Your brain’s health can deteriorate as you get older, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There are numerous things you can do to keep your brain strong and mind keen, but first, why is it important to have a healthy brain?
Functions of the Brain
The brain is not only responsible for our memory, intelligence, thought, and creative processes, but also controls the whole body.
“The brain receives information through our five senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing — often many at one time,” says Mayfield Brain & Spine. “It assembles the messages in a way that has meaning for us, and can store that information in our memory. The brain controls our thoughts, memory and speech, movement of the arms and legs, and the function of many organs within our body.”
The brain has three main parts: the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem. Mayfield Brain & Spine lists the functions of each:
- Cerebrum — The largest part of the brain and is composed of the right and left hemispheres and eight different lobes. It performs higher functions like interpreting touch, vision, and hearing, as well as speech, reasoning, emotions, learning, and fine control of movement
- Cerebellum — Located under the cerebrum. Its function is to coordinate muscle movements, maintain posture, and balance
- Brainstem — A relay center connecting the cerebrum and cerebellum to the spinal cord. It performs many automatic functions such as breathing, heart rate, body temperature, wake and sleep cycles, digestion, sneezing, coughing, vomiting, and swallowing
So what would we do without our brains? Frankly nothing at all.
Ways to take care of your brain
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, “research is still evolving, but evidence is strong that people can reduce their risk of cognitive decline by making key lifestyle changes.”
This means how you live can determine your brain health. Lifestyle habits like physical activity and diet can make all the difference. And you don’t have to wait until you hit a mature age and a noticeable decline in your cognitive abilities to start making changes.
The Cleveland Clinic claims there are six pillars of brain health: physical exercise, food and nutrition, medical health, sleep and relaxation, mental fitness, and social interaction. Let’s discuss them below.
Diet
The first thing you can adjust is your diet. The Alzheimer’s Association suggests eating “a healthy and balanced diet that is lower in fat and higher in vegetables and fruit to help reduce the risk of cognitive decline.” Medical News Today provides 12 foods that can boost brain function:
- Oily Fish
- Dark Chocolate
- Berries
- Nuts and Seeds
- Whole Grains
- Coffee
- Avocados
- Peanuts
- Eggs
- Broccoli
- Kale
- Soy
These foods contain certain nutrients that benefit the brain. “Omega-3 fatty acids, for example, help build and repair brain cells, and antioxidants reduce cellular stress and inflammation, which are linked to brain aging and neurodegenerative disorders,” they claim.
Exercise
“People who exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease,” Cleveland Clinic says. “Exercise improves blood flow and memory; it stimulates chemical changes in the brain that enhance learning, mood, and thinking.”
They suggest taking up aerobics, strength training, flexibility, or balance exercises. You could also just start going on daily walks — even if you don’t usually exercise, some activity is better than none at all.
“A large Canadian study that found the more physically active adults were, the higher they scored on tests of memory and problem-solving,” says WebMD. “And studies have shown it can increase the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory, which naturally shrinks as you age. … researchers found that when you use your legs in weight-bearing exercise, the brain receives signals that spur it to make healthy new cells.”
There you have it, you can even reverse deterioration your brain may have already experienced just by exercising regularly!
Physical activity also improves your medical health which also affects your brain’s health. According to Cleveland Clinic, “hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, head trauma, higher cholesterol, and smoking all increase the risk of dementia.”
Keeping active can help you control the risks of getting such medical conditions by maintaining a normal body weight and a healthy heart.
Sleep
Getting a good night’s sleep also benefits your brain. “Not getting enough sleep due to conditions like insomnia or sleep apnea may result in problems with memory and thinking,” according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Have you ever noticed that it’s harder to concentrate or that you’re in a bad mood when you don’t get much sleep? There’s a reason for that.
“Sleep energizes you, improves your mood and your immune system, and may reduce buildup in the brain of an abnormal protein called beta-amyloid plaque, which is associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” Cleveland Clinic provides. “Practicing meditation and managing stress may help fend off age-related decline in brain health.”
So get some rest, take a nap, it’s good for you!
Mental Fitness
In addition to exercising your body, you should also exercise your brain. The Alzheimer’s Association says that “Mental exercises may improve your brain’s functioning and promote new brain cell growth, decreasing your likelihood of developing dementia.”
There are many ways you can exercise your brain. According to Wellnessaurus, drawing a map from memory, building your vocabulary, learning a new skill, and changing up daily habits are all ways to challenge your brain and strengthen it.
Here are some fun brain exercises you can start doing today:
- Play a game — Puzzles and cards engage various parts of the brain and make use of different cognitive abilities like memory and thinking
- Use your senses — Smelling, seeing, hearing, and touching all employ areas of the brain. Some activities you can do include cooking, listening to music, and mediating
- Teach a new skill — This can be fun and interesting while also strengthening connections in your brain and exercising memory skills.
Getting to teach someone something new is an added bonus.
These are just a few ways you can exercise your brain, there are tons more. Just remember to keep on using it so you don’t lose it.
“Challenging your brain essentially creates a backup system. ‘The more intellectual stimulation you have, the more various neural circuits are used. And the more circuits you have, the harder it is for the changes associated with neurodegenerative diseases to manifest,’” WebMD provides.
Social Interaction
Being in a socially-rich environment can be very stimulating for your brain. Having a social network “provides sources of support, reduces stress, combats depression and enhances intellectual stimulation,” Cleveland Clinic claims. “Studies have shown that those with the most social interaction within their community experience the slowest rate of memory decline.”
You can grow your social network through shared hobbies or mutual friends. So be sure to reach out in order to enhance your brain health and to have just an overall more rewarding life.
Concluding Remarks
The brain is responsible for a lot — what we think and what we do — so it is important we keep that vital organ healthy so we aren’t limited in those things. As we age, our brains are prone to experience negative effects like shrinkage and neglect but we can prevent or reverse such things from occurring.
We can do this by living a healthy lifestyle and taking care of ourselves. By exercising regularly, eating nutritious foods, and interacting with others we can strengthen our brain’s connections and overall cognitive abilities to keep doing the things we love and live for.
