How to Become Smarter [Paperback]

Nikolai Shevchuk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2010

This book describes techniques for improving mental abilities such as the problem-solving ability, attention control and impulse control, information processing speed, reading and writing performance as well as understanding and getting along with other people. Some aspects of emotional intelligence are also covered, such as anger management and regulation of mood. Most of the proposed methods are temporary lifestyle changes such as "smart diets" and hydrotherapy (brief cooling or heating of the body). The proposed techniques can help readers to slow down or to speed up their mental processes when necessary, or to lift or lower mood as needed. Most claims in this book are supported by a theory and the author's personal experience (a healthy subject); about one half of the claims are directly supported by previously published scientific studies. The author's academic transcripts and test scores have been documented and can be verified independently. A more detailed description can be found on the Amazon.com web page of the Kindle edition of this book.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This book can help you to:

• understand complex or dull texts
• concentrate on reading and writing
• get along with people and live without conflicts
• sharpen your wit and entertain people
• and more...

About the Author

Nikolai A. Shevchuk graduated with honors from Novosibirsk State University, Russia, in 1999 with an equivalent of a Master's degree (a 5-year program) in biology/molecular biology. He got a Ph.D. degree in molecular and cellular oncology in 2006 from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., where he was a recipient of the Presidential Merit Fellowship. Nikolai is an author or coauthor of 16 scientific publications in the field of biomedicine and served recently as a guest editor of "Infectious Disorders--Drug Targets."

Product Details

• Paperback: 414 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace (February 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449919596
• ISBN-13: 978-1449919597
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,271,681 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nikolai A. Shevchuk graduated with honors from Novosibirsk State University, Russia, in 1999 with an equivalent of a Master's degree (a 5-year program) in biology/molecular biology. He got a Ph.D. degree in molecular and cellular oncology in 2006 from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C., where he was a recipient of the Presidential Merit Fellowship. Nikolai is an author or coauthor of 16 scientific publications in the field of biomedicine and served recently as a guest editor of "Infectious Disorders--Drug Targets."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Title is misleading but GREAT information on the effects of food on mental clarity and mood!, May 3, 2010

By 

Vicki Landes - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Become Smarter (Paperback)

Russian-born microbiologist Nikolai Shevchuk takes his years of self-tested theories about food and delivers this knowledge in an easy to read format called, "How To Become Smarter". Although I found the title misleading when considering the direction of the content, Shevchuk's book is crammed full of all kinds of information you won't find in other food resource books.

"How To Become Smarter" is Shevchuk's comprehensive and in-depth study of foods, food additives, and elimination diets and their affect on mental clarity and mood. While well documented and interesting, he also responsibly notes several times in the book that these experiments are self tests and not clinically proven. His tests do have limitations, though as his results are subjective and based on opinion, there are no experimental or control groups utilizing various ages or ethnicities, nor could there be any blind or double blind set ups for validity. He does point this out several times throughout the text to avoid misleading his readers. Shevchuk tackles such subjects as natural versus unnatural foods (ie. additives, flavor enhancers, coloring, etc), raw versus cooked foods and the chemical changes which occur as heat is added, and the effects of these foods on mood, concentration and such disorders as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivitiy Disorder (ADD/ADHD), testing, reading, and writing abilities, and a wide range of emotions and social tendencies. He offers elimination diet ideas for all types of intellectual, emotional, and social goals while pointing out that these diets are a temporary fix and not permanent solutions. The book ends rather abruptly after his chapter on social intelligence; Shevchuk offers no wrap up or conclusion for the reader.

I did find Shevchuk's "How To Become Smarter" title to be quite misleading; I was definitely not expecting a `food book'. Something like, "Mood Food", "Feed Your Mind", or "Anything and Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Food" would better suit the text while appealing to a wider audience (such as those interested in alternative, natural, and holistic health and wellness). With over 400 pages of details, observations, comparisons, research, suggested foods to eat or eliminate which relate to specific goals, the title "How To Become Smarter" didn't seem to do the book justice.

Nikolai Shevchuk writes an intelligent, organized book on the mental and physical effects of food on the human body. Meant to serve as informational versus clinically proven fact, "How To Become Smarter" is a great resource!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You Think how you Eat!, January 20, 2011

By 

K. Albertson "reader1" (Irvine , CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Become Smarter (Paperback)

This author brings a very interesting and unique view of the brain, and the correlation between what improves thinking and the foods we eat.
He has a Master's in Molecular Biology and a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Oncology. I enjoyed how he has personally tried several types of diets in an effort to find those that assist mental acuity as well as those foods that suppress our moods and thinking ability. What would you eat to improve your SAT or GRE scores? Want ways to improve your fluid intelligence--raw foods!
What foods suppress, or antagonize your mood and behavior? Want to learn a language? What is the fastest way?
He outlines critical elements for your success. The book has great appendices which outline various types of diets. For example, the anti depressant diet, and the anger management diet. He explains how they alter your body's chemistry. There are interesting sections on ADHD, autism and ADD.

This book outlined what an IQ test consists of and how to improve scores. It explains crystallized social intelligence (measures vocabulary, general knowledge) vs. fluid socialized intelligence (the ability to understand and solve novel problems) which I found very interesting. The author explains "mental clarity", "social intelligence," and how they are measured. He explains ways to improve the brain and how to think better. I learned a lot and will use many of his ideas.
The book reviews control vs. placebo studies, standard deviation, significance and insignificance in a statistical study and how to interpret evidence from a study.
Breast fed vs. formula? Animal products significantly affect our thinking and our health. Eskimos for example eat raw foods without artificial ingredients. However, in industrial societies, today's animal products have changed and have pathogens which our immune systems can't handle.
Our brain can't adapt to processed foods, chemicals, refined sugars, and artificial ingredients. Food additives, sweeteners, thickeners vegetable gums, table salt, MSG, and nitrates impair learning and affect alertness. This book covers an enormous amount of facts and allows you to look at being smarter in a new light. Be prepared- you will want to take notes. I learned a lot and will go through it again to digest all of this information.


I received a complimentary review copy.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eat right and you can be smarter than a fifth grader, April 12, 2010

By 

Cindy Vine "Author of Not Telling" (Moshi, Tanzania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Become Smarter (Paperback)

When I picked up How to become Smarter by Nikolai Shevchuk, I wondered if I was smart enough to read this book. I was pleasantly surprised. Either I am very smart, or Nikolai's book is easy to read. I tend to go for the latter in this case, I was never a high academic achiever at school. Earlier this year I had my son tested by an educational psychologist. He appears to be quite smart with many things, but when it comes to exam situations, something happens and he might end up writing the same sentences over and over again. The educational psychologist found that he was above average intelligence and there was no reason why he could not perform academically when under pressure. That is, he had no apparent learning difficulties. Nikolai Shevchuk's book seems to be the answer to my problems with my son and academic performance. He explains how he too was a classic under-achiever at school, until he started trying some of the strategies in the book. I read the twelve things How to become Smarter can do for you and I was hooked. It was almost as if this book was written especially for my son and me.
This book mostly discusses ways of improving functioning of the brain. Preservatives affect your intelligence in a negative way. Feed your kids natural foods, but avoid giving them raw food because raw food often comes with diseases. Although, raw foods are the best at increasing your mental abilities. Something interesting I read in this book, is that cooked grains can act as a mild sedative. I guess that explains why I feel tired after a bowl of hot porridge and lazy after a sandwich. Shevchuk gives diets to try to increase intelligence. He reckons, that we need to go back to our ancestral diets. He propagates mixing meat and milk which is against the Jewish religion. However, he does say that diets are not the only way we can improve our mental faculties.
Although he confesses to not being a chef, Shevchuk does give recipes that one can use to create a diet that increases your mental ability. After reading this book I know what I have to do. I have to drastically change my diet.
There is quite a bit of technical jargon and evidence of a lot of research in the book. I definitely felt smarter after I finished it, as I ate my dinner of boiled meat, vegetable and grains.