How to Become Smarter (17 page)

Some readers might say that the possible negative effects of the bread-and-sugar diet are the result of the unbalanced nature of this diet, that is, the lack of some vitamins and high-quality protein. This is not the case because the control diets, one consisting of boiled whole grains and the other consisting of raw soaked grains, do not have the negative effects characteristic of the bread-and-sugar diet.

The following is a description of my personal experience with the above diets. (Readers can skip the detailed description of these data and jump to the end of this section: press the skip button or
this link
.) We will start with the diet that has almost no negative effects on mental abilities (raw soaked grains only). At the end, we will take a look at the diet that has the worst negative effects (the bread-and-sugar diet).

I tested the diet consisting of raw grains only (oats and shredded wheat soaked in water for 12 hours or longer) in the summer of 1995. The longest experiment was two and a half days. This diet has no noticeable adverse effects, except that the ability to concentrate on reading tasks is insufficient, but the capacity for manual work is good.

I tested the diet consisting of boiled whole grains only on several occasions in the past. The most recent experiment (boiled shredded wheat and boiled buckwheat only) lasted for 3.5 days (from August 18 to August 20, 2009). Compared to the diet of raw grains, this diet produces a significant slowing. The slowing can manifest itself as reduced activity or a feeling of boredom. In social situations, there is a tendency for taciturnity, inability to keep up with conversation, and a lack of initiative. The diet had no effect on either mood or fatigue, and I felt good both physically and mentally. On the fourth day of this diet, August 21, I developed a strong sugar craving and started consuming honey, about 6 tablespoons per day. On the same day, I developed a mild headache, which increased in intensity on the next day. I decided that the headache may be due to honey and replaced honey with fruit juices (canned grape and pineapple juices, free of additives) on August 23. I did not use any other treatments for headache. The headache cleared up in the afternoon of August 23, and I continued the boiled grains diet with some fruit juices, the whole day August 24. I discontinued this diet in the morning of August 25. I was unable to force myself to write anything starting from August 19 (I was working on this book at the time) until the grains-only diet ended on August 25. I felt well both physically and mentally at the end of this experiment. This experiment suggests that honey is unhealthy food and may cause headache in the context of a vegan diet. (I avoid honey because it seems to impair mental abilities; in particular, it may cause irrational fears and error-prone thinking.) Previous experiments with a diet that consists of boiled grains only were shorter, about two days (on several occasions in 1995-1997). Boiled grains do not increase the amount of errors at work (such as laboratory work at a research institute), but they cause a noticeable slowing in social interactions.

I tested the diet consisting of whole-grain bread and water for 2 days in February of 2009 and for 7 days in November 2009. I worked as a laboratory scientist during the test on February 11-12. There was a noticeable increase in clumsiness and errors in laboratory work on the second day of the diet. There is a substantial slowing in social interactions and there is a feeling that you are sedated and can’t keep up with what’s going on around you. I was working at home on this book during the most recent experiment from October 29 to November 5, 2009. I was unable to insert references in the book as planned, but was able to read the text and make some edits. Sleep was normal and there was no change in mood or anxiety level. Contrary to my expectations, I did not observe any negative physical symptoms.

The bread-and-water diet did not cause sugar cravings that I had after several days of the diet that consisted of boiled grains (see above). The bread-and-water diet does not have direct effects on mood or anxiety level under conditions when the person does not have to work or interact with other people. Nonetheless, it is possible that this diet may worsen mood or increase anxiety
indirectly
, via increased clumsiness and errors at work and difficulty with social interactions. At the end of the seven days of this diet, I attended a family event; I was slow, quiet, and taciturn as though I was sedated. Nonetheless, I felt well physically at the end of this experiment.

The bread-and-sugar diet consists of whole-grain bread and water solution of sucrose, approximately 2.5 grams of sucrose per kilogram of body weight per day. I tested this diet for 2 days in March 2009 and, most recently, for 4 days (July 27-31, 2009). This was the maximum dose of sucrose that I could force myself to consume. During the 2-day test on March 12 and 13, I was working as a laboratory scientist. Work productivity and activity level declined, social interactions were awkward, and there was a general tendency toward taciturnity. There was an increase in clumsiness on day 2 (increased number of errors in manual laboratory work). Later, during the 4-day test in July, I was working on this book and spent most of the time in solitude. There were no noticeable adverse effects during the first 24 hours except that I was unable to write anything until the end of this 4-day test. On day 2, there was moderate chest pain in the area of the heart and sleep pattern started to shift later into the night. On day 3, there was mild headache and moderate heartburn as well as insomnia; I slept about 4 hours on night 3. On night 4, I slept about 2 hours in the morning, and the insomnia was uncomfortable. The next day, I did not feel sleepy and felt well physically, but there was a weird feeling that the world around me was unreal (derealization). This feeling persisted throughout the day and was uncomfortable, although mood was normal and there was no anxiety. My abdomen increased in size, possibly due to slower than usual passage of food through the digestive tract. I decided to abort the bread-and-sugar diet after about 96 hours in the evening of July 31. All symptoms disappeared within one or two days after I switched to the modified high-protein diet. Since I was unable to get any work done during those 4 days, I spent most of the time chatting on the Internet, watching DVDs of my favorite TV shows with occasional walking outdoors. I can conclude that the bread-and-sugar diet impairs mental abilities. In addition, this diet may induce some psychotic symptoms (derealization). Some statistical studies show that schizophrenic patients tend to have poor dietary habits and are more likely to eat a diet that consists of junk food compared to the general population [
282
,
945
,
990
].

The above experiments suggest that sucrose and bread can worsen mental abilities without causing noticeable problems with physical health. This impairment can manifest itself as increased clumsiness and increased amount of errors in job- or school-related tasks. (A recent statistical study shows a correlation between consumption of junk food and an increased amount of errors and injuries [
998
].) My experiments also suggest that raw and boiled grains are healthy foods that do not impair mental abilities, although boiled grains appear to have a mild sedative effect. The summary of the findings is as follows. The diet of baked grains (bread) has metabolic effects that are different from those of a boiled grain diet. The bread-and-water diet will increase errors, cause substantial sedation, and will not cause sugar cravings. The boiled grain diet will not increase errors, but will cause sugar cravings and milder sedation. Addition of sucrose to the bread-and-water diet causes sleep disturbances [
985
] and further impairment of thinking, such as psychotic symptoms. None of these diets has direct biological effects on mood or anxiety level.

It is possible that the observed deterioration of intelligence on the bread-and-sugar diet is due to the “nocebo effect,” i.e. negative self-suggestion. On the other hand, I expected this diet to worsen mood or increase anxiety. This did not happen under the conditions when the person does not have to work or interact with other people. (The depressant diet described in Chapter Four lowers mood and increases emotional tension under these conditions.) I also expected the bread-and-water diet to cause some physical symptoms, yet I observed no negative effects on physical health after seven days of this diet. These observations suggest that the negative effects on mental abilities are real and not the result of the nocebo effect.

Those readers who wish to test my claims in volunteer studies may consider testing the following diets in parallel (for seven days or longer):

1. bread-and-sugar diet;
   
2. bread and fruit juice diet;
   
3. the diet of boiled whole grains and fruit juice;
   
4. modified high-protein diet (Chapter Three).
   

The cognitive tests should involve complex questions and calculations in order to detect differences in the amount of errors. These should be tests of fluid intelligence that do not require advanced knowledge (crystallized intelligence). Simple mental tasks will not be suitable for this purpose. Interested researchers can also test the above diets on people whose occupation requires unusual precision and motor coordination, such as golf or baseball players.

• Self-experimentation suggests that a diet that consists of refined sugar and bread worsens mental abilities within one to two days.
  
• This deterioration can manifest itself as sleep disturbances, increased amount of errors, clumsiness, and, after four days, some psychotic symptoms (derealization).
  
• Control diets that consist of raw soaked grains or boiled grains do not have these adverse effects.
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Caloric restriction or food restriction is a sustained reduction of the food intake by about 15 to 30% in laboratory animals, compared to their usual food consumption to full satiety. A typical caloric restriction regimen provides normal amounts of protein and vitamins but reduces the amount of calories at the expense of dietary carbohydrates and fat. Numerous experiments have shown that caloric restriction has a number of beneficial effects on health of laboratory animals. For example, caloric restriction can extend lifespan, prevent or delay cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, and enhance the immune system. It is not known if caloric restriction has similar beneficial effects on humans, although it is likely to prevent or reduce obesity. Obesity correlates with a shorter lifespan and increased risk of many diseases in humans. In a recent study, researchers subjected monkeys to 30% caloric restriction for most of their adult lifespan. The study showed that the incidence of diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and brain atrophy decreased, compared to the control group of animals [
283
]. Twenty years after the onset of the caloric restriction regimen, 80% of the food-restricted monkeys survived. Only 50% of control monkeys (normal feeding) were still alive at that time point. These data suggest that caloric restriction can extend the lifespan of primates and possibly humans as well. On the other hand, the most recent study of caloric restriction in monkeys shows that this regimen does not extend their lifespan [
1005
]. The diet in the latest study was healthier than the diet in the earlier study. Thus, it is possible that a healthy diet extends the lifespan of monkeys and caloric restriction provides little or no further benefit.

Researchers in the field of caloric restriction believe that caloric restriction is difficult to achieve in a sustained manner in free-living humans [
284
]. This is because in free-living humans, a period of self-imposed dietary restrictions leads to a period of overeating, in most cases. There is some evidence from laboratory animals and from human studies that individuals who undergo 20-30% caloric restriction feel hungry most of the time. These problems prompted some investigators to search for pharmacological agents or other physiological treatments that mimic caloric restriction in free-living humans [
284
]. There is an organization, the Calorie Restriction Society, that conducts research on the effects of long-term caloric restriction in humans and it is recruiting volunteers. The readers who are interested in this topic can find more information on their website.

This section describes some techniques that are useful for controlling appetite. You can use these techniques for restricting the amount of calories or for reducing the amount of junk food in your diet. For example, overly tasty food causes overeating and weight gain in laboratory animals [
285
]. Tasty junk food in all likelihood causes overconsumption of calories in humans as well. The techniques presented below can prevent overeating of palatable food. I don’t know whether these methods can help to lose weight; however, it is conceivable that they can maintain weight loss that you have achieved by other means.

Some studies show that it is possible to reduce the amount of food necessary to achieve satiety by prolonging the chewing process [
286
,
986
]. These observations led me to do some experimentation and I found that the following principles may reduce the total food intake, perhaps, by 10 to 20% (unpublished personal observations):

a)
   Extend chewing of solid and semisolid food (60 to 70 times for each bite). It is possible to extend the chewing time further, but if you overdo it, the long chewing time may soon become inconvenient and therefore unsustainable, leading to cycles of restriction and binging. The key is consistency, with the chewing time being not too long and not too short. This approach will increase the duration or frequency of meals, which is a drawback of this method.
b)
   Chewing should not be hasty; the speed of chewing should be slow-to-average. Slow down and relax when you sit down to eat. Make it a habit to never chew hastily.
c)
   Do not mix any type of solid food with drinks during chewing (people tend to swallow moist food without chewing). This approach will make it easier for you to chew solid food thoroughly. You can consume drinks after you have chewed and swallowed the solid food. For example, if you are used to eating cookies with milk or hamburgers with soft drinks, try separating consumption of solid foods and consumption of drinks. You will see that instead of wolfing down two hamburgers at one sitting, you will eat only one hamburger and feel full. You also will enjoy the meal for the same duration of time.
d)
   Always make normal-sized bites of any solid or semisolid food and avoid stuffing your mouth. Stuffing the mouth results in violation of principle “c,” which leads to violation of principle “a.”