Michèle Hecken is an Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) member in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. An ex-CEO, she is the founder of The Art of Offboarding, a proprietary leadership and operational methodology which she implements in Fortune 500 companies. She is also a public speaker who delivers keynotes and workshops for organizations across the world. We asked Michèle how she transformed her business to do what she loves on her own terms. Here’s what she shared:
Sound familiar to you? I know I’ve heard and grappled with these universal “truths” over the years, after starting a global translation company in my twenties and trying to grow it while raising two young children.
Eventually, I realized something that would change the course of my entire life: There was a way to build a successful business based almost entirely on what you love doing rather than what you think you should love doing.
I carved out a system to grow the business that served my family, my team, our customers, and myself. In 2019, it culminated in a high-seven-figure exit.
Here are the three paradigm shifts that form its foundation:
1. From “Delegating” to “Offboarding”
According to some, you should delegate to successfully grow a business. I’m here to tell you that this is not the solution but the problem. Why?
What happens when you delegate is a placebo effect. You feel good in the moment because you shuffled something off your desk. But then you do it again. And again.
What happens next? You get lost in the follow-up. The time you saved on executing the tasks is replaced with endless coordination of employee work.
Delegating simply shifts the kind of work you do. You still own the task. Eventually, you become more stressed, as delegation encourages micromanagement.
Offboarding is a game changer because it transfers task ownership–your employees own the entire outcome. Speaking from experience, this is an excellent way to train employees, increase their value to the business (and ensure they feel valued), and relax your grip. This also frees up your schedule, allowing you to pursue other goals.
2. From “Work-Life Balance” to “Life”
I’ve never met an entrepreneur who works optimally within a standard nine-to-five schedule. Some days we are in a deep state of flow and work 14 hours. On other days, we might struggle to get out of bed. At the same time, we build our businesses to give us the flexibility to be present for our non-work engagements whenever we want–trying to please everyone around us.
When you try and make everybody happy, all while keeping everything “balanced,” it becomes an impossible challenge.
The solution, something that I do when advising other entrepreneurs, is to reverse-engineer it all. Ask yourself:
· What do I want my life to look like?
· What is my ideal day?
· How does my flow work on that day?
· What kinds of freedoms do I want and need?
The goal isn’t to ensure burnout never happens again. Instead, it’s to optimize your life and business so that they align with your true self, your wants, and your needs.
3. From “Good to Great” to “Good to Happy”
Everyone wants to be happy in life–most of us prioritize happiness as a goal.
The happiest lives are those that are continually enriched with new knowledge, connections, and experiences. That means having the willingness to get out there, try new things, and make time for enjoyment every day. You can’t get to this point by feeling forced to fit in fun or relaxation time, nor by stagnating and stifling your growth.
One practice I’ve implemented, that has worked wonders, is treating every day like a “mini life” and living it on my terms. Am I allocating my time and energy where I want it to go? Am I enjoying my day to the fullest and achieving the goals I’ve set? Most of all, have I done things that brought me joy today?
If you can respond with a resounding “yes” to these questions every day, you can theoretically achieve an entire lifetime of happiness. Sounds much more realistic this way, doesn’t it?
Reframing paradigms and shifting away from what you’ve been told should make you successful is not easy. The opportunity to co-author a recently published book, Lead Like a Woman: Audacity has allowed me to reflect on just how profoundly I’ve subverted traditional expectations both in my business and in my life.
I believe the entrepreneurial dream needs to be reframed to include a joyful life in which you never have to give up happiness for the sake of your business. I know that with a few shifts in perspective, a clear methodology, and a remarkable support system, every entrepreneur can achieve that reality.
Bearish cross to downside…50day thru 200day to downside.
2. Comparing U.S. vs. International Stock Returns Since 1970
Ben Carlson Here are total returns by various periods of over- or underperformance for each going back to 1970:
Some investors have an easier time wrapping their heads around annualized returns so here are those figures as well:
U.S. stock had an unbelievable run coming out of the Great Financial Crisis but international stocks did far better at times in the 1970s, 1980s and early-2000s.
It’s also true that much of the outperformance has taken place during the latest cycle. From 1970-2012, the annual returns were basically dead even:
U.S. stocks +9.7%
International stocks +9.6%
All of the outperformance has essentially come since 2013.
Jack Ablin Cresset Real wage growth has been negative consistently since April 2021, implying that American households are falling behind as the cost of food, energy and other products and services are racing ahead of incomes. Corporate profits have had a similarly difficult time outpacing the inflation current. Since March 2021, cumulative profit growth has trailed inflation by nine percentage points.
Robinhood will soon allow customers to buy and sell stocks and ETFs overnight in extended trading hours.
Its 24 Hour Market will run Sunday through Friday starting at 8 p.m. ET, beginning this month.
Customers can place limit orders on 43 individual stocks and ETFs including Tesla and Apple.
Robinhood said 24-hour trading is coming to its platform as the company that was at the center of the meme-stock frenzy aims to accommodate time-strapped customers while pushing for wider change in trading operations.
A rollout of 24 Hour Market will begin May 16 to a “subset” of customers, followed by all customers getting access in June. Trading hours will be from 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday to 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
“We’ve often heard from customers that it’s tough to find time for investing during regular market hours with work, family, and everything in between,” Robinhood said in a statement. “24 Hour Market lets customers invest when they want, on their schedule.”
The program will allow people to place limit orders to buy whole shares of Tesla, Amazon, Apple and 40 other of the most-traded individual stocks and exchange-traded funds, the company said.
Limit orders let investors buy or sell a security at a specific price versus market orders under which trades are made at the best available price. Limit orders could dial down the exposure for customers to large price swings that can occur after hours when trading volume is thinner than in regular market hours.
Regular hours of stock trading Monday through Friday begin at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time and end at 4 p.m. Eastern. So-called after-hours trade or extended hours are available at some brokerages, with trading running early as 4 a.m. Eastern and stretching to 8 p.m. Eastern.
“It’s the next step in evolving the market to how it should work, which is 24/7, and more like a piece of software rather than a brick-and-mortar institution that’s tied to U.S. East Coast working hours,” Robinhood’s Chief Executive Vlad Tenev told The Wall Street Journal.
Psychology Today Temma EhrenfeldThese tips can help at all ages, from high-school students to job-changers.
You need to study up. The tips that work for high school and college kids still apply, whether you’re a retiree learning for fun, adapting to meet challenges at a job, or boning up as part of a career switch.
Here are 14 ways to make learning go better. They may be especially helpful if you have ADHD or a low mood that limits your energy.
1. Take a little time to get into the right frame of mind.
A little time, not so much that you’ve used up all of your available time. Dance to an upbeat song for 10 minutes. If you’re distracted by chores that need doing, list them, then put the list away for later. If you’re completely obsessed with a distraction, be honest with yourself. But don’t just procrastinate. Decide exactly when you’ll do your studying and commit to being in the right frame of mind.
Be positive. Instead of thinking, “I don’t have enough time,” think, “I’m starting now.” Remember that discipline and focus are skills that you can build over time in small steps.
2. Find a quiet spot without distractions and return to it next time.
Think, “Where did I do well?” Look for the ideal situation, not just “good enough.” It might be as simple as choosing to sit up on a living room chair rather than lie down on the sofa to read. Bed probably isn’t the best place.
3. Bring what you need, but only what you need.
If you need a book, don’t forget it. But if you can leave your smartphone well out of reach, do so. Do you truly learn best while listening to music? If so, have your music and earphones, but otherwise, don’t have them handy.
4. Don’t multi-task.
You may think you’re an expert at watching a video with the information you need and scrolling through Instagram. However, evidence suggests that common sense applies: You have only so much working memory, and you’re taking some of it up on Instagram. Your multi-tasking means you won’t absorb and retain as much of the video.
5. Outline your notes. Make lists and fill them in.
Make outlines that work for you, even if they might be confusing to someone else. Use words that make sense to you, translating the words in material you may be reading. “Chunk” together the groups of words or facts or ideas that you feel belong in a group. The goal is to produce an outline that will help you—not someone else—remember the material.
Writing may work better than keyboarding into a laptop. There’s some evidence that using our fingers in that way helps us think. Read aloud an important sentence if you’re alone or mouth the words if you’re in a library. You may think it’s babyish to mouth or read aloud. Actually, poetry was the first way that human beings remembered stories, and we haven’t changed that much.
6. If you like memory devices, use them and get creative.
Make up a catchy rhyme to associate ideas and repeat it out loud. Make up a sentence. For example, “Never Ever Seem Worried,” is a way to remember “North, East, South, West.” “Every Good Boy Deserves Fun” helps music students remember the five notes of the treble clef, “E, G, B, D, F.”
If you don’t know if you like memory devices, try one out and see if it sticks. Then the next time you’re studying, you can try another one.
If you tend to be visual, take your time looking at the illustrations or photos in the book you’re reading to associate them with the information.
7. Practice.
If you’re taking a class and will be writing the answer to a surprise question on a test, make up a likely question and do the exercise of writing an answer with a timer on. Do it again.
Actually try to solve the sample problems in the materials you’re using; don’t just read the answers. Make up similar problems, try to solve them, and later on, at the end of a study period, find sources that can tell you whether your answers were correct. If you’re learning a new language, you might write out some questions and answers and show them to a native speaker at your next opportunity. Research suggests that an activity in which you generate a product or test yourself is more powerful than time spent consuming information—for example, reviewing notes.
8. Find buddies.
Some people like to work with a group of four or five other people who are at about their level. Quiz each other. Try to do as well as the person you most admire. Turn envy into a source of motivation rather than resentment.
9. Make a schedule you can stick to.
If you have any flexibility, notice the times of day when you’re sharpest and dedicate them to learning. If you’re studying at home on a weekend or work at home, take a warm morning shower to gear up for analytical work, advises biologist and body-clock expert Steve Kay. Get your studying or work done before lunch, especially if you’re an early riser. You’re likely to be most distractible from noon to 4 p.m.
Sticking to a schedule may seem like a burden, but you’ll appreciate the investment if you can avoid last-minute cramming. How many minutes you spend each time is less important than regularity.
9. Space it out.
Most work goes better if you divide it into realistic chunks. Try not to cram for an exam in one burst. The evidence against cramming is mixed, but the common-sense advice to plan ahead and proceed in a consistent way, spacing out your study time, does seem to be right.
10. Take breaks.
If you’re falling asleep while reading, you may have picked the wrong time of day to study. Consider a nap if you’re sleep-deprived and then get back to work.
If you’re losing focus, but not short of sleep, move. It’ll help you more than extra coffee and stoking yourself with sugar is a mistake. Stretch and walk to the other end of the library at least once an hour. Even better, go for a short jog.
Bouts of movement—typically 15 to 20 minutes at moderate intensity—can measurably boost your mood and cognitive performance. Even 10 minutescan make a difference. Take time to look out the window, especially if you have a view of trees or other greenery. Nature is a good stress-reliever,even if you can’t climb the Himalayas today. If you succeed in a significant goal—maybe reading an entire chapter—treat yourself by a break flying over the Himalayas on Google’s satellite map.
10. Reward yourself.
It’s healthy to set goals and then reward yourself in ways you decide in advance—not French fries, but something you won’t regret later. Facebook is an OK break if you haven’t let it become a substitute for what you meant to do.
11. Students need to learn about finding balance.
This means getting enough sleep, eating regularly and well, exercising, and not becoming too distracted or obsessed by love affairs or social problems. As adults, we, too, need to keep that kind of balance.
12. Don’t depend on drugs or even herbs to make you more focused and productive.
Also don’t indulge in partying in ways that will interfere with the next day.
13. If you’re taking a course, talk to the instructor early on, or an assistant, to know what to expect.
You may be aiming high, so plan on working harder or be realistic about your grade. Suss out what’s most important to the instructor. Establish a connection so you can talk to the instructor if you find yourself falling behind or do badly on a project. Pay attention in class.
14. Recall your original goals and motivations.
Sometimes we lose track of our original impetus once we’re midway through an endeavor. Why did you want to master this material? If you’re resenting the time, money, or difficulty, talk to someone you trust to reorient yourself.
6. How Many Months on Average Between the Last Fed Hike in Cycle and the First Cut Thereafter
Jim Reid Deutsche Bank I’ve done a lot of thinking recently as to whether the market has been crazy or not after the SVB collapse to price in imminent Fed cuts when the hiking cycle hasn’t yet officially finished. The reality is that the market probably got ahead of itself in the immediate aftermath, but more recently has been closer to being in line with history.
Today’s CoTD shows (in order) how many months there were between the last Fed hike in a cycle and the first cut thereafter. There is quite a wide bid-offer and every cycle is different, but the average gap is around 6 months, with the median 4 months. So if May was the last hike then median/average history would take us to September/October. Given the first cut is now fully priced by the November meeting (no meeting in October) it’s hard to criticise too heavily. DB think it’ll be in Q1 2024.
Of the 13 Fed cycles we’ve analysed here the annotated numbers on the graph show that 5 first cuts occurred when the recession had already started. A further two within 3 months. 2 more saw the recession start 6-7 months later, 1 more 11 months later and 3 outliers where the recession only started 33-69 months later.So most but not all (7/13) saw the first cut occur within 3 months of the subsequent recession.
Given where inflation currently is it’s hard to see the Fed cutting without a recession being imminent or obvious to them. Although that’s not the case at the moment, given the house view of it starting in Q4 we are probably in the right ball park for pricing in the first cut even if you could argue over the finer details.
7. U.S. Government Interest Expense is Now Annualized $929 Billion.
8. Global Supply Chain Pressure Record High to Record Low in One Year
We’ve all been there. That meeting you’ve scheduled 30 minutes for is now taking three hours. When you’ve finally called it a day, you’re still left without the answers you need. Your staff are left frustrated, your team deflated. What went wrong?
While mandatory to the company, meetings can quickly take a turn for the worst. Given the approach, it’s no wonder. Locking everyone in a room and buckling down until issues are solved is hardly an environment to garner innovation and camaraderie.
It also doesn’t help when the person in charge is making things worse. If you’re ever left scratching your head wondering why things turned sour, it’s time for some self-reflection.
Here are five signs that you’re likely the culprit of a good meeting gone wrong:
1. You use nicknames.
You may not think twice about it, but referring to a colleague as ‘man’, ‘bro’, ‘girl’, or ‘dude’ creates an issue. Not everyone interprets nicknames as a term of endearment. Some may feel it’s demeaning, while others may feel like you’re playing favorites.
Instead of navigating which nicknames are okay and which are not, do yourself a favor and just avoid the issue all together. Call someone by their first name. It’s that simple. I’m all for casual offices, but there is a level of professionalism that you need to maintain.
2. You play the blame game.
This can go two ways. You’re either blaming one person, or you’re taking all of the blame. We have a tendency as leaders to assume that if anything goes wrong, we need to point the finger. Even if it’s at ourselves.
To create a culture that’s continually innovating and connected, never single out someone or something as the culprit. Just watch any professional sports team; when they lose, they don’t blame the referee or another player. They win as a team and they lose as a team. Treat yours the same way.
3. You put people on the spot.
We all know that feeling when the teacher called your name, followed by the entire class staring at you. Even if you knew the answer, the pressure of being put on the spot makes your mind foggy and your anxiety levels high.
Why would you want to put someone through the same torture? It’s a common misconception that leaders have to keep employees on their toes to ensure they’re always prepared. But if you’ve hired right and are offering meaningful work, then this should never be an issue.
4. You shut down bad ideas.
This can seem like a no-brainer, but before you plead not guilty, chances are you’ve been an offender without even realizing it.
There are many ways we can dismiss ideas that aren’t worth developing. Your body language and facial expressions can play a big part. Snickers, eye rolls, furrowed brows, or pretending like you never heard them are all examples of how you’re telling the person (and your team) that their idea is not just bad, but not worth your time.
While no one’s asking you to sugarcoat the truth or analyze every idea that hits the table, the key is to celebrate the fact that ideas are coming forward at all. So treat every single one with consideration and respect. Otherwise, you’ll stop getting them.
5. You ‘but’ in.
“I thought you did a great job, but…”
As soon as you say those three little letters, you’ve ruined whatever came before it. If you have critical feedback to give, then give it without spinning it from a positive. Employees will appreciate you telling it like it is.
Stay away from loaded sentences. You’re only creating scenarios that are over analyzed and highly agonized.
1. Jeremy Schwartz at Wisdom Tree Answer to Yesterday’s Top 10 Opener.
Expanded tech is the the old tech classifications before S&P carved it up… effectively Amazon from Consumer Discretionary and Facebook/old twiter, Netflix from comms services more like old FANNG… Expanded tech makes up 40% of S&P
But history is repeating. The dramatic losses in debt markets last year, fueled by the most aggressive Federal Reserve policy tightening in a generation, has turned what was once a relatively slow and steady shift away from active bond funds and toward passive products into a stampede.
The gap between passive and active net flows reached a record $1.04 trillion in 2022, almost triple any other year, according to data from EPFR. Passive funds lured $279 billion in new cash, while active funds bled $757 billion.
As of March, assets managed by passive funds surpassed $3 trillion for the first time. They now account for 31% of the fixed-income fund universe, the data show, up from just 13% a decade ago.
5. Regional Bank Turmoil Pushing More Lending to Direct Private Lending.
Dealbook ByLauren HirschWhipsaw trading in shares of regional banks this week made it clear the fallout from three federal bank seizures was far from over. Some investors are betting against even seemingly healthy banks like PacWest, and regulators are gearing up to tack on new capital constraints for small and medium-size lenders.
Large banks, though raking in cash, are facing their own constraints, saddled with loans written before interest rates started rising.
That means businesses large and small may soon need to look elsewhere for loans. And a growing cohort of nonbanks, which don’t take deposits — including giant investment firms like Apollo Global Management, Ares Management and Blackstone — are chomping at the bit to step into the vacuum.
For the last decade, these institutions and others like them have aggressively scooped up and extended loans, helping to grow the private credit industry sixfold since 2013, to $850 billion, according to the financial data provider Preqin.
While most of Europe and North America condemns Russia for its war in Ukraine, as far as politics goes, it’s not a universal stance…
Statista’s Anna Fleck reports that new analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit has found that Russia’s support base is slowly growing in some parts of the world.
Where 29 countries used to lean towards Russia in 2022, that number has now risen to 35.
Conversely, while the number of countries either West-leaning or actively condemning Russia is still by far the bigger group, its figures have dropped from 131 to 122.
The EIU says this fall is partly driven by the shift of a number of emerging economies into a more neutral position.
The map above uses EIU data to show different countries’ stances on Russia ranging from condemnation to support, as of March 2023.
While Africa shows a patchwork quilt of positionings, the EIU reports that a number of its countries have moved towards the Russian side in the past year.Where South Africa and Uganda were politically neutral on the topic in 2022, they are now listed as Russia-leaning. Meanwhile, where Burkina Faso and Mali were Russia-leaning before, they are now outright supportive of Russia. In Latin America, Bolivia was highlighted as a notable country for its position shift, having also moved from neutral to pro-Russia by 2023.
At the same time, the number of neutral countries has risen from 32 to 35. One country to buck the trend is Bangladesh, which has moved the opposite direction, shifting from being neutral to West-leaning between 2022 and 2023.
Ryan Holiday-It’s very easy to get comfortable. To build up your life exactly how you want it to be. Minimize inconveniences and hand off the stuff you don’t like to do. To find what you enjoy, where you enjoy it, and never leave.
A velvet rut is what it’s called. It’s nice, but the comfort tricks you into thinking that you’re not stuck.
The Stoics knew that this was a kind of death. That as soon as we stop growing, we start dying. Or at least, we become more vulnerable to the swings of Fate and Fortune. Seneca talked over and over again about the importance of adversity, of not only embracing the struggle life throws at us but actively seeking out that difficulty, so you can be stronger and better and more prepared. A person who has never been challenged, he said, who always gets their way, is a tragic figure. They have no idea what they are capable of. They are not even close to fulfilling their potential.
So that leaves you with something to think about today: Are you challenging yourself? Do the choices you make push you or do they help you atrophy? Are you in a velvet rut?
Bespoke Investment Group Heading into earnings season, there was a considerable amount of angst on the part of investors regarding the mecacap stocks and how they would react to their earnings reports. Given their outperformance in Q1, the prevailing view was that the bar was too high, leaving the megacaps susceptible to disappointment when they reported. Within the S&P 500, there are seven companies whose weighting exceeds 1.5% in the index, and in the chart below we list the performance of each company’s stock (largest to smallest) on the earnings reaction day of their most recent report. Of the seven companies highlighted, only two (Alphabet and Amazon.com) declined in reaction to their reports. Two stocks (Nvidia and Meta) surged more than 10%, one (Microsoft) rallied more than 7%, and Apple, with its weighting of over 7%, managed to rise more than 4.5% following its report last week. There’s still a ton of reports left to get through before earnings season winds down, but on a market cap basis, we’re past the peak, and based on the reactions of the largest companies in the market, it’s been a much better earnings season than most investors expected.
Foods will only act upon one’s brain if they in some way chemically resemble an actual neurotransmitter within the brain or affect brain health.
Food has both negative and positive effects; it all depends upon which food you consume, how much you consume, and for how long.
If you wish to alter your current brain function or slow your brain’s aging, you likely need to consume different foods.
Almost everything you choose to consume will directly or indirectly affect your brain. The contents of one’s diet will only act upon one’s brain if in some way they chemically resemble an actual neurotransmitter within the brain or if they are able to interact with an essential biochemical process in the brain that influences the production, release, or inactivation of a neurotransmitter, or the general health of the neuron itself.
Food should be viewed in the same way that we view drugs; they interact with many brain processes and alter how we think and feel. Your brain cannot tell the difference between a food (which is a chemical we consume for its nutritional value) and a drug (which is a chemical we consume for its potential positive benefits on our health).
Obviously, some things we consume affect us more than others. For the purposes of this article, I’m going to define food as anything we take into our bodies, whether it’s nutritious or not; this includes spices, plants, animal parts, drugs of any kind, coffee, tea, nicotine, and chocolate. In order to better understand how food affects the brain it will be helpful to divide them into three categories.
First, those foods we consume in high doses with acute dosing: for example, coffee, sugar, heroin, alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, some spices, and a few psychoactive plants and mushrooms. Their effects are almost immediate and depend upon how much reaches the brain.
In this class, the most important consideration is to get enough of the chemical from within the food to its site of action in our brain to actually produce some kind of effect that we can notice and associate with consuming that particular food. Most of the time, this simply does not happen.
For example, consider nutmeg, it contains two chemicals that our bodies convert into the popular street drug called ecstasy. Yet if we consumed the entire canister of the spice, our guts will notice (with terrible diarrhea) and there is a good chance that we will hallucinate for about 48 hours. According to my students, the experience is quite unpleasant.
Secondly are those foods that affect our brain slowly over a period of a few days to weeks. This is usually called “precursor-loading” and would include many different amino acids (tryptophan and lysine are good examples); carbohydrates that have a high glycemic index such as potatoes, bagels, and rice; fava beans; some minerals (iron and magnesium in particular); lecithin-containing products such as donuts, eggs, and cakes; chocolate; and the water-soluble vitamins. Their purpose is to bias the function of a specific transmitter system; usually to enhance its function in the brain.
For example, scientists once thought that drinking a glass of warm milk before bed or eating a large meal of protein made us drowsy because of tryptophan loading. The current evidence does not support this, but the claim makes my major point: We must get enough of any particular nutrient/chemical to the right place and at the right dose in our brain in order for us to notice any effects. (Unfortunately, in this case, tryptophan has difficulty getting into our brains.)
So, what’s the scientific evidence for considering the cognitive effects of these foods? Mostly, it’s related to what happens when we do not get enough of them.
For example, studies have shown that consuming too little tryptophan makes us depressed and angry and has been blamed for multiple wars and acts of cannibalism. Too little sugar or water-soluble vitamins (the Bs and C) will induce changes in brain function that we will notice after a few days of deprivation. Many authors jump to the conclusion that giving high doses of such nutrients will rapidly improve our mood or thinking: sadly, this is rarely the case. Ordinarily, the foods in this category require more time to affect our brains than those foods in the first category.
The third category includes the slow-acting, lifetime dosing nutrients that have been popular topics in the press recently. This category includes anti-oxidant-rich foods such as colorful fruit and vegetables, fish and olive oils; fruit juices, anti-inflammatory plants and drugs such as aspirin, some steroids, cinnamon, and some other spices; nicotine, caffeine, and chocolate; the fat-soluble vitamins; nuts; legumes; and beer and red wine.
People who eat these foods do not report acute changes in their thoughts or moods (depending upon how much they consume!) but certainly benefit from consuming them regularly over their life span. In general, the benefit comes from the fact that all of these foods provide our brains with some form of protection against the deadliest thing we expose ourselves to every day—oxygen.
Because we consume food, we must consume oxygen. Because we consume oxygen, we age. Thus, people who live the longest tend to eat food rich in antioxidants or simply eat a lot less food. Recent studies suggest that nicotine and caffeine prevent the toxic actions of oxygen in our brains, which is why I’ve included them here.
You can see that depending upon how you frame the question about foods and the brain, you get a different list of foods and a different reason for consuming them. If you wish to alter your current brain function or slow your brain’s aging, you likely need to consume different foods.
But in truth, no one ever considers these distinctions when eating—we just eat what tastes good. Sadly, our brains powerfully reward us when we eat sugar, fat, and salt; thus we have obesity and an oncoming epidemic of obesity-related illnesses. Consequently, like drugs, food has both negative and positive effects and it all depends upon which food you consume, how much you consume, and for how long.
