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I took a memory course (audio tapes) many years ago. One of the suggestions by the presenter was to not drink any coffee or alcohol or eat any white flour or wh

I took a memory course (audio tapes) many years ago. One of the suggestions by the presenter was to not drink any coffee or alcohol or eat any white flour or white sugar before listening to each course. I obeyed this rule for a few tapes, but then around the 4th tape, I said "phooey to that", and ate a bag of peanut m&m's before doing a course. The difference in my attention span was so striking, I instantly became a believer in the adverse affects of white sugar on memory. I could not keep my focus on the course. My mind wandered like a 2 year old in a toy shop. Every idea that popped into my head distracted me from listening and focusing on the material. As an aside, I had already learned to memorize all 52 cards in a deck and could do memory tricks with names and various lists. So I wasn't a memory newb when taking this course.

paulsutter 9y ago
In a proper experiment, another group would be told they will perform better if they eat candy, and are not given candy until the 4th tape
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  Sure, but this is life, and since everyone has intimate knowledge of their own bodies, they have a massive database to compare past experience with. So it's not the same as any old random experiment when you test with your own life.
  - dekhn 9y ago
    it's worse than any random experiment because it is incredibly prone to a widely known set of biases, which is precisely what experiments try to correct. basically, self-experimentation is incredibly prone to false positives and negatives.
    - RobertRoberts 9y ago
      Well try it yourself then. If you get a good/bad effect, are you saying that it's a pure placebo affect? I have a family, and we don't eat refined sugars. That is the one limitation on diet I have added for us. (besides some religious requirements) And guess how often my kids are sick? Almost never. I mean a slight cough every couple years. You can make claims either way with any experience. But I had ear aches, pink eye, sore throats, flu, (one summer I was sick all 3 months of break) athletes foot, migraines, gas and cramps. I'd wake up delerious from fevers and vomitting. Frequent and regular coughs and colds. This was my entire childhood. I gave up eating crappy food, and I haven't had a sore throat in about 15 years. And when I did, it was because I was drinking too much coffee and not getting sleep. I lowered my coffee intake, got rest and hydrated. And no more sore throat. A doctor will say they are "unrelated", but I have years of testing and proving they are not unrelated. If you get sick and are in a hospital, they give you white bread and jello. But recently, this is beginning to change. A number of people have told me that their doctors have warned them about eating white sugar now, how is damages arteries and causes other problems. So, yes, you are correct, that known biases can affect things. But the truth is hard to deny. Try it yourself, see how well you focus when eating vegetables or unprocessed food of any kind vs junk food. There's a story of a Wisconsin based school for boys (it's like a juvey hall or something) and they removed all the processed food, pop, etc... from their diets, hired an expensive chef to cook good food for them, and across the board, behaviour improved. My story convinced me, it's not "purely scientific" but I _knew_ the difference was there. Refined sugar messed with my ability to focus.
      - jjeaff 9y ago
        Myself and my family pretty much never get sick either. But we have a massive sweet tooth. Lots of ice cream and baked goods and candy.
        RobertRoberts 9y ago
        Yep, and it doesn't adversely affect some people as much as others. Some people can smoke daily until they are 90. But the truth is coming out about how it adversely affects most people.
      - 9y ago
vanviegen 9y ago
Could it be that you were just more tired, or otherwise not at top mental capacity that day, causing you to succumb to "phooey to that" in the first place?
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  It's possible that one time, but I tested it multiple times. Try it yourself.
sprafa 9y ago
Interesting! Could you share the memory course? I often feel like I have similar issues with my thinking, and I find it hard to focus. Willing to explore any avenue that would make it easier for me to focus.
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  lol, not sure I want to now. The guy doesn't seem to have the greatest reputation anymore. It was Kevin Trudeau's mega memory. Before this, I had gone through another before was Harry Lorayne's course. This was many years ago though. So I don't know how they are now. I did a quick search, and this _looks_ like what I did. http://www.real-memory-improvement.com/how-to-memorise-playing-cards-1.html http://www.real-memory-improvement.com/how-to-memorise-playi... Keep in mind, that this is a very simplified few of the process, and it likely won't work without a detailed lesson plan, and strict following of this guys rules. Also, it's not an easy thing to learn, it took a lot time. But once you do, you can use it pretty quickly. I got long term general memory improvement out of doing all of these things. But the super amazing feats you learn are like exercising muscles. You don't keep them unless you keep using them. I had a lot of fun with it though. :)
chiefalchemist 9y ago
Keep in mind, memory is also contextual. You're physiological state, as well as your physical state are signals that become part of the memory.
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  Absolutely. You can dramatically increase your likelyhood of remembering something by simply being interested in it. Or intentionally focusing on it. (ie, you don't misplace your keys if you intentionally set them somewhere vs absent mindedly doing it) Memory is a complicated system affected by a lot of things.
pasta 9y ago
The BBC tested this with kids. At one party they got greens at the other sweets. When kids ate sweets they were more active at first but then got tired very quickly. The difference was striking. Edit: search keywords: BBC sugar experiment
- dekhn 9y ago
  I couldn't find any real results from searching. They reference a few papers in one article, about pre-existing studies (most studies fail to replicate the sugar high effect) but none of this work is convincing to quantitative scientists.
  - marci 9y ago
    first in the video tab (duckduckgo)
    - dekhn 9y ago
      that's a TV show not a real experiment.
kpU8efre7r 9y ago
Isn't black coffee good for you? Were they talking about coffee with cream and sugar?
- RobertRoberts 9y ago
  I don't think coffee is "good" for you. But also don't think a small amount in your life is bad either. I put in on the same level as alcohol... so, maybe there is a benefit? My experience with coffee is that is messes with my heart, dehydration and irritability levels. I love coffee, and these things only happen when I drink too much. Are you suggesting that the sugar in coffee is the bad part?

paulsutter 9y ago

In a proper experiment, another group would be told they will perform better if they eat candy, and are not given candy until the 4th tape

RobertRoberts 9y ago
Sure, but this is life, and since everyone has intimate knowledge of their own bodies, they have a massive database to compare past experience with. So it's not the same as any old random experiment when you test with your own life.
- dekhn 9y ago
  it's worse than any random experiment because it is incredibly prone to a widely known set of biases, which is precisely what experiments try to correct. basically, self-experimentation is incredibly prone to false positives and negatives.
  - RobertRoberts 9y ago
    Well try it yourself then. If you get a good/bad effect, are you saying that it's a pure placebo affect? I have a family, and we don't eat refined sugars. That is the one limitation on diet I have added for us. (besides some religious requirements) And guess how often my kids are sick? Almost never. I mean a slight cough every couple years. You can make claims either way with any experience. But I had ear aches, pink eye, sore throats, flu, (one summer I was sick all 3 months of break) athletes foot, migraines, gas and cramps. I'd wake up delerious from fevers and vomitting. Frequent and regular coughs and colds. This was my entire childhood. I gave up eating crappy food, and I haven't had a sore throat in about 15 years. And when I did, it was because I was drinking too much coffee and not getting sleep. I lowered my coffee intake, got rest and hydrated. And no more sore throat. A doctor will say they are "unrelated", but I have years of testing and proving they are not unrelated. If you get sick and are in a hospital, they give you white bread and jello. But recently, this is beginning to change. A number of people have told me that their doctors have warned them about eating white sugar now, how is damages arteries and causes other problems. So, yes, you are correct, that known biases can affect things. But the truth is hard to deny. Try it yourself, see how well you focus when eating vegetables or unprocessed food of any kind vs junk food. There's a story of a Wisconsin based school for boys (it's like a juvey hall or something) and they removed all the processed food, pop, etc... from their diets, hired an expensive chef to cook good food for them, and across the board, behaviour improved. My story convinced me, it's not "purely scientific" but I _knew_ the difference was there. Refined sugar messed with my ability to focus.
    - jjeaff 9y ago
      Myself and my family pretty much never get sick either. But we have a massive sweet tooth. Lots of ice cream and baked goods and candy.
      - RobertRoberts 9y ago
        Yep, and it doesn't adversely affect some people as much as others. Some people can smoke daily until they are 90. But the truth is coming out about how it adversely affects most people.
    - 9y ago

vanviegen 9y ago

Could it be that you were just more tired, or otherwise not at top mental capacity that day, causing you to succumb to "phooey to that" in the first place?

RobertRoberts 9y ago
It's possible that one time, but I tested it multiple times. Try it yourself.

sprafa 9y ago

Interesting! Could you share the memory course? I often feel like I have similar issues with my thinking, and I find it hard to focus. Willing to explore any avenue that would make it easier for me to focus.

RobertRoberts 9y ago
lol, not sure I want to now. The guy doesn't seem to have the greatest reputation anymore. It was Kevin Trudeau's mega memory. Before this, I had gone through another before was Harry Lorayne's course. This was many years ago though. So I don't know how they are now. I did a quick search, and this _looks_ like what I did. http://www.real-memory-improvement.com/how-to-memorise-playing-cards-1.html http://www.real-memory-improvement.com/how-to-memorise-playi... Keep in mind, that this is a very simplified few of the process, and it likely won't work without a detailed lesson plan, and strict following of this guys rules. Also, it's not an easy thing to learn, it took a lot time. But once you do, you can use it pretty quickly. I got long term general memory improvement out of doing all of these things. But the super amazing feats you learn are like exercising muscles. You don't keep them unless you keep using them. I had a lot of fun with it though. :)

chiefalchemist 9y ago

Keep in mind, memory is also contextual. You're physiological state, as well as your physical state are signals that become part of the memory.

RobertRoberts 9y ago
Absolutely. You can dramatically increase your likelyhood of remembering something by simply being interested in it. Or intentionally focusing on it. (ie, you don't misplace your keys if you intentionally set them somewhere vs absent mindedly doing it) Memory is a complicated system affected by a lot of things.

pasta 9y ago

The BBC tested this with kids. At one party they got greens at the other sweets. When kids ate sweets they were more active at first but then got tired very quickly. The difference was striking. Edit: search keywords: BBC sugar experiment

dekhn 9y ago
I couldn't find any real results from searching. They reference a few papers in one article, about pre-existing studies (most studies fail to replicate the sugar high effect) but none of this work is convincing to quantitative scientists.
- marci 9y ago
  first in the video tab (duckduckgo)
  - dekhn 9y ago
    that's a TV show not a real experiment.

kpU8efre7r 9y ago

Isn't black coffee good for you? Were they talking about coffee with cream and sugar?

RobertRoberts 9y ago
I don't think coffee is "good" for you. But also don't think a small amount in your life is bad either. I put in on the same level as alcohol... so, maybe there is a benefit? My experience with coffee is that is messes with my heart, dehydration and irritability levels. I love coffee, and these things only happen when I drink too much. Are you suggesting that the sugar in coffee is the bad part?