Have you ever felt exasperated when you bumped into someone at the store but absolutely couldn't remember their name? Sure, it happens to all of us.

　　Despite being the strongest computer on the planet, our brains do lapse. It's hard to blame them really. As humans, we spend much of or existence stuffing our brains with stuff.

　　No matter how powerful our brains are, they need recuperation time to be kept in shape. Think of it as a tune up for your brain. Skipping brain maintenance is as silly as the person wandering the parking garage because they forgot where they parked. Is that you? Are you that person? If so, fear not; we are all that person at some point.

　　Now I am not a brain surgeon and I am not going to suggest you do anything surgical or dangerous. I am however an astute student of human behavior so I always look for simple ways to super charge my brain.

　　Here are some things you can begin doing as soon as today to begin the great brain tune up:

　　Eat Almonds
　　Almond is believed to improve memory. If a combination of almond oil and milk is taken together before going to bed or after getting up at morning, it strengthens our memory power. Almond milk is prepared by crushing the almonds without the outer cover and adding water and sugar to it.

　　Drink Apple Juice
　　Research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) indicates that apple juice increases the production of the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain, resulting in an increased memory power.

　　Sleep well
　　Research indicates that the long-term memory is consolidated during sleep by replaying the images of the experiences of the day. These repeated playbacks program the subconscious mind to store these images and other related information.

　　Enjoy simple Pleasures
　　Stress drains our brainpower. A stress-ridden mind consumes much of our memory resources to leave us with a feeble mind. Make a habit to engage yourself in few simple pleasures everyday to dissolve stress from your mind. Some of these simple pleasures are good for your mind, body and soul.

　　* Enjoy music you love
　　* Play with your children
　　* Appreciate others
　　* Run few miles a day, bike or swim
　　* Start a blog
　　* Take a yoga class or Total Wellness routine

　　Exercise your mind
　　Just as physical exercise is essential for a strong body, mental exercise is equally essential for a sharp and agile mind. Have you noticed that children have far superior brainpower than an adult does? Children have playful minds. A playful mind exhibits superior memory power. Engage in some of the activities that require your mind to remain active and playful.

　　* Play scrabble or crossword puzzle
　　* Volunteer
　　* Interact with others
　　* Start a new hobby such as blogging, reading, painting, bird watching
　　* Learn new skill or a foreign language

　　Practice Yoga or Meditation
　　Yoga or Meditation relives stress. Stress is a known memory buster. With less stress, lower blood pressure, slower respiration, slower metabolism, and released muscle tension follows. All of these factors contribute significantly towards increases in our brainpower.

　　Reduce Sugar intake
　　Sugar is a non-food. It’s a form of carbohydrate that offers illusionary energy, only to cause a downhill slump once the initial burst has been worn off. Excess intake of sugar results in neurotic symptoms. Excess sugar is known to cause claustrophobia, memory loss and other neurotic disorders. Eat food without adding sugar. Stay away from sweet drinks or excess consumption of caffeine with sugar.

　　Eat whole wheat
　　The whole wheat germs contain lecithin. Lecithin helps ease the problem of the hardening of the arteries, which often impairs brain functioning.

　　Eat a light meal at night
　　A heavy meal at night causes tossing and turning and a prolonged emotional stress while at sleep. It’s wise to eat heavy meal during the day when our body is in motion to consume the heavy in-take. Eating a light meal with some fruits allows us to sleep well. A good night sleep strengthens our brainpower.

　　Develop imagination
　　Greeks mastered the principle of imagination and association to memorize everything. This technique requires one to develop a vivid and colorful imagination that can be linked to a known object. If you involve all your senses - touching, feeling, smelling, hearing and seeing in the imagination process, you can remember greater details of the event.

　　Control your temper
　　Bleached food, excess of starch or excess of white bread can lead to nerve grating effect. This results in a violent and some time depressive behavior. Eat fresh vegetables. Drink lots of water and meditate or practice yoga to relieve these toxic emotions of temper and stressful mood swings.

　　Take Vitamin B-complex
　　Vitamin B-complex strengthens memory power. Eat food and vegetables high in Vitamin B-complex. Stay away from the starch food or white bread, which depletes the Vitamin B-complex necessary for a healthy mind.

　　I don't believe these are that tough. If you find yourself increasing stumped, give a couple of these a try.

　　Written by Shilpan Patel of Success Soul and cross-posted from Dumb Little Man, a web site that provides tips for life that will save you money, increase your productivity, or simply keep you sane.

　　你是否有这样的经历当你在商店撞见某个人时根本不能记起他们的名字，而那时你是否感到愤怒？肯定是这样的，而这样的事情会发生在我们每个身上。

　　大脑尽管是这个星球上最强大的计算机，但它确实会僵化。其实，我们很难真正指责它。作为人类，我们大多运用大脑往它内部填充原料。

　　无论我们大脑多么强大，它们都需要会休整时间一保持活力。把它当作你大脑的调整。不保养大脑是愚蠢的，就像一个人忘记把车停靠在哪里而在停车场游荡一样。你是那样的吗？你就是那种人吗？如果是这样，不要害怕；我们所有人有些时候都是那样子。

　　我现在不是脑科医生，我不准备建议你任何医疗或者危险的事情。但是，我是人类行为的聪明学生，所以我一直以来想找寻保持脑部活力的简便方法。

　　下边是一些开始调整大脑你今天可以开始做的事情：

　　吃杏仁

　　杏仁被认为是可以提高记忆的食品。如果在上床睡觉之前或者早晨起来之后喝上一杯杏仁油和牛奶混合物，它将增强我们的记忆力。杏仁奶茶的制作只需取出外部保护膜后压碎添加水和糖就可以了。

　　喝苹果汁

　　马萨诸塞罗威尔大学研究表明苹果汁有助于增加脑部的基本神经传导素乙酰胆碱，进而增加记忆力。

　　高质量睡眠

　　研究表明长时记忆会在夜间睡眠替代了白天经验过的印象而得以加强。这些回放可以编辑无意识的想法进而储存这些意象和其他相关的消息。

　　享受简单的快乐

　　压力会抽光我们的智力。一个备受压力折磨的想法会消耗我们大量的记忆资源从而留给我们一个迟钝的大脑。养成一种习惯每天享受简单的快乐来消解大脑的压力。这些简单的快乐对于你的大脑、身体和四项都会有　好处的。

　　欣赏你喜欢的音乐

　　与你的孩子一起玩耍

　　欣赏别人

　　每天跑几英里、骑车或游泳

　　开一个博客

　　参加瑜珈或者完整健康计划

　　锻炼大脑

　　就如体育锻炼是身体强壮的基本，智力练习对于一个敏锐、活跃的大脑同样重要。你有没有注意到相比成人孩子们的智力更佳？孩子们有游戏的想法。喜欢游戏的大脑会拥有更强的记忆力。参加一些要求你大脑保持活跃和轻松的活动。

　　尝试随意和纵横拼字游戏

　　做志愿者

　　与别人互动

　　养成新的爱好比如写博、阅读、绘画、观察鸟的活动

　　学习新的技能或者外语

　　练习瑜珈或者默想

　　瑜珈或者默想能够缓解压力。压力是记忆的阻力。压力越小，血压越低，较低的呼吸和新陈代谢，肌肉紧张也会有所缓解。所有这些因素对于增强我们的智力很有帮助。

　　减少糖的摄入

　　糖不是食物。它是一种碳水化合物提供假象的能量，只能导致迅速的衰竭一旦最初的能量消耗殆尽。过量的摄入会导致神经综合症。众所周知，过量的糖会引起幽闭恐怖症、记忆丧失和其他的神经紊乱。吃不含糖的食物。远离甜饮料或者过量消耗含糖的咖啡因饮料。

　　吃全麦食品

　　全麦细菌包含蛋黄素，而蛋黄素有益于缓解动脉硬化问题，而这个问题也经常不利于大脑的功能。

　　晚饭适量

　　晚饭过于丰盛常常让人辗转反侧，休息期间也会有持续的精神压力。白天吃丰盛的食物是明智的，因为我们的身体在活动可以消耗掉这些摄入的食物。饭菜清淡并辅助于水果会有一个好的睡眠。夜晚好的睡眠可以增强我们的智力。

　　开发想象力

　　希腊人掌握了想象的原则并将之与记忆事情相联系。这个记忆要求一个人开发出一个生动多彩的想象与熟知的事物相关。如果把所有的感官—　触觉、感觉、味觉、听觉、视觉在这个过程中都加以利用，你可以记住事情的所有细节。

　　控制脾气

　　漂白的事物，过量的淀粉或者过量的白面包会导致神经栅作用。这回导致疯狂甚至有些时候绝望的行为。吃新鲜蔬菜，＆足够的水，默想或者练习瑜珈可以缓解这些有毒情感和导致压力的情感波动。

　　吃维他命Ｂ合成体

　　维他命Ｂ合成体能都增强记忆力。吃含维他命Ｂ高的食物和蔬菜。远离淀粉事物或者白面包，这些会消耗健康智力所必须的维他命Ｂ合成体。

　　这些当然不是机械的。如果你感觉自己问题越来越严重，可以同时尝试几项。