transporting oxygen to the brain. Apparently it's used in the treatment of Alzeimer sufferers.
The pills are expensive and it's about 2 weeks before any effect kicks in. The cost alone was enough to stop me trying it as an ongoing health supplement.

Still there's no one cure, as usual it's a holistic thing. Get plenty of fresh fruit n veg, cut back refined sugars, wheat etc. Are you exercising enough / at all?

Forget all that though; IT manuals are awful things to endure. Switch to CBTs, ie Nuggets, Trainsignal, TestOut, etc. I attained huge jumps in certs by trading books for TestOut. Much more effective than MSPress...

Kaminsky

It's always been told that fresh fish is good for your brains rather than the processed, bread crumbed variety. Unfortunately it isn't cheap these days like when I was a child and my mother would feed us sometimes 2-3 meals a week on fish of one kind or another. (I remember fried spratts on toast still with heads, tails and fins on quite vividly)

These days, most non veggie people have mostly meat in their diets and it has become the norm to have some form of meat with every meal. During the 2nd world war years, there was hadly any meat at all and most food was either fish or vegtables and bulk it up with tons of carbs. Over the generations since, the meat has replaced the fish but the piles of carbs has stayed.

I'm very lucky with my kids that even at the ages of 7, 8 and 10 they wil still eat 3 whole veg per meal no problem. I tried to get them into fish and at one point it was going well until the mrs sat at the table and said "urrgg FISH" and the kids immediately turned their noses up at it. Trying to get them into it again is an uphill struggle.

veritas_libertas

rsutton wrote: »

Does anyone use any sort of memory aides or supplements (herbal)? I find that I have a hard time retaining a lot of what I read. I recall seeing something at the herb store - ginko boloba IIRC that is suposed to improve memory retention. Wondering if anyone has experience here.

I don't know about supplements, but I find that a good run will lower my stress and help me think clearly. I also find that walking while studying helps me remember things better. Note that the latter can drive friends and family crazy...