How to Become Smarter (60 page)
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
can improve sleep and reduce impulsivity; tend to promote boredom
Raw whole wheat, buckwheat or oats or raw water extract*
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue:
reduces
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control: +
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect: ++ Other effects:
can cause insomnia
Bread (baked grains)
Causes slowing: +++ Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition: ++ Improves attention control: +
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
can improve sleep and reduce impulsivity; tends to promote boredom
Raw nuts**
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control: +++
Lowers mood: ++ Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
can increase irritability; roasted nuts can cause headache
Honey
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition: ++ Improves attention control:
No
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect: ++
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
can cause sleepiness; irrational fears
Fruit (raw or cooked)
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control:
No
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect: ++
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
Vegetables (raw or cooked)
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control:
No
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
Pungent vegetables (onion, garlic, radish)**
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control:
No
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
may cause feelings of anger and hostility
Pasteurized low-fat milk, kefir or buttermilk
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue: +
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control: +
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect: +++ Other effects:
easy to digest in large amounts; milk can cause upset stomach in the context of some diets
Unsalted unprocessed cheese
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue: +
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control: ++
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect: ++ Other effects:
fatty cheese can cause constipation if a large amount is eaten in one meal
Boiled eggs
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue: +
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control: ++
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
Boiled or steamed fish
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control: ++
Lowers mood: + Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
Boiled (ground) meat, 15% fat or higher
Causes slowing: + Increases physical fatigue: ++
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control: +++
Lowers mood: ++ Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
reduces impulsivity, beneficial for self-control in general; can cause
constipation
if a large amount is eaten in one sitting
Junk food
Causes slowing: + Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition: +++ Improves attention control:
No
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
can cause quick weight gain
Addition of small amounts of salt to diet
Causes slowing:
No
Increases physical fatigue:
No
Impairs cognition:
No
Improves attention control:
No
Lowers mood:
No
Euphoriant effect:
No
Antidepressant effect:
No
Other effects:
it is possible to live without using any salt
The purpose of this questionnaire is self-assessment of the effects of various treatments (e.g., drugs, diets, or other lifestyle changes) on mental abilities, specifically, on the fluid components of three types of intelligence: academic, emotional, and social. The recommended frequency of self-assessment with this instrument is once every two weeks. Because this is a self-rating instrument, the answers can be faked. Therefore, you should not use this questionnaire in situations where the test results will translate into some kind of reward or punishment for the test-takers (for example, when you use the questionnaire for screening of job applicants). It is best to use the questionnaire for self-assessment and for research purposes (for instance, volunteer studies) because under these circumstances the answers are likely to be honest. Readers are free to use this questionnaire for research or academic purposes without obtaining my permission. No one has validated and characterized the questionnaire scientifically, and therefore the following characteristics are unknown: mean and standard deviation in the general population, construct validity, reliability coefficient, Cronbach’s alpha, and test-retest variability.
Some questions may seem ridiculous and irrelevant, but in my view, they can assess relevant mental abilities indirectly. Certain questions (2, 6, 12, 13, and 18) may appear to be assessing crystallized intelligence (knowledge and skills); in actuality, most of these questions are designed to test fluid intelligence indirectly. The selection of questions for this instrument was based on my personal experience with various diets and the changes that they produced in various components of social and occupational functioning. Therefore, this questionnaire probably represents my subjective opinion about what “mental clarity” means. A legitimate question may arise as to what a high mental clarity score means for someone who has it. In theory, it should correlate with high scores of fluid intelligence on proctored tests of academic, emotional, and social intelligence. This correlation has not been verified. The questionnaire starts below the dotted line.
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Question 1 is split in two for two categories of people: those who have to work for a living and those who do not have to work for a living (students, retirees, and others). Please answer the subquestion appropriate for you and ignore the other subquestion within Question 1. When answering questions 1 and 11, you need to ignore physical health problems since the questionnaire deals with mental/intellectual spheres of life. When answering questions 2 and 12, you can ignore your relationship with your supervisor at work (if you have a supervisor), since this relationship is usually (but not always) stressful and unpleasant to the employee. Question 18 mentions “internal mood,” which means how a person feels as opposed to what the person displays or shows to other people. Changes of lifestyle in question 18 exclude drugs, alcohol or pharmacological treatments.