Do you have trouble focusing on one thing for more than just a few minutes? Dr. Troy Spurrill says you’re not alone.
“We have an epidemic of people who cannot focus.”
What’s the cause?
Two of the main things we need to maintain focus are oxygen and sugar. If we lack either of those it hampers our ability to be attentive for longer periods of time.
“The other things that can cause that are intestinal inflammatory disorders. They call our digestive system the second brain for a reason. When you have a cold or the flu, think about how easy it is to focus and do extra work. You just can’t do it. So it’s very important to actually keep your digestive system clean.”
On the other hand, there are also times where we are hyper-focused. Dr. Troy references studies that have look at how being in an adrenaline state influences police recollection of shooting incidents.
“There’s one police officer in particular and he was able to account for every shot he fired and where it went into the wall and where the bullets went as well as the ones that were coming at him. He was able to describe in detail the events that happened in a matter of seconds.”
Dr. Troy says that for the police officer, it was like time had slowed down.
“What they’ve proven is that when we’re in a state of adrenaline with the proper heart rate, adrenaline will focus us to a certain degree, and if our blood sugar, insulin, and our cortisone are all balanced, we can become hyper focused and life slows down.”
The same thing happens to professional athletes when their adrenaline is pumping. Adrenaline has extremely helpful motivational aspects that can be harnessed in everyday life.
“When you are on purpose and your passionate about what you’re doing in life, you can in a healthy way release sustainable amounts of this adrenaline because of excitement, but also have the healthy metabolism and chemistry to maintain it and that’s why people can maintain that focus.”
Dr. Troy Spurrill is the CEO and founder of Synapse: A Center For Health and Healing. He received a Bachelor’s of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of Manitoba and a Doctor of Chiropractic from Northwestern Health Sciences University, and has extensive training in Functional Neurology, Functional medicine, Nutrition, and Applied Kinesiology.
Health and Healing Hour 1
