your brain will heal itself if you do these 3 things

Key wellness strategies & self-care / productivity tips (3-part “brain healing” plan)

1) Fix blood-sugar spikes after meals (protects brain performance)

• Timing focus: The 3 hours after you eat are critical for attention and working memory.
• What to do (same foods, smarter order):
  • Eat protein + vegetables first
  • Wait ~10–15 minutes
  • Then eat the carb-heavy part (rice/bread/sweets, etc.)
• Why this helps: Research cited suggests that protein-first meal order and slow-release carbs can reduce blood glucose spikes and improve attention/working memory—especially for people with diabetes/prediabetes, and potentially even if you’re otherwise healthy.

2) Stop “training away” your attention (retrain focus with better input + environment)

• Avoid the habit: Short-form “dopamine loop” videos are described as steadily reducing attention span.
• What to do instead:
  • Engage with longer, informative content (preferably >5–6 minutes)
  • Commit seriously for about 2 weeks to notice meaningful change
• Reduce reliance on willpower (environment hack):
  • Put your phone in another room
• Practice being bored to rebuild attention:
  • Gym without your phone
  • Walk without music
  • “Stare at a wall” practice:
    • Set a timer
    • Do nothing for a short session and let thoughts come/go
    • Reframe discomfort as part of the training

3) Add “brain-building inputs” (learning + exercise)

• Learn a hard skill you’re actively bad at (struggle is the input):
  • Examples mentioned: language, chess, juggling
  • The idea: training builds new brain tissue/functions (benefits may fade if you stop)
• Aerobic exercise for brain growth:
  • 3 times per week
  • “Aerobic” = enough that you’re breathing properly
• Additional benefit cited: A trial in older adults comparing walking vs. stretching suggested walking supported hippocampus changes (memory/learning-related), countering age-related shrinkage.

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Practical “do this this week” checklist

• Meals: Eat protein/veg first, wait 10–15 minutes, then eat carbs.
• Media: Cut short-form “loop” time; choose longer videos (>5–6 min).
• Environment: Keep your phone out of reach (e.g., another room).
• Boredom training: Do wall-staring / no-stimulation sessions with a timer.
• Movement: Aerobic exercise 3x/week.
• Skill training: Practice a skill you’re bad at (struggle required).

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Presenters / sources mentioned

• Presenter: Hassan (medical student; also mentions making an earlier video about staring at a wall)
• Studies/Institutions referenced:
  • Researchers in Sweden (breakfast sugar-release rate; attention/working memory tests)
  • Additional trial in young healthy adults (lower sugar spike and memory/attention)
  • Cornell (Wild Cornell) / Cornell researchers (protein/vegetable first vs carbs; blood sugar peak reduction)
  • German researchers (2004) (juggling study; gray matter changes with practice and decline after stopping)
  • A Germany year-long randomized trial cited (older adults: walking vs stretching; hippocampus changes)
  • Unspecified “researchers” in general (multiple claims attributed to the referenced trials above)