Grace Slick wrote the song, White Rabbit, in the mid-60’s. It is based on the 1865 book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its 1871 sequel Through the Looking-Glass. The song became a major hit for the Jefferson Airplane in 1967.
The final words to the song are: And the White Knight is talking backwards – And the Red Queen’s “off with her head!” – Remember what the dormouse said: “Feed your head. Feed your head. Feed your head.”
The song was one of the significant contributions to the Summer of Love drug counterculture (1967). The theme of drugs permeates the song. However, Grace Slick claims (many times) that the final words, feed your head, was meant for the parents who drank and told their kids not to do drugs. She said, “We are the people our parents warned us about.”
In later years, she maintained that her song, and especially her final lyrics, were about the importance of education. ‘Feed your head,’ was aimed at the importance of education, a call to liberate our brains as much as our senses.
Regardless, the interpretation of those final three words has taken many directions over the years. From a health perspective, how do we ‘feed your head”? Any health professional can tell you to eat certain foods and avoid others for better brain health.
Avocados, beets, berries, bone broth, broccoli, celery, coconut oil, dark chocolate, egg yolks, extra virgin olive oil, leafy green vegetables, rosemary, turmeric, and walnuts are foods that improve brain health. Processed sugary drinks, refined carbohydrates, trans fats, alcohol, heavy metals (mercury and others) in fish (salmon and tuna), tofu, sodium, and saturated fats should be avoided.
Our brains need activities other just nutrition. Solving puzzles, listening to music, testing your recall, learning new things (language, cooking, etc.), doing math in your head are examples. We, as a society, tend to stop learning when we get out of high school. We read less and tend to dig a deep moat around our comfort zones.
I didn’t learn about self-improvement till very late in life. I have tons of education and professional certifications. However, that learning was focused on making me a better employee, supervisor, and manager. None of that training (team building, budgeting, ethics, safety, etc.) applied directly to me as a person, and especially as an entrepreneur.
The first book I read for self-improvement was Dr. Maxwell Maltz’ Psychocybernetics. I learned how the subconscious mind works. I wrote a book about it, No Matter What You Can Do It. I read a book a week on self-improvement over the next three years.
I still read books, listen to audios and watch videos and webinars on self-improvement. Yesterday, I heard a proponent of Psychocybernetics, Matt Furey, speak on a Legends of Digital Marketers webinar.
When I hear (or see) “Feed your head (brain),” the thought that occurs to me is that what we don’t feed, withers and dies. What do many of us fear as we age? Alzheimer’s and other related brain diseases. How can we counter the usual effects of aging? I covered those in detail in another book I wrote, Longevity Secrets for Healthy Aging.
Here are some takeaway thoughts on preventing Alzheimer’s. Our medical industry treats symptoms, not causes. It also focuses on correction, not prevention. Any drugs we take for Alzheimer’s (or any disease) is not addressing the cause. And, many drugs interfere with each other.
From a lifestyle perspective, avoid chronic low-level inflammation, suboptimal nutrition, smoking, addictions, overweight, stress, and hypertension. Increase oxygen in our bodies through exercise. Quality sleep in critical to brain function. Alcohol reduction is a must. Do everything you can to improve and maintain a highly efficient immune system.
Our guts are our second brain. What we feed our stomach is what we feed our mind. Nutritional balance in food choices is number one. Eliminate foods that inflame the gut and the brain – sugar, and wheat are two of them. Our blood-brain-barrier is under constant attack from free radicals – environmental pollution, breathing, exercise, digestion, stress, pesticides, preservatives, toxic personal care products, and excessive omega-6 fatty acids.
Every thought we have creates chemicals in our bodies. Good thoughts produce healthy chemicals. Likewise, bad thoughts create unhealthy chemicals (cortisol from stress, for example). Self-esteem and depression are intertwined. How you see yourself affects your brain.
As Grace Slick said, “Feed your head, feed your head, feed your head!”