Some effective tips on how to improve brain health have been listed out in this article. Know how you can increase your brain power, efficiency and its overall health.
The brain is analogous to the motherboard of a computer. It is the most important organ in the body, and one with the most complex built and functions too. All the why’s and how’s related to the functions of the body are related to this vital organ. Whether we are awake or asleep, it is the brain that always calls the shots, and remains in charge for everything and anything that goes in the body, voluntarily or involuntarily. So being good to the brain means being good to your overall health.
Ways to Boost Your Brain Health
Be Curious
The best way to keep your brain working fast and efficiently is by making it work. And that can be done by knowing all the why’s and how’s about every possible thing in this universe. In other words, being curious and finding the answers behind your curiosity is the key to keep your brain up and running all the time.
Challenge Your Brain
Another way to maintain your brain health is by indulging yourself in games which can force you to focus, and think fast in your approach. Go for games such as Sudoku, crosswords, memory games, chess, or anything that can make you think there can be another approach to the problem, rather than what is apparent to the eye. Games that are timed are also an effective method to charge your brain.
Foods for Brain
Nutrition is another aspect that cannot be overlooked when it comes to keeping your brain health in a mint condition. Here are some good examples of foods for the brain…
- Oily fish – for their richness in omega-3 fatty acids
- Blueberries – high in brain-boosting compounds
- Tomatoes – high in lycopene; an important antioxidant
- Fortified cereals – great source of B12
- Blackcurrants – high in vitamin C
- Pumpkin seeds – rich in zinc
- Broccoli – loaded with vitamin K
- Nuts – great source of vitamin E
The nutrients that each of these food items consists of, directly or indirectly contribute to the varied functions of the brain.
Meditate
There is perhaps not a single medical disease or disorder which cannot be either treated or cured with the help of meditation. Engaging in this technique at least once daily, not only adds to the physical health, but also puts the brain through new levels of workout, thus making it sharp and active. Moreover, meditation helps in reducing emotional distress, thus giving the brain more time to concentrate on the brighter elements of life.
Exercise Daily
Daily exercising, even if it means taking a stroll down the park, contribute to our overall health. Exercises, the aerobic ones in particular, improve blood circulation, and regulation of oxygen and glucose in the body including the brain. Also indulging in games that require greater sense of balance, coordination, high dexterity, and other challenges, give your brain more scope to try itself at new skill levels thus, enhancing its health.
Read
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” – Sir Richard Steele. People who are avid readers, swear by the truth of this statement. Reading a book, when compared to watching television, offers loads of benefits for the brain. While watching television, we are engaged in a one-sided transfer of information, where we only take in the input without giving any output. But reading compels us to think, question, reflect, pause and put our knowledge and intellect in understanding the events that are elaborated in the book. Reading books keep our mind engaged in a receiving and transmitting process of information.
Don’t Fret Over Changes
Do not make your brain yawn by indulging it at the same level! What I mean to portray is, try your brain on new levels every time. Try writing with both hands at the same time, wear your watch on the hand which you never do, or take a different route to office or school. Simple changes in lifestyle present the brain with new challenges, and help make it improve in its work to meet the demand.
Sleep
Whatever you do, ensure that you get plenty of sleep at the end of the day. Adequate sleep recharges the body and improves thinking. In case you were not aware, sound sleep actually improves the way the brain works the next day. Good night sleep helps the brain to integrate skills that have been learned by the person in the past or the recent past. And not only this, it also helps in building near-fading, weak memories into more permanent fixtures.
So that is how you can be brainier with the help of some simple and easily implementable steps and strategies. To conclude this piece with one last tip, it is about learning new skills whenever we get an opportunity. Even this, as already mentioned above, keeps the brain from engaging in mundane events, and helps the organ wake up to new challenges. Learning to cook, learning to ride a bike or a car, learning a foreign language, or learning how to sing, are all activities which work on multiple areas of the brain. If you ask me, for now, I am working out my brain by learning how to play a guitar. It’s fun, really!…
