How to Become Smarter (72 page)

Mind versus brain.
Research suggests that personality traits are stable throughout the lifespan of a person [
808
,
809
], and therefore the person cannot change them easily by a mental effort. There are consistent gender differences as well as small age-related changes in personality traits [
810
], suggesting that biological and environmental factors influence personality traits. The small changes of personality with age follow a well-defined trajectory within each gender, i.e. the changes are not chaotic [
810
]. These data suggest that personality traits are not subject to change by a mental effort. If people could change character traits at will, there would be (a)
big
changes throughout the adult life of a person; and (b) chaotic and
unpredictable
changes. Both “a” and “b” are false. In addition, the Big Five personality traits show significant heritability and the contribution of genes is about 50% [
811
]. The scientific consensus is that personality traits are the result of both genetic and environmental factors and reflect biological properties of the brain [
811
].

A person can modify some brain functions by physical treatments such as pharmacotherapy, dietary changes, environmental temperature, surgery, and so on, as we saw in studies cited throughout this book. Based on the above observations, we can conclude that when someone advises you to change your character traits (“you should be more responsible with your money,” or “you should ignore what other people think about you”), this advice is not helpful unless the advisor tells you how to change your brain function.

An attempt to change brain function by a purely mental effort can be likened to that story about Baron von Munchhausen where he grabbed himself by the hair and lifted himself out of a bog. Although an independent mental effort cannot change brain function, psychotherapy
can
change biological functioning of the brain to some extent. Psychotherapy is an external intervention (for example, the patient is talking to a therapist or to a group of patients) and it is beneficial in many mental disorders. Particularly, cognitive-behavioral therapy can help a patient to identify and get rid of dysfunctional beliefs and maladaptive patterns of behavior. This change reduces the amount of negative life experiences and thereby reduces mental suffering [
812
]. Although psychological interventions do not directly change biological properties of the brain, they nevertheless can change sensory and informational input into the central nervous system and thereby exert significant effects on brain activity. For example, forced social isolation produces numerous negative physical changes in the brain, such as disruption of the blood brain barrier [
429
]. Nonetheless, a recent review showed that psychotherapy is not effective in severe mental illness [
813
] whereas pharmacotherapy is effective [
814
], suggesting that purely psychological methods have some limitations.

Nevertheless, psychotherapy (often useful) can be contrasted with an independent mental effort (usually useless in the matters of mental health). The latter does not involve an external intervention, either biological or psychological, and therefore, it is unlikely to change the brain function. The purely mental effort can be likened to a placebo in clinical trials in psychiatric disorders. Incidentally, studies suggest that the placebo effect is much smaller than what many people assume; most of this effect represents the natural progression of a disease [
32
,
33
,
904
,
931
]. For example, in a clinical trial of an anti-cold medicine, a researcher can easily mistake spontaneous recovery from a common cold for a strong placebo effect.

Thoughts and emotions are the result of activity of the brain. Therefore, it is incorrect to assume that the effects (thoughts and emotions) can influence the cause (biological activity of the brain). This raises a philosophical question: does matter control mind or is it the mind that controls the matter? The weight of scientific evidence suggests that brain (the matter) has complete and absolute control over consciousness (the mind). In other words, the mind is just an attribute or a property of a functioning brain. Conversely, the mind is powerless against the brain and has no control whatsoever over the workings of the brain. The mind can be likened to a movie on the screen, while the brain is the movie projector. Administration of a strong sedative-hypnotic drug (tampering with the brain) will put a person to sleep and will “turn off” the mind. There is not a damn thing that the mind will be able to do to resist the effects of medication (if the person uses purely
mental
efforts). On the other hand, people who suffer from insomnia cannot fall asleep, in other words, they cannot “turn off” their brains as it were, by a mental effort. Various thoughts, desires, emotions, physiological needs, and the consciousness itself are the brain’s doing, not the mind’s. You could say that the brain controls a person’s life, whereas the mind is just a helpless and submissive witness.

Then what about the situations when the mind seemingly has some degree of control over the brain, for example, when you decide to have several cups of strong coffee to stay awake all night or you take an analgesic drug to reduce pain? Unfortunately, these are examples of
the brain
doing things to itself because the brain controls all your movements and senses. The “pure mind” (if you do not use any physical action and any senses) is pretty much helpless and powerless. For example, you will not be able to stop a feeling of hunger or physical pain by a purely mental effort, but you can easily do so by tampering with the workings of the brain (drugs, hypnosis, cold water, and so on). To sum up, it is the brain that controls the mind, not the other way around. Put another way, free will is severely limited by the workings of the brain (for more on free will, see
endnote Q
).

A related question is whether talents really exist or they are some sort of complex skills that anyone can learn. If we define a talent as a unique property of the brain that puts a person into the top 1% in a competitive field
all else being equal,
then there is no doubt that talents do exist [
21
,
22
,
987
] and it’s impossible to learn a talent [
530
,
531
]. For example, if 300 random people, who never played chess before, are coached to play chess exactly 14 hours per day for one month and then a tournament is held, then some people will end up among the top 1% of winners, while many others will be in the bottom 50%. Although people who are currently in the bottom 50% can improve their chess-playing skills with further practice, in a
competitive
field (there is a reward for winning) these people will never reach the top 1% because the current winners (including those in the top 10%) will always be ten steps ahead of them, thus demonstrating that a talent can be neither learned nor “earned” through hard work. Further evidence that talents are a unique
biological
property of the brain comes from the observation that a dog will not be able to learn how to play chess because its brain is not “talented” that way.

The following measures can reduce the amount of gas in the digestive tract: the exclusion of raffinose-rich foods (legumes: beans, kidney beans, peanuts, peas, and others) and exclusion of starchy foods (bananas, grains, noodles, potatoes, and so on) from the diet [
246
,
250
], although this kind of nutrition can be difficult in the long run. It is easier to avoid only foods that cause excessive amounts of gas: legumes, bananas, pears, raw eggs, and raw grains. The foods that cause moderate amounts of gas are cooked grains, cooked eggs, and cooked potatoes. Wheat extract, most dairy products, and non-starchy fruits and vegetables produce little or no gas. It is believed that meat and fish cause no flatulence at all. Raw eggs produce the most foul-smelling gas; cooked eggs, bread, and junk food cause an intermediate smell, whereas boiled grains and boiled potatoes produce an almost odorless gas. Research shows that the meat-only diet causes zero gas [
251
], but it is a highly unbalanced diet. Another, simpler way to reduce the “noise” is to use a wad of crumpled toilet paper in the bathroom. This approach will increase consumption of toilet paper, but will ensure complete silence even with a highly gassy diet. Wheat extract causes less gas than whole grains, and to completely eliminate this problem it may be necessary to treat the wheat extract with alpha-galactosidase [
250
] (brand name
Beano®
) or, alternatively, to develop a genetically modified strain of wheat that lacks certain sugars (alpha-galactosides, such as raffinose and stachyose).

Based on my experience, sour fruits such as apples and oranges tend to worsen the “chapped lips” problem during the winter. This is probably because acid irritates the skin of the lips. I find it helpful to use regular butter as a chapstick and to exclude sour fruits during the cold season of the year. You can still drink fruit juices using a straw; this approach will also be safer for your teeth because acid slowly erodes enamel when you chew acid-rich fruits.

The starchless diet.
I am the only person who tested this diet. I lost 31 pounds (14 kilograms) in about 30 weeks from late 2011 through early 2012. The diet stopped reducing my weight after my BMI reached approximately 24. I discontinued the diet in September 2012 because of problems with irritability and impulsivity. I regained 75% of the weight as of December 2012, which means that I am back to being somewhat overweight (not obese). If you are obese (BMI > 30), you may give the starchless diet a try, but if you are overweight (BMI < 30), the benefits may not be worth disadvantages. Because this diet is more or less balanced, it does not cause hunger and cravings. It is possible to stay on this diet for many months.

This diet excludes all starchy foods, such as grains (bread, cereals), potatoes, bananas, and any foods containing flour. The starchless diet consists of a limited number of food products: non-starchy fruits and vegetables (raw and boiled), boiled fatty meat, boiled fish, low-fat milk, and unprocessed unsalted cheese (preferably low-fat). People allergic to cow milk may consider goat milk instead, and lactose-intolerant people may consider special lactose-free dairy. The staple fruits and vegetables are the following: cabbage, carrots, beets, dill, cauliflower, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes and tomato juice or paste (free of salt), apples, apricots, plums, grapes, peaches, dates, and citrus juices (free of additives). Note that non-starchy vegetables such as carrots also contain some starch but much less than starchy veggies.

Any foods not mentioned above are not allowed, in particular: avoid junk food, such as candy, cookies, chocolate, pastries, anything containing white flour and refined sugar because they are unhealthy calories that will prevent weight loss; sweet non-starchy fruits are OK in moderation; I don’t eat honey because I don’t think it is good for mental health (if you must eat honey, restrict it to one teaspoon a day); avoid legumes (beans, kidney beans, peas, peanuts, and so on), pears, organ meats, and eggs because they cause gas; avoid salted and processed cheeses (contain too many artificial chemicals); avoid lean meat (it’s unhealthy; low-fat dairy and lean fish are OK) and fried, smoked, grilled, broiled, baked or barbequed meat and fish (contain carcinogens).

Breakfast:
Salad or vegetable juice; vegetable soup; 100-200 grams (3-6 ounces) of boiled or steamed ground beef.

Lunch:
Fruit salad or a glass of orange juice; vegetable soup; 100-200 grams (3-6 ounces) of boiled or steamed chicken.

Dinner:
Vegetable soup; low-fat milk mixed with 100-200 grams (3-6 ounces) of cheese plus fruit juice or a pureed apple.

I recommend the following intermittent dieting regimen: 3 or 4 weeks of the starchless diet followed by one week of a diet that includes boiled whole grains (such as shredded wheat, steel-cut oats, buckwheat, and brown rice) but excludes other starchy foods (bananas, potatoes, legumes, bread, and so on). If you start experiencing increased irritability or feelings of hostility while on the starchless diet, you need to switch temporarily to a diet that contains boiled grains and dairy.

Replace emotional eating with emotional showering. Instead of eating your customary comfort foods when you feel stressed, take a warm shower or a warm shower followed by a hot shower. Cold showers are prohibited during the starchless diet: both of these increase impulsivity and you may make some rash decisions that will cause you a lot of grief later. The only exception is when you have a fever or feel depressed. In this case, you may take adapted cold showers (as described in Chapter Two).

Don’t expect quick results: consistency and patience are key. You can expect to lose approximately one pound a week, based on my experience. One hundred percent compliance with the diet will be difficult, especially at social events. In this case, use the food restriction techniques described in
Chapter One
.