Brain Teasers for Healthy Brain

BrainHealth

Dear Friend,

Maintaining a healthy brain is just as important as maintaining a healthy heart. Just as you would regularly exercise to keep your heart healthy, you should also exercise your brain to keep it sharp. Research has shown that mental exercises can help to improve memory and cognitive function. In addition to stimulating your mind, you should also make sure to eat a healthy diet and get plenty of sleep. These basic health habits will help to keep your brain functioning at its best. So if you want to stay sharp as you age, don't forget to give your brain some love along with the rest of your body.

Brain health is important at every age, but becomes more imperative as we grow older. That is because chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure together with family history and the way we live our lives have an impact on the healthy function of our brains.

We can’t change our family genetics, but we can make changes that can reduce the risk of developing dementia and mild cognitive decline.

But what else? Education and lifelong learning help us use our brains to their maximum potential by stirring up our curiosity. It can also help to prevent cognitive decline in later life. A good education helps us to develop critical thinking skills and to question everything we hear. It challenges us to find evidence to support our beliefs, and it teaches us how to think creatively and solve problems.

Regular physical exercise, cutting bad habits like cigarettes and alcohol, eating a balanced diet, and staying socially active can all boost brain health.

The changes that we need to make to keep our brains healthy are already proven to be good for the heart and overall health

Here’s something to consider:

To improve brain health, there are many things we can do, but to name just a few, I would recommend that one should: control chronic conditions, keep the brain active, live an active life, eat well, give up smoking, enjoy alcohol in moderation, stay social, and get quality sleep.

Brain activity: Some simple ways to give your brain a workout include doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku, or even learning a new language.

Live an active life: Regular exercise doesn’t just boost your muscles; it can also increase the network of blood vessels that supply the part of the brain responsible for thought. Exercise also protects against diabetes and lowers blood pressure so it can protect your brain in a number of different ways.

Eat well: A balanced diet can nourish your mind and your body. The Mediterranean diet can prevent a decline in brain health. Choose fresh, natural produce with lower levels of sugar, processed foods and saturated fats. Fruit, vegetables, lean protein and healthy oils from olives, fish, nuts and avocados will help protect the brain.

Give up smoking: Smoking increases your risk of heart disease, stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. In research, people who smoked between ten and twenty cigarettes a day had a 44 percent greater risk of getting dementia.

Enjoy alcohol in moderation: Too much alcohol can increase the risk of dementia, but a little of what you fancy may actually do you good. Moderate levels of alcohol, under the government recommendation of 14 units a week, may help prevent memory loss.