Cooler than coffee: 11 ways to cheer up on science
For many of us, a cup of strong coffee - the only way to make the morning more pleasant and to help yourself wake up. Coffee is generally a good thing: there is evidence that it can reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular and oncological diseases, protect against type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's disease and depression. Of course, if you drink it in reasonable quantities - we told about them in one of the materials.
Coffee is worth taking note of and those who are not averse to skipping a couple of cocktails on Fridays: back in 2009, in experiments on mice, it was found that coffee helps relieve fatigue caused by alcohol, and level its relaxing effect when necessary. In general, there is no reason to refuse coffee, if you love it, it’s just that it doesn’t encourage everyone. We talk about other effective and safe ways to recover.
Fortunately, the scientific community does not yet have convincing evidence that the "blue" or "blue" light of smartphones, tablets and laptops affects the skin like ultraviolet radiation, increasing the risk of melanoma or photoaging. However, researchers have almost no doubt that this light has a negative impact on our well-being. It is primarily about feelings of loss of focus, dryness and burning in the eyes - symptoms that undermine productivity and often provoke a headache. This can happen after two or three hours of continuous work at the computer, not to mention the whole working day.
When you feel that everything is floating before your eyes, and they close themselves, although you have slept, try to distract from the screen and look out the window. Even better - do exercises for the eyes "like at school", alternately looking in different directions.
Often, lethargy and the desire to lie down in the middle of the day are not due to natural laziness, but to low blood sugar levels. Moreover, such a condition can occur not only in a state of hunger, but also after a dense meal with a large amount of carbohydrates: the release of insulin quickly reduces their level in the blood, while promoting the "sleepy" effects of other substances, tryptophan and serotonin. Although the fastest way to raise the level of sugar is to eat something sweet, after sweets, a surge of energy does not last long, again giving way to destructive fatigue.
Studies show that the body responds best to fiber and healthy fats — so an avocado sandwich made at home will be most welcome. Do not forget about foods high in iron (white beans, lentils, spinach, dark chocolate), the lack of which may cause a breakdown. Vitamin C helps the body to absorb iron - there is a lot of it in sweet pepper, cauliflower and citrus.
And once again about the eternal: if you are hungry, annoyed or tired - drink a glass of water. As you know, thirst is often disguised as hunger, and even a glass of cool water copes with stress just as well as valerian. It is important that when there is a shortage of fluid, the body begins to lack energy - perhaps the one that is needed to complete the project, write the text, give a presentation of the product or how to wake up.
The official recommendations indicate the volume of water, not liquid, as a whole - this is 3.7 liters per day for men and 2.7 liters for women. Liquid can come from food and various drinks, but still, so as not to bust with sugar or calories, it makes sense to drink a glass of pure water from time to time.
Perhaps if the daylight hours were longer, we would not have such a need for coffee and other energy. In any case, research data indicates that daylight is one of the factors that make it possible to maintain optimism and vigor throughout the day. There is some interesting data that blue light emitted by gadget screens can also invigorate, but there are still few such experiments, and the doses of blue light in them were much higher than those we receive when working at a computer.
In the conditions of severe Russian winter and no less severe autumn and spring, we spend most of the year among shades of gray, which can not but affect the general condition of the body. Lack of sunlight leads to vitamin D deficiency, which reduces the risk of depression and improves mood in the short term. This vitamin in the form of food supplements is shown to many people. In the summer, its production is also difficult, because we protect the skin from the sun's rays - but now, while the sun is not too aggressive, a walk during the day will help to invigorate.
Dance, jump, whirl and just move to immediately cheer up. Experts constantly say that even a small daily workload can improve health indicators and help the work of all body systems, including improving concentration and attention. And it works not only in the case of systematic exercises - so that nothing can be planned in advance. For example, in one study, it turned out that drowsiness simply disappears if we start moving.
So you start to fall asleep at your desk - turn on your favorite video clip where you are dancing, get up and repeat the movements; this will help to distract and reload the head to start working with new forces. We like dance in the style of "I told you" from the series "Clinic".
Scientists have proven that deep and measured breathing is one of the best ways to deal with stressful overloads. This is very convenient if you need to calm down here and now, and not at home, where you can take a hot bath, having achieved the same effect. Deep breathing can not only calm, but also adjust to a wave of vigor and vital energy.
Everything is very simple: the more air you breathe, the more oxygen enters your blood - and the more energy becomes in the cells. A small life hack: breathing "from the abdomen", which is practiced in yoga, will allow you to gather more air into your lungs and, accordingly, get more bonuses.
Judging by the number of experiments aimed at studying the effect of music on the body and its connection with human characteristics, most scientists are desperate music lovers. For example, they recently found out that “musical goosebumps” indicate a particular brain structure, while men who prefer rock music have higher testosterone levels. But in this case, we are interested in something else: music helps to concentrate - although it is not believed by those whom it interferes forever.
In fact, music as the background of the work is not for everyone - and it is ideal for monotonous, requiring constant repetition of actions. And another scientific observation concerning music: during the 2011 study, it turned out that favorite tracks, if a person listens to them for fifteen minutes or longer, contribute to the development of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that influences the processes of motivation and learning. Rammstein, Rihanna or "Vile Molly"? Whatever you like, you really like it.
Probably, every person at least once heard that the chewing reflex contributes to the memorization of information. There is a rational kernel in this statement, except that it is wrong to talk about memorization alone. There is evidence that chewing movements help to focus, especially when it comes to an urgent and important task. You can experiment with chewing apple slices or nuts - but a regular sugar-free chewing gum would be an excellent option.
Scientists have found that chewing gum can be an effective way to combat daytime sleepiness by speeding up blood circulation and activating certain areas of the brain. The authors of another study concluded that chewing gum effectively copes with anxiety about the task currently being performed and - attention! - improves the understanding of the newly perceived information.
You can not break away from the account of the charming mini-pig Aggie, have breakfast and dinner together with the little fox Rylai and spend half your lunch break on updating Animals Videos? Welcome to the club of people who do the right thing: according to research, watching such videos not only improves your mood, but also helps strengthen brain activity. A typical example: in a 2015 study with 7,000 people, respondents said that kittens videos increase their vitality and help to cope with the negative situation around them.
Despite the fact that these estimates are subjective, scientists believe that there is an effect: they work, if not actually the commercials, then self-conviction. On the other hand, if we recall the scientific statements that viewing photos of puppies by newlyweds increases their chances for happiness in a marriage, the conclusion about the effectiveness of animal videos seems quite normal.
In addition to the mass of other health bonuses, regular sex, according to Italian scientists, can increase the "brain power", simultaneously reducing the level of stress. The same is evidenced by the American study, during which it was possible to establish that quality sex stimulates the growth of cells in the hippocampus - the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning. As MRI showed, during orgasm, neurons in the brain are more active and use more oxygen, which, in turn, provides the brain with more nutrients.
In fairness, we note that exercise also has a similar effect on the hippocampus - but nothing prevents you from actively moving and having sex. Perhaps this will give a double effect.
If none of the above helped - take a nap. According to scientists, a short sleep (from 5 to 25 minutes) about 6-7 hours before you lie down in bed to spend the whole night there is a great way to cope with drowsiness and lack of motivation. Interestingly, the authors of a study conducted in 2008 called a short afternoon nap a more effective investment in well-being than getting enough sleep on weekends or using caffeine during the day.
Other studies agree with the conclusion, demonstrating that sleep in the middle of the day improves learning ability, has a positive effect on memory, and activates creative thinking. There is a lot of talk about polyphasic sleep, the “invention” of which is attributed to Leonardo da Vinci - however, this biohacker method has more opponents than supporters.
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