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fish cooked at moderate temperatures and nuts to the antidepressant diet will not worsen mental abilities on one condition. The amount of cooked flesh should not exceed the amount of dairy by weight. It is also possible to improve mental clarity by restricting the amount of food you consume, without adhering to a strict diet.
    The proposed dietary changes can have side effects, such as character changes, and strict diets may cause problems in social relations.
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CHAPTER 2: Sleep management
     

 
Key points:
Moderate heating of the body shares several biological effects with sedative drugs: slowing of reflexes and similar chemical changes in the brain.
Moderate heating increases the level of GABA and serotonin in the brain, the chemicals that have sedative properties.
Several studies on laboratory animals and human subjects show that moderate heating of the body does promote sleep, and therefore you can use this method as a sleeping aid.
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Key points:
A convenient way to slightly increase surface body temperature is a head-out hot shower at 38 to 39 degrees Celsius (100.5 to 102°F) for 5 to 20 minutes, before going to bed. You can also use a hot bath of similar temperature and duration.
A moderately hot environment can help you fall asleep.
Hot hydrotherapy reduces pain, and the hot environment approach has mood-lowering and possibly anti-manic properties.
Hot hydrotherapy and sauna reduce blood pressure when it is elevated. Simple immersion in tepid or warm water up to the neck also reduces blood pressure.
People who are taking medication or have chronic medical conditions should check with their doctor before using heat-based treatments.
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Key points:
Boiled grains contain small amounts of Maillard reaction products, which are chemicals formed by a chemical reaction between proteins and carbohydrates at high temperatures.
Some Maillard reaction products, such as acrylamide, share several biological effects with sedative drugs (e.g., benzodiazepines): reduced level of activity and temporary impairment of learning and memory. Acrylamide is present in bread and French fries but undetectable in boiled grains.
Bread promotes sleep, but I consider bread a “dumb food” because it seems to impair judgment and to increase the amount of errors (at work or at school).
On the other hand, a diet consisting of boiled whole grains only is a good sleeping aid and does not impair judgment. If boiled grains cannot help you fall asleep, you can eat whole-grain bread, which is a stronger sedative.
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Key points:
Moderate cooling of the body shares many biological effects with psychostimulant drugs, including increased blood pressure (a small temporary increase), constriction of blood vessels, slightly increased production of heat, reduced fatigue, increased activity and information processing speed, and elevation of mood.
Similar to psychostimulants, moderate cooling increases alertness and disrupts sleep.
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Key points:
Adapted cold showers at 20 degrees Centigrade (68°F) that include a 3- to 5-minute gradual adaptation phase are easy to do and not stressful.
They are effective as a wakefulness-promoting treatment in the morning or afternoon.
Adapted cold showers have several other beneficial effects: they improve mood and reduce fatigue, fever, nausea, and pain.
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Key points:
A cooling procedure that does not lower normal core body temperature, such as a cold shower at 20°C (68°F), is usually safe and cannot cause a respiratory illness.
On the other hand, transmission and survival of influenza virus increase in cold dry air. In addition, inhaling cold air inhibits immune defenses of the respiratory tract. These two observations can explain the predominant occurrence of respiratory infections in the winter.
Eating ice-cold