Review: I Meant to Review This Book Sooner, But Forgot.....
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 15, 2013
Though memory loss starts to be more of a concern as you age and the synapses just don't fire as quickly as they used to, readers of any age will come away with useful advice from this short book. The table of contents includes active links to each of the 21 chapters, so you can quickly navigate to just the sections you want to read, but I recommend at least browsing from front to back before deciding which tips might work for you.Since maintaining optimum health is the single most important factor in preserving a well functioning brain, the first 8 tips focus on diet and fitness: 1) increasing oxygen & blood flow to the brain, 2) treating depression, 3) dehydration and alcohol, 4) foods to eat, 5) nutritional habits to avoid, 6) supplements & vitamins, 7) calories and meal timing and 8) growing new brain cells.The balance of the chapters are related to techniques you can adopt to stimulate your brain and enhance memory, including changing routines, organizational aids (to-do lists and calendars), mnemonics and acronyms, "see it, say it, write it", learn to play a musical instrument, learn a foreign language, flashcards, games and puzzles. You can summarize these in the category of "use it or lose it". I did pick up some useful tips in this section that I will utilize.The book could use the attention of a skillful editor to make the language grammatically correct and concise. There are numerous  redundant and run-on sentences, which detract from the credibility of the message. Here's an example:"But SAMe also had drawbacks when taking too much for your specific chemical makeup even if you only take the dosage recommended so it is wise to start with as low amounts as possible in order to recognize your optimal dosage before it causes problems from too much." Whew ! If I were reading a print version of this book, I definitely would have to get out the red pencil. :)Some of the advice is slightly flawed and unsubstantiated. In the section relating to hydration, the author suggested keeping 8-10 water bottles in the fridge at work so you'll know whether you've had enough each day. 10 bottles of water is 160+ ounces - I've never heard anyone recommend that you need 1.25 gallons of water a day! Certainly, if you did so, you would spend a lot of time away from your desk while commuting back and forth to the restroom (to say nothing of the amount of plastic waste that you would create). I don't know what the author's medical credentials are, as he did not include a bio, nor did he cite any reference material, so I would definitely steer clear of any advice regarding nutritional supplements from a person of unverified credentials.In summary, I think there are enough tips in the book that you will definitely find something useful that you can start using in your day to day life to enhance your memory skills. You just have to remember to use them ! Use your own judgment (and additional research) before deciding to adopt any of the health-related advice.