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Health Tip for Today ~ Boost Your Brain
There’s more to keeping your brain sharp than crossword puzzles. Preserving your cognitive skills for the long term means adopting a healthy lifestyle — and it doesn’t have to be complicated (really!). “There are a number of healthy lifestyle habits that can help enhance cognitive function, optimize long-term brain health and greatly decrease the odds of developing dementia,” says Scott Kaiser, MD, director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California. (And because many of these behaviors also support your overall health, you’ll reap the benefits from head to toe.)
5 Habits to Adopt for a Healthier Brain.
- Eat more than one serving of fruit and veggies a day.
- Get screened for high blood pressure and diabetes.
- Get active, start walking and exercising.
- Have Fish for dinner, especially cold water fish.
- Get sufficient sleep.
Health Tip for Today ~ Up Your Brain Power
While most of us know that what we eat affects our bodies, eating a healthy diet also affects our brain. The foods that you eat regularly can help keep your brain healthy and may also improve memory and concentration. While there is no magic pill – or food – that prevents cognitive decline, a healthy dietary pattern which includes lots of plant-based foods, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains, and healthy proteins and fats like fatty fish and olive oil can help support brain health. And many of these same foods are also good for the heart. Add the following foods to your plate to promote brain health:
The brain-boosting foods can help ward off dementia and improve your brain health.
- Fatty fish.
- Blueberries.
- Leafy greens.
- Nuts and seeds.
- Eggs.
- Broccoli.
- Coffee and tea.
Health Tip of the Day ~ Feed Your Brain
Vegetables and Grain and a Winning Combination
You’ll need a salad, one other vegetable, and three servings of whole grains every day. Any vegetable will do, but collard greens, kale, and spinach are especially good. Though there’s little research on brain function and grains, part of the science behind the MIND diet may include how the foods work together. Researchers are still trying to figure out why it works so well.
Health Tip of the Day ~ Exercise Enhances Brain Cognition
Exercise to Think Better
Part of the reason exercise enhances cognition has to do with blood flow. Research shows that when we exercise, blood pressure and blood flow increase everywhere in the body, including the brain. More blood means more energy and oxygen, which makes our brain perform better.
Another explanation for why working up a sweat enhances our mental capacity is that the hippocampus, a part of the brain critical for learning and memory, is highly active during exercise. When the neurons in this structure rev up, research shows that our cognitive function improves. For instance, studies in mice have revealed that running enhances spatial learning. Other recent work indicates that aerobic exercise can actually reverse hippocampal shrinkage, which occurs naturally with age, and consequently boost memory in older adults. Yet another study found that students who exercise perform better on tests than their less athletic peers.
Feeling Good Tip of the Day ~
Write About Your Feelings
Ever heard someone say, ‘If you’re angry at someone, write them a letter and don’t send it’? While that might seem like a waste of time, science reveals recording your feelings is great for clarifying your thoughts, solving problems more efficiently, relieving stress, and more. A team of pyschologists recently hit on a neurological reason behind why this simple act might help us overcome some emotional distress.
The researchers studied brain scans of volunteers who recorded an emotional experience for 20 minutes a day for 4 sessions. They then compared the brain scans with volunteers who wrote down a neutral experience for the same amount of time. The brain scans of the first group showed neural activity in a part of the brain responsible for dampening strong emotional feelings, suggesting that the act of recording their experience calmed them. This same neural activity was absent in the volunteers who recorded a neutral experience.
Today’s Health Tip ~ Give Your Brain a Boost
Cinnamon is Good for Your Brain
Studies show that cinnamon confers cognitive benefits and anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and immunomodulatory properties.
Some research shows that cinnamon potentially has neuroprotective effects, including against Alzheimer’s disease. A compound in cinnamon known as cinnamaldehyde, for example, has been shown to inhibit the buildup of amyloid-beta plaques in the brain- a key sign of Alzheimer’s.
Recently, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 40 studies investigating the effects of cinnamon on cognitive function. They found that cinnamon significantly improves cognitive function, described as learning and memory. The study appears in Nutritional Neuroscience.
Feeling Good ~ Your Health on Kindness
No Surprises Here – Being Kind Brings Big Health Benefits
Being there for others comes with its own rewards: kindness toward others boosts your well-being and happiness levels. Studies show that volunteers experience a boost in their mental health; they feel happier and more satisfied with their lives. And volunteering later in life has been shown to boost cognitive function and slow cognitive decline.
Our brains release oxytocin (known as the love hormone”) when we’re happy, and we become happy when we show kindness toward others. As a bonus, oxytocin further boosts kindness and generosity.
Oxylocin can help reduce blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease. It inhibits inflammation, promotes wound healing, and reduces the risk of immune disorders caused by stress. Your immune system benefits from frequent doses of the happiness hormone too. Oxytocin is not the only brain chemical released through kindness. Dopamine, the pleasure neurotransmitter, also floods our bodies, causing a feel-good state called “helper’s high. Dopamine can also affect immune cells and regulate normal immunity, Simply put, kindness strengthens your own ii-nmune system!
Source: Alive: Canada’s Natural Health & Wellness Magazine
Kindness Works ~ A Kind Act Makes Our Brain Light Up
When We’re Kind to Other Our Brain Benefits
Physiologically, kindness can positively change your brain. Being kind boosts serotonin and dopamine, which are neurotransmitters in the brain that give you feelings of satisfaction and well-being, and cause the pleasure/reward centers in your brain to light up. Endorphins, which are your body’s natural pain killer, also can be released.
We don’t need drugs or alcohol to feel good. Kindness will do the trick. Be kind, feel good.
