Today we will talk about something that people carry everywhere with them (well mostly), they use it for everything (mostly), but they still forget to take care of it. As the heading suggests I am talking about the brain.
But, before talking about brain health, I think you’ve already guessed that I’m not your favourite blogger Pooja G. Well, PG requested me to write a blog (No, she didn’t) and I thought hey, it’s been a while since I last shared anything here, so let’s do a blog for my favourite blogger (This is totally my fanboy moment).
Coming back to the topic. With this blog, I will share a few things that are important for a good brain health. And, trust me Lifesfinewhiners, I will try to share these things in a fun manner. Because knowing about the brain is fascinating but at the same time very boring.
1: Good nutrition for a good brain health
Some people will wonder what’s the relationship between food and brain health. For that let’s understand it like this. The brain is responsible for everything that’s happening in your body.
Even while reading this blog, your brain is trying to process so many things like: Who is this dude? What’s up with Pooj. For all this thinking and for all the other things, your brain needs fuel. That fuel comes from quality food. Better fuel means better results.
By better fuel, I mean high-quality food, which is rich in Vitamins, Minerals, Unsaturated fats, complex carbs, protein, and fibres. A diet with a range of Nutrients helps in the maintenance of neurotransmitters (Brain messengers). A good diet also protects the brain from free radicals, which can damage the cells.
20% of the energy we get from food is consumed by the brain.
An unhealthy diet containing trans-fat and simple carbs may lead to inflammation and oxidative stress (free radicals). Such a diet can cause inflammation of neuron’s prevent the formation of new neuron’s. If that happens our brain will not be able to make a proper connection with the rest of our body.
Studies have shown that a diet rich in good fats and complex carbs reduces the risk of stress and depression by 20-30%. If you don’t believe me with all this, then I invite you to eat a completely healthy diet for 2–3 weeks and see the result in yourself.
Above, I have mentioned high-quality food. By that, I never meant expensive food or anything fancy. You can eat a home-cooked meal, and add fruits, veggies, nuts, and seeds to your plate.
2: Exercise for a good brain health
A good diet is important for brain health, but exercising is equally important. Exercise improves blood circulation in the brain, and that as a result protects and promotes the growth of neurons.
Exercise also affects the Hippocampus (Not the brother of the Hippopotamus). The major job of our hippo is learning, memory, and many other functions. Exercise enlarges our hippo, which shrinks as we age. Studies by the University of British Columbia have found that parts of the brain that control thinking & memory are much better in those who exercise regularly than those who don’t. Exercise also promotes mood-boosting chemicals that reduce depression.
Many people stress about exercise. They don’t know what to do and they often join gyms. But, let me tell you gym is not for everyone, and you don’t necessarily need a gym. You can start with anything. You can walk, run, swim, dance, join a yoga class, do household work, do gardening, go trekking, do cardio (something that I love), do weight training (something that I hate), or whatever you want. Our main goal is to find an activity that suits us well and to dedicate daily time to it (at least 150 mins a week).
3: Sleep for a good brain health
You need good sleep for optimum brain health. And, I hope this blog is not making you sleepy. Our brain is like a machine, the finest one. Like a machine needs rest, our brain also needs rest. Otherwise, it will overburden itself and your blogs will look like this ⇾ asdgiuwdbjscbifgdfg.
Lack of sleep can affect the way we think, process, and reasoning-our cortical functions. Studies published in 2004 suggest that our Hippo is active during sleep and lack of sleep can disturb its functionality (Poor hippo). The brain also clears out toxins during sleep and if these toxins are not cleared out then it could lead to nervous system damage. By the way, Brain toxins are also removed with exercising.
Basically, we need 6–8 hours of “daily” sleep. Some need more, some need less but at least this much is needed. If you want to clear your thoughts, like the refresh option on the computer, you can have 10–30 mins of sleep at noon, but not too much, as this can disturb your sleeping cycle at night.
If you are a batman, watchman, or a night owl, make sure you take sufficient sleep whenever possible. Or, if something is restricting your sleep fix it. Many natural treatments can help you with good sleep.
I think a separate blog can be written on this. If PG allows, I will share it here (I never took her permission for this blog anyway, haha).
4: Brain activity for a good brain health
A research showed that Hippo in London cab drivers was found to be large. A possible explanation is the way they use their brain to memorise all the streets. I’ve heard that London streets are like a maze, so remembering them is a continuous brain activity.
I’m not doing London tourism here, but I am making the point about how brain activities help our brains. According to a 2014 study, various brain activities affect brain health. It affects memory, recalling instructions, concentration, and processing speeds. Brain activity also helps in developing new neurons and reduces the risk of dementia (along with workout and good food of course).
Again the question arises what to do in the name of brain activity? Well, you can do anything and everything that challenges your brain. It could be solving a puzzle, drawing a map of your city, painting, learning a new language, mental calculation, meditation, reading books, playing games, using the non-dominant hand, etc.
If not that, give me an answer to these:
1: If I am holding a bee, what do I have in my eye?
2: There is a word in the English language in which the first two letters signify a male, the first three letters signify a female, the first four signify a great man, and the whole word, a great woman. What is the word?
3: What do an island and the letter “t” have in common?
Drop answers to these in the comment section below.
And that brings us to the end of this blog. I hope you have now understood how easy it is to take care of the brain. Unlike some animals, we have only 1 anyway.
Visit a doctor to know more about your brain health.
Thanks to PG for allowing me to share this blog with you. As always she was very supportive about it and this is why this is my 3rd time writing for Lifesfinewhine.
Until next time, remember to smile.
This very interesting guest post was written by Devang. If you found it as informative as I did, do check out more of his writing on his blog by clicking here. To read the last guest post he wrote for Lifesfinewhine, click here.
For more guest posts please click here.
To read more posts about mental health related topics please click here.
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