Stress, bad lifestyle, food habits are some of the reasons the world has seen a spike in brain strokes and heart attacks over the last few years. As a result, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally. Approximately 17.9 million people died from only cardiovascular diseases in 2019. Out of those, 85% died due to heart attack and stroke. But adapting to healthy habits prevent health conditions like stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure. By devoting a little more me-time, you can check your cholesterol and blood pressure levels. This decreases the chance of heart attacks and keeps your brain working smoothly.
On that note, follow these 17 tips to boost your brain health –
- Take charge of your brain health
- Take hundreds of small steps every day to keep your body mobile and healthy.
- Drink enough water to stay hydrated.
- Eat a balanced diet.
- Exercise regularly.
- Taking medications as prescribed by your doctor.
- Get enough sleep.
While each of these steps doesn’t seem significant, together they will help you have a healthier life.
- No more multitasking
Let me guess, you are reading this while watching a TV show on Netflix or texting someone! Well, you might want to stop if you are doing that. Contrary to what has been taught, people are less efficient when multitasking because our brains are biologically tuned to perform only one thing at a time. When we multitask, our brain is forced to bounce back and forth, thus causing stress. This leads to the rise of cortisol levels, which is toxic to our neural function.
- Play games
There are certain games that could give the kids and even an adult a mental boost. It has been seen that gamers playing various physics-based puzzle games like Cut the Rope improved their focus, concentration, and task-switching skills. They can adapt to a new situation easily than people who play other types of video games. Researchers suggested that playing complex brainteasers, involving planning and readjusting strategies, helps to improve memory.
- Keep stress in check
Taking a walk daily within your locality, relaxing with a magazine, or a weekly massage can keep your brain rejuvenated. If you are exposed to stress for a long time, that spikes up stress hormones like cortisol. It can even lead to short-term memory loss.
- Drink red wine
Researchers have discovered that consuming red wine in a limited portion leads to a healthy heart. In addition, red wine increases the levels of resveratrol, an antioxidant found in abundance in red wine, dark chocolate, and blueberries. This improves their ability to form new memories. Red wine also develops alterations in our hippocampus, which is the part of the brain dealing with memory.
- Cut back on sugar
Your brain can get affected when you have a sugar-rich diet. Intake of too much carbs can also slow down your brain activities. Researchers have seen that people without diabetes have a better chance of remembering paragraphs even after an hour than people with higher blood sugar levels. So, cut back on the sugar intake from your daily life.
- Get the sleep you need
After studying the sleep pattern in mice, researchers discovered that our brain replays all the activities we do during the whole day when we are asleep. This helps to etch the events in our memory. Thus, you can’t register new events in your brain without sound sleep.
Washington University School of Medicine performed a study demonstrating how people who have trouble sleeping at night are five times more likely to succumb to Alzheimer’s than people who get sound sleep. This is because waking up multiple times leads to the build-up of amyloid plaque, which forms the characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease. So, having a regular sleep cycle is of top priority.
- Pop ibuprofen for pain
Detailed research shows that mice prone to inflammations aged faster than other mice. Those sections of mice had more heart problems, weight loss, and unsteady feet. But when scientists injected them with Ibuprofen, their premature ageing gradually stopped. This led us to believe that inflammation can act as a catalyst to aging.
However, researchers warn us against taking Ibuprofen as the only medication against dementia as Ibuprofen can increase the chances of heart attack and stroke over sustained usage.
- Mix up your exercise
A study showed that women suffering from mild cognitive impairment improved their condition after walking or lifting weights. It helped them retain memories after six months, while women doing only basic stretching have poor memory power.
Mixing up your daily exercise schedule, like walking and lifting weights, improves our spatial memory. Spatial memory helps us remember the small things around us, like the layout of a room or where you keep your documents. So, try to include both endurance and weight training into your routine.
- Learn an instrument
Pick up a hobby and learn to play any instrument. An article in the Journal of Neuroscience states that playing any musical instrument alters our brain waves in a way. That boosts your hearing and listening skills drastically. This alteration in brain activity helps us to ward off age-related cognitive declines.
- Be more mobile
A research study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that people who are more engaged in physical activities, like athletics or dance, have developed stronger cognitive function than those who sit idle. These activities force your brain to be more mindful, and that develops their cognitive abilities. If you can dedicate an hour every day to play any outdoor games or to dance, that can improve the brain function of people already suffering from memory troubles.
- Do Yoga
Yoga goes beyond attaining your inner Zen. According to UCLA neuroscientists, people practising various forms of yoga and meditation over sustained months can have major long term health benefits. Many people who practice yoga reported a reduction in the cognitive issues that precede dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. According to the latest study, yoga has been touted as more effective than conventional memory enhancement exercises.
- Cook occasionally
Exploring your culinary skills occasionally helps you unwind and is a good exercise to boost your brain health. Reading and following through recipes and implementing those step-by-step helps as a cognitive exercise.
- Solve crossword puzzles
Research papers published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry stated that people over the age of 50 and older people could have better brain function if they regularly engage in word and number games. Games like puzzles, sudoku or crossword puzzles, where they need to use their brain, helped them to have enhanced memory and retaining abilities. Based on that study, it has been observed that they are performing at par with people eight to ten years younger than them.
- Take a nap
Get power naps of 45 to 60 minutes in between work. This practice can improve learning and memory, according to experts. It has been observed that resting your brain in between any complex task resets the brain and helps to work with rejuvenated zeal. Certain countries like Spain, Italy, or Korea allow their employees to take short nap sessions in between work as they have seen it increases their productivity.
- Doodle a little
Are you getting bored in the office? Try drawing random things on the edges of your notebook or doodle something. This can help you come up with ideas or just help you refocus on your job. Recent research shows that doodling increases the blood flow to our prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for logic, problem-solving, memory, and attention. Doodling will also help you become more creative about approaching your problems.
- Get more intimate
In a recent study for The Archives of Sexual Behaviour, Australian researchers found that middle-aged couples engaging in intimacy between the sheets scored better on memory tests. This led to the belief that physical intimacy can be linked to boosting memory. This is because getting physical stimulates our hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for recalling. However, sexual activities can only help you to boost short-term memory.
Parting Thoughts:
Our daily lifestyle prohibits us from practising healthy habits all the time. However, you must be wary of the ill effects of sustained bad habits. It can affect you both physically and mentally in the long run. In order to prevent old age problems like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, start following these tips from today!
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Author Bio:
Ethan Taylor has been a behavioural science expert for the last ten years. He has joined MyAssignmenthelp.com recently as an Essay Typer expert. He loves to sing in his free time.