The brain is a muscle, and like any other muscle it needs the following: nutrients, oxygen, and exercise. Here are some helpful tips for raising your IQ that may surprise you.

Always eat a good breakfast. The brain uses glucose as it primary energy source, so eating breakfast will improve problem solving, concentration, memory and over all mental performance. Not to mention your mood. Without fuel, no engine can run. Make sure that you are taking in Omega 3s, iron, folic acid, and providing it with hydration and oxygen.

Remember: stay off the corn syrup and cut back on sugars and carbohydrates. Insulin rushing into the bloodstream to counter the rush of sugars entering it wastes energy and makes you sleepy and lethargic; less able to think.

Make sure to get your supply of antioxidants. Antioxidants protect all the cells of the human body, including those in the brain. Super foods contain the highest levels of antioxidants, such as: blueberries, acai berries, blackberries, plums, garlic, cranberries, spinach, strawberries, and raspberries.

Get out and move. Movement is a key part of the process of development and learning. Sports not only aid in critical thinking skills, but they elevate the mood and boost the brain with chemicals like serotonin and adrenalin. You can fight memory loss, sharpen the intellect, and function at peak by elevating your heart rate. Scientific evidence shows that aerobic exercise fine tunes the brain for peak performance.

Neuropsychologists believe that meditation and meditative practices such as prayer or yoga can actually alter brain structure. MRI scans of Tibetan and Franciscan monks while being threatened with distractions showed that long-term meditators have a greater resistance to distraction and better capacity to problem solve during distractions than people who do not practice this skill.

Play! Games of any kind stimulate the brain and kick it into overdrive. Be it kickball, hide and go seek, or softball, playing sports helps develop critical thinking skills.

Get outside, move, run, or whatever you like to make you feel better. Oxygen will be getting pumped into your body. Movement will definetly help to give your brain a push. As mentioned above, the brain is a muscle that needs training. Ever heard of brain jogging ? Brain Jogging was developed to give your brain the exercise that is needed to improve or even to raise your intelligence quotient. Simply google for "Brain Jogging" and you will gain lots of excercises specially for your brain training.