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Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever QUOTES

Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever QUOTES

1 " you create your brain from the input you get. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

2 " You grew older today, but did you age as well? If you drank a few cups of green tea, had five servings of fruits and vegetables, exercised for at least 30 minutes at your target heart rate, took nutritional supplements optimized for your age and health situation, spent quality time with close friends and loved ones, consumed a glass of red wine, had a romantic (and sensual!) time with your spouse or significant other, and got 8 hours of quality sleep, then you probably aged very little if at all. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

3 " By failing to engage it in intellectually challenging activities, your brain will fail to grow new connections, and it will indeed become disorganized and ultimately dysfunctional. The converse is also true for both body and brain. If someone who has not been physically active for a sustained period starts a program of physical therapy and regular exercise, she can regain her muscle mass and tone within a matter of months. The same thing is true of your brain. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

4 " The lesson of these new insights is that our brain is entirely like any of our physical muscles: Use it or lose it. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

5 " Our brains are subject to either sudden or gradual decline with age, to self-destructive addictive behaviors, to depression and anxiety disorders, and to many other limitations, not to mention potentially catastrophic lapses of judgment. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

6 " In the latest brain image studies, we can see real-time movies of individual interneuronal connections actually creating new synapses (connection points between neurons), so we can see our brain create our thoughts and in turn see our thoughts create our brain. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

7 " Phosphatidylserine is a natural constituent of the cell membrane but is found in especially high concentrations in the brain. Supplementing with phosphatidylserine slows down memory loss and has been shown to reverse memory loss in some patients with age-related memory decline. It also lowers levels of cortisol, a principal hormone of aging. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

8 " older today, but did you age as well? If you drank a few cups of green tea, had five servings of fruits and vegetables, exercised for at least 30 minutes at your target heart rate, took nutritional supplements optimized for your age and health situation, spent quality time with close friends and loved ones, consumed a glass of red wine, had a romantic (and sensual!) time with your spouse or significant other, and got 8 hours of quality sleep, then you probably aged very little if at all. If you were a coach potato, ate "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

9 " To make matters worse, as you get older, your cells gradually become less sensitive to insulin's effects, so insulin levels must rise even more to produce the same results. This leads to a state of insulin resistance, which leads to even more insulin production. Over time, these increasing insulin levels, especially when combined with a poor diet, promote the weight gain and increase in body fat so typical of the aging process.
It's not a pretty picture, but this deterioration is far from inevitable. Commonsense lifestyle changes can help you keep your insulin levels under control: Following the major themes of our TRANSCEND program will help you keep your insulin at low, youthful levels. Maintaining a regular vigorous exercise routine burns blood sugar and drives it into your muscle cells, decreasing your body's need for insulin. Following our recommendations for a low-sugar, low-glycemic-load diet will lower insulin levels further. Finally, controlling your stress will lower your cortisol level and avoid the vicious cycle of cortisol-raising insulin. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

10 " S-adenosyl-methionine (SAMe) is a natural derivative of an amino acid normally produced by the body, and it plays a role in methylation (see Chapter 5). Levels of SAMe in the body often become depleted by middle age.
Multiple clinical trials have shown that SAMe provides substantial benefit for patients with depression. This effect occurs relatively quickly, unlike the requirement to build up levels in the bloodstream that accompanies some prescription drugs for depression. It is, therefore, an effective, natural, and quick-acting treatment for mild depression. Human trials have also shown benefits for strengthening the liver and for relief from osteoarthritis. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

11 " When people have difficulty achieving regular releases of dopamine through these kinds of socially accepted activities, they will often seek a shortcut. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

12 " This effect occurs relatively quickly, unlike the requirement to build up levels in the bloodstream that accompanies some prescription drugs for depression. It is, therefore, an effective, natural, and quick-acting treatment for mild depression. Human trials have also shown benefits for strengthening the liver and for relief from osteoarthritis. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

13 " And there were other neural implants being developed back then, including retinal implants, chips that enable a stroke patient to control his computer from his brain, an artificial hippocampus for boosting short-term memory, and many others. If you apply the approximately 30 million–fold increase in capability and over 100,000-fold shrinking in size that has occurred in the past quarter century, we now have much more capable devices that are the size of blood cells. Reader: Still, it’s hard to imagine building something the size of a blood cell that can perform a useful function. Terry2034: Actually, there was a first generation of blood cell–size devices back in your day. One scientist cured type 1 diabetes in rats with a blood cell–size device. It was an excellent example of nanotechnology from "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

14 " Once you’re on the road to slowing down aging and dramatically reducing your risk of disease, you’ll find that you will discover new ideas on a regular basis as our knowledge of how biology works continues to grow exponentially. "

― Ray Kurzweil , Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever