Seven Healthy Lifestyle Habits that Promote Brain Health

What is Brain Health?

Brain Health is an emerging concept worldwide that circumscribes nervous system development, functioning, and recovery across life cycles. Therefore, it can be defined as the perseverance of brain integrity and cognitive functions to prevent apparent brain diseases that can deteriorate normal brain functions. 

Thus, it is vital to maintain and promote your brain health for a better life. Several healthy habits can enhance brain function, improve memory and decrease the risk of dementia. 

Here we discussed the seven most significant healthy lifestyle habits that promote your brain health. Includes,

Exercise Regularly:

For sure, daily exercise makes you physically and mentally healthy. It improves blood circulation and the metabolic system and strengthens your heart. Surprisingly, it also improves your mood and generates more energy in you. 

An estimated 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week have tremendous positive effects on our brain health, such as,

• Improves the blood flow
• Reduces the inflammation
• Enhances the brain’s neuroplasticity
• Stimulates the release of neurotransmitters
• Reduce the risk of dementia

Divide the 150 minutes into 10-15 minutes of daily exercise for your convenience. 

Follow a Mediterranean Diet:

This diet is a healthy eating plan that includes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, seafood, nuts and beans, and olive oil, a primary fat source. This diet excludes dairy products, simple carbs, and processed foods. 

A study was conducted on the Mediterranean diet in 2016, which showed that adapting to the Mediterranean diet is similar to taking five years off the brain’s age. 

People who follow the Mediterranean diet experience its excellent benefits on brain health, such as,

• Slow the rate of cognitive decline
• Decelerate the onset of dementia
• Improves memory
• Boost cognitive functions
• Improves ability to focus, remember the instructions, and multitask.
• Furthermore, it also decreases the risk of cancer and heart disease occurrence.   

Take an Ample Amount of Vitamin D:

Vitamin D has a significant role in the proper functioning of the brain. Therefore, it is necessary to take plenty of this Vitamin to improve brain health. Instead of taking supplements, you can also get Vitamin D through sunshine and intake of vitamin-D-rich foods such as salmon and eggs. 

Significant intake of Vitamin D can be very beneficial in various aspects, such as,

• Reduction of neural inflammation
• Protection of Neurons
• Promotes nerve growth
• Enhances synthesis of neurotransmitters by activation of specific enzymes

Lower the Consumption of Refined Carbohydrates:

Frequent consumption of refined carbohydrates has a direct link to neurocognitive decline. Refined carbs include sugars, high fructose corn syrup, bleached flour, etc. Intake of these items in higher amounts can cause severe problems such as diabetes, obesity, and arterial dysfunction. All these disorders have detrimental effects on brain health. 

A study shows that people who got 58% of their calories from refined carbs have twice the risk of developing dementia as compared to others.

Do Meditation:

Meditation is one of the best ways to promote your brain health by focusing on just positive things and trying to eliminate all negativity. It is a form of self-care in which you give yourself a specific time to heal yourself. Meditation helps enlarge the prefrontal cortex, which plays a vital role in concentration, awareness, and decision-making abilities. 

Furthermore, a Harvard study proved that a visible increase in the hippocampus is observed in people who meditate regularly for eight weeks. The hippocampus controls memory and controls learning. Moreover, a decrease in the amygdala is also observed, responsible for stress, anxiety, and fear. 

Maintain Proper Body Weight:

Healthy body weight plays a vital role in brain wellness and cognitive functions. Thus, for a healthy life, it is essential to maintain an average body weight per the standards of BMI (body mass index). 

An experiment on 17,000 participants was conducted, which showed that overweight or obese people have lower cerebral blood flow rates than normal or underweight people. 

Decreased cerebral blood flow rate has various dreadful effects on the body and can lead to;

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Different drugs addiction
• Increased rate of suicide
• Depression
• Bipolar disorders
• Schizophrenia

Have a Standard Sleep:

Hence, our system (body and brain) is also a machine that needs time to refuel. For sure, sleep is essential for our brain and body. After all the hectic tasks, our brain and body get exhausted and need time to relax. The brain and body cells get fuelled and prepared for the upcoming functions during sleep. 

The standard sleep time for adults is 7-9 hours for better brain health. Furthermore, getting enough sleep isn’t enough, but it is essential to know how to sleep better to improve your mental state.  

During sleep, our brain switches to ‘housekeeping mode’ and flushes out all the accumulated toxins during the entire day. People who take a proper sleep experience improved body functions such as,

• Enhanced motor skills
• Improved cognitive functions
• Better memory recall

The brain is the pivotal part of our body on which the entire body systems depend. Thus, if you don’t have a healthy brain, how can you perform your daily tasks properly? Your body also gets drained out with an exhausted brain, and you can’t work actively. Therefore, you should give equal importance to our mental health as physical health. Adopt healthy lifestyle habits to be mentally and physically active and productive.