How I Boosted My Cognitive Function in 2 Weeks to Memorise My Tedx Talk
I speak to people every day who tell me they are having problems with memory, retaining information, focusing and getting things done.
After 2 decades studying and researching everything I can about what makes the human body and mind work and not work, and healing myself from chronic disability, here’s why I believe this is happening to so many of us:
1. Nervous system dysregulation
One of the main issues we face today is the sheer volume of information coming our way and “stuff” we need to do on a daily basis. It’s not that you have some neurological disorder that needs a diagnosis and medication, it’s that your brain and body have not yet evolved to be able to manage this level of stress, and as a result, your nervous system has shut down other parts of you in order to “keep you safe”. It may not be that you need medication; you need to regulate your nervous system
2. Environmental toxins
The ”issue” with having taken myself into rabbit holes about health, is that I can’t unknow any of it! Some of the biggest challenges we face with our health come from things we either don’t have control over, such as chem trails and pollution, or things we need to have researched a lot in order to understand it enough to make better decisions, such as vaccines, water and other products we use that add to the toxic load in our bodies. We can’t change the chem trails (though we can campaign against it!), but we can continually aid our body’s detoxification pathways, through regular saunas, addings things like chlorella and spirulina to smoothies, using detox binders, Epsom salt baths and castor all packs. We can also commit to educating ourselves when it comes to health, and make informed decisions about our healthcare choices so that those choices don’t add to toxic load. We can improve the water we drink so we’re not ingesting neurotoxins such as fluoride, we can use natural and organic skincare, beauty, hygiene and cleaning products, and we can opt for natural medicines as a first resort, not last. All this helps not only our ability to stay healthy and prevent dis-ease, but also aids our neurological function.
3. Diet & lifestyle
It’s not some crazy, esoteric myth that the gut feeds the brain. The gut-brain axis is a real thing, and what you feed your stomach, will literally feed your brain. If you are eating processed foods, foods high in transfats, non-organic foods (meaning it contains high levels of toxins in the forms of pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, steroids, preservatives etc), and you’re not getting enough of the nutrients your body needs, neither will your brain. Same goes for exercise, breathing and stress management. Your brain needs oxygen, it needs movement, it needs nature and it needs low cortisol levels.
As you can see, there is A LOT we can do to improve our cognitive function.
I’d been crafting my TEDx talk with my coach, Leonardo, since March, but I had set aside 4 weeks to actually memorise it. However, when that time came, Israel went to war, my sister and her kids fled and lived with us for a month, and we were all in deep grieving. Aside from the chaos in my house, the grief itself impacts cognitive function. By the time I felt ready to actually start memorising, I only had 2 weeks.
So here I’d like to share with you the main steps I implemented over the course of 2-4 weeks to boost cognitive function as much as possible to enable me to memorise the talk and present it to the best of my ability:
(NB: for any supplements I recommend from Amrita Nutrition, use the link provided to take you to the page on Amrita Nutrition, then set up an account using practitioner code LAUREN.)
Bacopa has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years to boost memory and cognitive function. I took 1 per day for 4 weeks leading up to the talk
Cod liver oil is one of the best sources for omega-3 fatty acids, one of the only fats our bodies can’t make. Brain health is directly impacted by omega-3s, which is why we’re told to take them during pregnancy to help with the baby’s brain development. It’s also what helps us to absorb vitamin D. I usually take 2 a day, for 4 weeks I took 3.
Lion’s mane is a medicinal mushroom supplement that impacts brain function to include memory, brain fog, concentration and more. Hifas da Terra’s Mico-Leo has undergone clinical trials to show how it works on the gut-brain axis and I took this for 4 weeks in the lead-up, alongside their Mico-Rei (reishi) supplement that I always take
Magnesium helps with pretty much all the body’s processes and brain function is one of them. I increased my intake to 3 a day for 2 weeks and also used transdermal magnesium spray (great for kids) and had Epsom salt baths
5. High fat foods
The cod liver oil helps drastically, but we should be doing everything we can to get what we need from food, not just supplements. I didn’t actually increase these foods in the last few weeks because I eat enough of them anyway. Foods high in omega-3 fatty acids are salmon, avocados, nuts and seeds, eggs, flaxseeds and flaxseed oil. (It goes without saying all these were organic because the toxin levels in non-organic foods counter the benefits.)
6. Antioxidants
I increased my antioxidant consumption to boost cognitive function and immune function in the last few weeks ahead of the talk with foods such as acai berry powder, leafy green veg, turmeric (I had a few turmeric lattes also!) and berries I’d frozen in the summer when they were in season
7. Immune boosting
The last thing I wanted was to get sick on the day of my TEDx talk! So I made sure to boost my immunity in any way I could. In the week leading up, I took one sachet of Zooki liposomal Vitamin C every day, a spoonful of elderberry syrup a day, drank a few spoons of colloidal silver a day (and gargled with it), took some Vitamin D (which I don’t usually supplement because my diet ensures I absorb enough). When I felt under the weather a few days before, I also added in zinc and quercetin and had lots of manuka honey.
8. Breathing, meditation & nature
It’s not all about supplements. My cortisol levels needed to be as low as possible to ensure my brain function was as high as it could be. In order to make sure of that, I focused on my meditations, walking in nature (nature automatically reduces blood pressure and calms us) and did breathing exercises regularly.
9. Nervous system regulation
As I said above, when the nervous system feels unsafe, the body and brain shut down. A huge part of why we are suffering with brain fog, memory loss and overwhelm is because of nervous system dysregulation. I had to teach my brain and body to feel safe despite higher levels of stress and bigger demands on me, physically and emotionally.
10. Sleep
Don’t underestimate the power of sleep. Our brains suffer when we don’t get enough sleep, and because my children wake up between 5-6am, I made sure I went to sleep really early the past few weeks, around 8pm, reading in bed with an amber reading lamp to help increase melatonin and induce sleep.
Those are the main things I did to boost my cognitive function over the past few weeks. Whether you have a talk to give, or you just want to show up in life with improved brain function, try these things!
