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maximize your mental performance just as much as you need them to maximize your athletic prowess. Also, just as you exercise at the gym to boost the power and endurance of your muscles, you can conduct mental exercises to buff up your cognitive functions.
After an in-take interview on my first session last week (read the article), kSero president Susan Hardwicke prepared an action list of lifestyle changes -- more exercise, more and better sleep, better nutrition, less TV -- and dietary supplements that she said would boost my mental energy and spare me the mid-afternoon fatigue that sometimes erodes my productivity. Some of the recommendations seemed to help. One recommendation definitely did not, as I shall describe -- but it did alert me to the necessity of consulting my physician about my blood pressure medicine.
Bottom line: Have these changes brought about the intended result? Am I bursting now with mental energy? Honestly, it's too early to tell. I do sense a slight improvement. Over the past week, I've resorted to fewer mental time-outs from my work, such as flipping through a magazine, playing a game of PC solitaire or sneaking up to the kitchen. But the difference has been one of degree. For all I know, I'm experiencing a placebo effect: The changes are making a difference because I think they are. Perhaps I could get the same effect by doing the Hamster Dance or reciting incantations over incense.
On the other hand, I've been following the kSero regimen for only a week. No one would expect transfiguring results in such a short time. Furthermore, the kSero methodology is an empirical one. It incorporates feedback and makes adjustments. The human body is incredibly complex, and not every person responds the same. The goal is to develop a program that works for me. The supplements, in particular, are tailored to my unique characteristics.
Clearly, one of the supplements on the action list last week did not set well with my system. Hardwicke had suggested a calcium/magnesium tablet that promoted a deeper, more refreshing sleep. I took the tablets for several days, but noticed something amiss -- my blood pressure had shot up. I e-mailed the problem to Hardwicke.... What kind of blood pressure medicine I was taking, she asked.... Norvasc, I replied.... Oh, she said. That's a calcium channel blocker. It might be interacting negatively with the tablets. Better lay off the tablets.
Hardwicke then did some research on Norvasc and uncovered some disturbing information. Norvasc and other calcium channel blockers do lower blood pressure -- but they actually increase the severity of heart attacks under certain conditions and raise the risk of cancer. Overall, according to her source, the drugs don't reduce the death rates.
Great, I thought, I'm shelling out $40 a month for a drug that might be doing me more harm than good.
Had my physician informed me of these risks, Hardwicke asked.... Er, no.... Had he advised me to stay away from certain foods or supplements that might interact negatively with the drug? ... Er, no... Given my sensitivity to the calcium supplements, she suggested, it might be a good idea to have a little chat about my blood pressure medicine.
OK, I'll put that on my list. That's right up there with finding more time to exercise, which I swear I'm going to do.
Such were the matters we addressed when I appeared for my second scheduled visit at kSero this morning. Once we had addressed the issue of the calcium channel blockers, I was ushered into the office of Andy Wallace, the white-frocked kSero staffer who administers the EEG minimap. The EEG measures minute electrical impulses emanating from different sectors of the brain through sensors placed on the scalp. The brain waves range from delta (low frequency signals associated with deep sleep), to theta (drowsiness), alpha (awake but relaxed), beta (alert) and high beta (hyper-vigilant, panicked or enraged). Ideally, explains Wallace, the brain registers a balance between theta and beta waves.
First, Wallace measured my head from my nasion (bridge of the nose) to the inion (the bump at the back of the skull), and then from ear to ear. That allowed him to plot specific spots on the head, crucial for standardizing the placement of the sensors. Then he applied one sensor to my scalp and another to an earlobe with an electrical-conducting paste, hooked them up to an amplifier and plugged them into this laptop. Within no time, the laptop was registering the electrical impulses across a broad spectrum of brain waves.
Wallace walked me through a series of mental states -- staring out the window, closing the eyes, reading an article in Scientific American -- at four different spots on the head. (The full treatment, as opposed to the "mini," is 20 spots). After a series of measurements lasting a half hour or so, he pronounced himself satisfied. "We got a good clean reading," he declared.
His preliminary conclusion: I exhibited a theta/beta ratio of 1.1 to one across most of the tests. That indicates a darn clear mental focus. ... Well, that's good news. Whatever the source of my forgetfulness, it's not short-term memory (see last week's story) or mental focus... Wallace said he would analyze the results and give me a definitive reading next week.
My final consultation of the morning was with Wallace and his compatriot Kristen Baker, a young woman who had recently earned a degree in biomedical engineering. It was time for a nutrition update.
When it comes to nutrition and supplements, Baker and Wallace have drunk the kSero Kool-Aid. Well, maybe not the Kool-Aid. Neither of them would approve of Kool-Aid, a drink that is loaded up with refined sugars and induces a momentary sugar rush followed by an energy deficit. It would be truer to the spirit of the enterprise to say that they've imbibed the kSero protein energy shakes.
Because they recommend the kSero nutritional regimen to so many of their clients -- not all, but many -- both kSero staffers adhere to it themselves. "You can't help but be inspired by Dr. Hardwicke and her energy and vitality," avers Wallace. Both also vouch personally for the efficacy of the nutritional program and supplements. Both feel energized.
We walked through my dietary intake of the previous day. Soy protein milkshake for breakfast, dusted with lecithin and supplemented by Omega-3 fish oil... very good.... Deli turkey sandwich with deli cheese, lettuce and tomato for lunch. ... Oh, not so good. The food companies that process the deli turkey load it up with lots of chemicals, Baker warned. Organic, non-genetically modified food is preferred.
Oh, man, I think, I'll never live up to these guys' standards. I thought it was a big breakthrough when I abandoned the bagels with my sandwiches in favor of multi-grain bread. Now I've got to start reading and analyzing the nutrition labels on all the food I eat? I don't know if I can handle it!
Don't worry, Baker told me. One step at a time. My diet is pretty good. For right now, just avoid the highly refined "white" foods like bread, pasta and rice, which offer empty calories. And eat more fruits and raw vegetables... That's still asking a lot... At least we agree on one thing: The kSero people agree that the soy protein shakes taste way better than the whey.
Hardwicke joined us toward the end of the nutrition chat. She pronounced herself satisfied with my dietary progress but urged me to think organic. She's 53 years old and a cancer survivor, she said. "But I feel like I'm 36. I have more energy than I did 10 years ago."
She does, in fact, have more energy than most people half her age.
Just remember, she admonished: "You are what you eat. You think what you eat."
-- June 14, 2006
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