Eat Your Way to Creativity: 15 Foods That Light Up Your Mind!
According to this study, your creative ability is closely linked to a little seahorse-shaped structure in the brain, known as the hippocampus! The hippocampus is that bad boy in charge of your learning, long-term memory, organizing and storage of past knowledge and experiences.
Take a moment to recall your most thrilling moment as a 7 year-old, as you buried your face into that awesome piece of birthday cake, pause, then take a moment to remember your worst memory- that silly bully on the playground with no front teeth. Remember? Yup, that's your hippocampus working. Now, mentally locate yours (it's close to the center of your brain) and thank it for a job well done. Amazingly, studies also show that this sea-horsey structure is closely related to our ingenuity and the backbone for creative thinking. In fact, this study shows people with damaged hippocampi lose their ability to imagine.
Gasp!
Imagine if all writers, painters, artists, musicians, art-enthusiasts, mums(the most creative of the lot) lost their imagination! Imagine if the writer of Game of Thrones lost his!! I honestly, I'm close to tears right now at the thought, then we'd never know what happened to Jon Snow! (Now we know *updated August 2016)
Ok, the real reason you clicked on this post: the food.
The hippocampus is a fitfam-ish kind of structure. It remains healthy as long as you feed it with foods that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamins A, D, E, Zinc and Flavonoids. Here are 15 foods packed with all these creative juices (in no particular order):
1. Fish
High in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin A, D and E. Fishes are so amazing they deserve their own post (coming up soon).
2. Flax seeds
Rich in Omega 3. Sprinkle some ground flax seeds in your smoothie before blending!
3. Green tea
High in and catechins! Don't steep with boiling water, use moderately hot water and add some lemon juice for better absorption of nutrients!
4. Liver
Rich in Vitamin A and iron! To be consumed in moderation, over consumption could lead to toxicity! Limit to 10, 000 international units daily.
5. Cocoa
Rich in flavonoids! SHOULD BE EATEN IN MODERATION. Cocoa is 50% fat and has a high sugar content.
6. Blueberries
Rich in vitamin A, C, potassium, manganese, anthocyanins and flavonoids! Divine in smoothies!
7. Mushrooms
Hold your breath for what mushrooms pack; Vitamin B, Zinc, Copper, Niacin, Phospholate, Folate, (Mushrooms aren't kidding here), Iron, Thiamin, Selenium, Panthothenic Acid. #HappyHippocampus
8. Almonds
Huge source of Vitamin E and B complexes just like mushrooms. Grab a handful a day, in between meals and chew away (I tried it with garri once, not too bad, i must say).
9. Avocados
Avocados = Super-uper food! They provide about 20 essential nutrients and are very rich in Vitamin E, Vitamin B and folic acid!
10. Spinach
Rich source of Vitamin A and C
11. Cod-liver oil
Rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin A, D and K!
12. Dairy/ Dairy Alternatives
High in Vitamin D.
13. Broccoli
High in fiber, very high in vitamin C, potassium, B6 and vitamin A and protein!
14. Sweet Potatoes
High in Vitamin A and C!
15. Bell Peppers
Rich in Vitamin A, B, C and E!
Treat your body right as you create and change the world with your wonderful creative mind; exercise and feed that brain! It goes without saying that we have to protect the hippocampi of our creative people in the world (think Jon Snow). Send this post to as many as you know! (By the way, we all create. Being creative is not exclusive. This applies to you too! Eat your way to creativity)
7 days = Creativity
This post is inspired by Brit and Co's #iamcreative initiative. I think they just broke my excitement scale.
Next week is my creativity week. I will be taking 7 days out to create something unique, never mind unsightly, at least it would be all me. I plan to do this activity for at least an hour everyday starting Monday. I have a pack of paint brushes that I use as accent decor, I guess it's time to put them to work. I also might try to bake something or make a drawing of some sort. Whatever it is, it's going to be thoroughly exciting and i can't wait to show it to you. No judgement, remember! Safe space and all. Lol.
Some creativity tips i'll be working with include:
Know thyself, Ike: Clearly there will be no creating before 6am as it is widely known that i am not a morning person and do not like to be spoken to before the hour of 9.
Habits, Chores: I have to make sure all my chores are done the night before. I don't think Picasso woke up to a sink full of dishes and was bursting with inspiration and enthusiasm.
Ignore social media, just a little bit: I'm going to be a little behind on the memes and trends. Please, please tag me in all of them, I'll catch up during the weekend.
Read on new creative project: YouTube it, that's creativity heaven.
Exercise everyday and stay still: Exercise and moments of silence are awesome for creativity, though on opposite sides of the spectrum. The shower is known for crazy epiphanies and inspiration too. However, I will not be exercising in the shower in an attempt to kill two birds with one stone, although the thought has crossed my mind.
Show at least one person your work, artists do not like to show people what they've done but your work is all you! Plus you get better everyday. By day 7, you actually might consider a career change.
Would you like to get in on this challenge? .......unleash your inner creator? Here are some ideas of stuff to create and activities to engage in:
- An entirely new dish with strange ingredients
- A painting you'd be proud to hang on your wall or give to the president, either works, no pressure
- Photoshop editing, you could download a trial and watch what you can do to a picture of your ex! No, not that one, the other one, the awful one with nose hair! I'm kidding, no meaness. Try editing one of you favorite photos. Watch YouTube videos to help breeze through.
- Knit something burgundy, color of the season and rightly so!
- Write something, anything; an experience, a story, a recipe, anything.
- Bake something you'd usually buy.
- If knitting and cooking is too Stepford-wives for you, there's also graffiti, murals, ceiling work(MichaelAngelo style), sewing(Stepford again), sewing with leather and metal, designing, dress-making for dolls (I used to be a pro!), carving, sculpturing, web designing. There's just so much to do.
Art and creativity is renown for improving and maintaining health. If you are stressed and having a tough week, well, art and creativity is exactly the pill you need to pop. It's wonderful, feeling proud about something you have made with your hands or mind. When you get discouraged, think out loud to yourself "God is the great creator, and guess who was made in his image." Wink.
What are you going to create?