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New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Secrets That Will Improve Your Memory

Posted on by Elias Goulart
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik.

INTRODUCTION

Having a bad memory is like your brain is perpetually stuck in airplane mode — it’s technically functioning but not really connecting to anything useful. At times, our minds feel less like steel traps and more like sieves with personality. We’ve all dealt with forgotten passwords and end up answering security questions that might as well be riddles posed by a bridge troll. Isn’t adult life fun?

And then there’s aging: nature’s ultimate bait-and-switch. Sure doesn’t make your memory any better. The good news is most of the memory issues we deal with as we age are normal. But it doesn’t make memory issues any more fun.

So what do we do about it? Well, we’re going to dive into the science to learn about how your memory works, why it doesn’t sometimes – and how we can make it better.

We’re gonna get some help from Daniel Schacter. He’s a professor of psychology at Harvard and his excellent book is “The Seven Sins of Memory: How the Mind Forgets and Remembers.”

We’re only gonna cover 4 of the 7 because those are the big ones (and if I covered all 7 we’d run into attention span issues – and that’s a topic for another post).

Alrighty, let’s get to it…

 

Sum Up

This is how to improve your memory…

  • Transience: Memories fade, especially as we age. It’s like being on a game show where the subject is you, and you’re still losing. But if we keep recalling the things we wish to remember, through work or in conversation with loved ones, we can retain more.
  • Absent-mindedness: Forgetting where you put your keys (even when they’re in your hand). It’s usually an issue of not sufficiently paying attention in the first place. Turn off autopilot or start using physical reminders.
  • Blocking: This is when your brain decides to play keep-away with names and facts. Usually it’s just a matter of waiting, but cycling through the alphabet can help as well.
  • Persistence: We all have regrets, worries and memories that have the half-life of uranium. To end the carousel of angst, talk about what bothers you or, even better, write about it.

Source: Here you can read the full article – https://bakadesuyo.com/2024/04/improve-your-memory.

How to store food in the fridge

Posted on by Elias Goulart

 

 

INTRO

Keeping your fridge organized doesn’t just make it easier for you to take stock of your inventory—it also has an impact on how long your foods and beverages stay fresh. While it may be tempting to throw a block of cheese on any shelf or keep a container of juice in the center console when you run out of room on the door, these actions can actually make grocery items perish faster.

To prevent this, it’s important to know where exactly each food group—including drinks and condiments—should live in your fridge. “When you’re considering organizing your fridge, it’s important to take the first step of ensuring your fridge is set to a safe temperature,” says Brittany Saunier, executive director at Partnership for Food Safety Education. “Using an appliance thermometer that you can find at most stores, set your fridge to 40 degrees or below. This temperature range slows down the growth of bacteria that may be on your food.”

After ensuring the appliance is set to the correct temperature, begin organizing by moving certain grocery store staples—think dairy, meats and fish, and fruits and vegetables—into their designated areas in your fridge.

Upper Shelves 

One of the most easily accessible areas of your fridge are the upper shelves, which is why it’s the perfect spot for grab-and-go foods. “The upper shelves should be utilized to keep leftovers and ready-to-eat food items—foods that are intended for direct consumption with no cooking or other processing needed,” says Carla L. Schwan, Ph.D., assistant professor and extension food safety specialist director at the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

Examples of foods that can be stored on the upper shelves include dips, leftover pizza, and deli-type salads, like coleslaw and potato salad. 

Middle Shelves 

The middle shelves of your refrigerator are where the temperature is the coldest and the most consistent. According to Schwan, the coldness slows the growth of spoilage (which leads food to deterioration) and pathogenic organisms (which make you sick). For that reason, she says dairy products like milk, eggs, and cheese should be stored there.

 

 

 

 

 

Lower Shelves

Like the middle shelves, the temperature on the bottom shelves of your appliance is also consistently cold. For that reason, raw meats, poultry, and fish should be kept on the lower levels of your fridge. “Additionally, by storing raw meats and poultry on the bottom shelves, you also reduce the risk of cross contamination by preventing the meat juices from dripping on top of other food items that may not be cooked at higher temperatures than meats and poultry,” says Schwan.

 

Crisper Drawers 

The crisper drawers in your fridge should be reserved for fruits and vegetables because they’re designed for effectively controlling humidity. Schwan says that some newer models have at least two crisper drawers that are classified into low and high humidity. “The low humidity drawer is designed to introduce some airflow, while the high humidity drawer is closed off completely,” she says.

Low Humidity

Fruits and vegetables release ethylene, a gas that promotes the ripening process of produce. Some fruits and vegetables produce excess ethylene—cantaloupes, peaches, avocados, kiwi, papayas, apples, and pears—and should be kept in the low humidity drawer. “Its design introduces airflow and removes some of the ethylene from the drawer, keeping the produce fresher longer,” Schwan says.

High Humidity

Some fruits and vegetables are more sensitive to ethylene than others—think strawberries, broccoli, lettuce, peppers, cucumbers, squash, and sweet potatoes—and will ripen and spoil faster. The high humidity drawer is where these foods should be kept.

“Its design is closed off completely and prevents the loss of moisture from vegetable tissues, allowing produce to stay fresher longer,” Schwan says. If your fridge doesn’t have these two subsections, just be sure to keep high ethylene-producing fruits and vegetables away from those that are sensitive to the gas.

 

Side Doors

Just as there’s a coldest area in your fridge, there’s also a warmest spot: The doors. “For this reason, the fridge door shelves should be utilized to store items that can endure temperature fluctuation and will not spoil as quickly,” says Schwan. She recommends keeping condiments (ketchup, mustard, mayo, and dressings) as well as nonperishable drinks (bottled water, soda), in this section of your fridge.

Author: Madeline Buiano
Source: https://www.marthastewart.com/