Our brains are essentially the organ in our body that determines who we are. All of our cognition, thoughts, feelings, ability to form opinions, our memories that have formed our personalities and more are processed and stored there. It is for this reason, that a diagnosis of cognitive decline, be it dementia, Alzheimer’s, or another age-related brain illness, is so scary. It’s not death that is frightening, but the gradual loss of ourselves, of our independence. If you know someone who has gone through dementia, you can attest to this slow degradation of self, a helpless bystander as you watch someone you know and love fade away until they don’t recognize you anymore, and truthfully, you barely recognize them. This is why protecting our brain is so important. The longer you keep your mind intact, the longer your body will remain so, too. Thankfully, there are plenty of things you can do to both protect and even improve your brain. These are 9 ways to better brain health, according to Neurologists.
9 Ways to Better Brain Health
Diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other similar brain-altering conditions seem cruelly random and unpredictable. The truth is that they can be that way. Sometimes even those who’ve lived healthy, active lives will end up with these diagnoses. It is also true that there are a number of risk factors that are out of your control. Family history and genetics, for example, are something that you cannot change. Other factors, such as your environment and levels of air pollution, a high-stress job, or a job that exposes you to certain risk factors are not necessarily things that you can fix. The good news is that the majority of risk factors for dementia are within your control, according to Neurologists. These are the best ways they say you can chart a path to better brain health.
Read More: Five Everyday Habits That Are Ruining Your Brain Health
Manage Your Chronic Illnesses
While it is best to try and avoid chronic conditions as much as possible, chronic conditions and illnesses can still impact us, anyways. Conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes can impact brain health by damaging blood vessels and increasing the risk of stroke and dementia. In these cases, it is crucial that you follow the advice of your healthcare providers and take the appropriate steps to manage them. Keeping your blood pressure and cholesterol under control is a powerful tool for better brain health. The same goes for diabetes: The more you keep your blood sugar within healthy ranges, the better your future outcomes will be. Dr. Seemant Chaturvedi, a neurologist and stroke specialist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, says that there is no such thing as starting too early.
“If you’re 35 or 40 and have high cholesterol, the current belief is that it’s better to start treatment early,” he says, explaining that early treatment could prevent a heart attack from ever even occurring. This is very good for your brain health.
Exercise for 30 Minutes
You may be tired of hearing it, but this is a fact that will never change: Our bodies are meant to move, and movement is one of the most important factors for health and longevity. This includes the health of our brains. Physical exercise not only benefits the body but also enhances cognitive processes and memory. Engaging in activities like walking, biking, or swimming at moderate intensity several times a week can contribute to better brain health. The key here is the intensity: If you’re not getting out of breath, up to between 50% and 80% of your max heart rate, you’re not doing enough.
“A rule of thumb I give my patients is that if you and I were going for a walk, we’d want to be walking at a pace where we’d be pretty out of breath, but we’d still be able to have a conversation,” says Dr. Carolyn Fredericks, an assistant professor of neurology at Yale School of Medicine.
Prioritize Sufficient Rest
Rest is not for the wicked – it’s for the healthy. This hustle culture attitude that turns a lack of sleep in favor of “the grind” is killing your brain. Lack of sleep is associated with a higher risk of dementia, not to mention your risk for so many other health problems. The truth is that we still have very little understanding of what proper sleep actually does for our brains, but we do know that it is of critical importance. Studies show that those who get less than 6 hours of sleep per night, particularly people in their 50s and 60s, have a 30% higher risk of dementia. Additionally, those who struggle to fall asleep each night have a more than 50% increased risk. Remember, the younger you start sleeping well, the better off you will be when you are older. If your current lifestyle does not promote a good night’s sleep (at least 7 hours), take this as a sign to make a change. Adequate sleep hygiene, including avoiding stimulants before bedtime and establishing a bedtime routine, can improve sleep quality and support brain function. If you are really struggling, ask your doctor for a referral to a sleep specialist.
Follow a Mediterranean Diet
Aka, eat a healthy diet. Embracing a Mediterranean diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats can be beneficial for brain health. Equally as important as what you do eat and drink is what you don’t. Avoiding harmful ingredients like trans fats and excessive salt is also crucial for optimal cognitive function. Decrease your intake of high fat, salt, sugar, and chemical additives (essentially, processed foods), and replace them with healthy, whole ingredients.
“We’ve tried over the years to find the secret ingredient that makes the Mediterranean diet work,” explains Dr. Fredericks. “Like, could it be the omega-3’s in the fish, or the vitamin E in the nuts? But every time we try to study an individual ingredient, we don’t actually see that big of a difference at a large group level.”
Challenge Your Mind
Engaging in intellectually stimulating activities that are moderately challenging can help maintain cognitive abilities. There are a few key elements here. The first of these is the degree of difficulty. Too easy, and you won’t have the desired effect. Too hard, and you will eventually give up and not continue to do them. The second of these is that you choose a variety of activities. It’s not about doing sedoku or crosswords everyday, but rather mixing it up. Brain puzzles are great, but they’re not the only thing. Learn a language or a musical instrument. If you already play a musical instrument, challenge yourself by learning new songs. There are so many ways you can challenge your brain. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, choose brain-stimulating activities that you enjoy. Don’t force yourself to do crosswords if you hate them. Again, the key is that you do a variety of brain-challenging activities regularly. The regularity piece is hard to achieve if you don’t enjoy the activities you are doing.
“It’s got to be somewhere in the sweet zone, and it has to be something that you want to do,” says Dr. Roy Hamilton, professor of neurology, psychiatry, and physical medicine and rehabilitation at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, of the difficulty level. He reminds us that brain activities are just like our diet: The more varied, the better. “You’re probably not going to get optimal effects just by picking Wordle and being like, ‘I do Wordle every day, and that’s how I maintain my cognition… The brain’s a lot more complicated than that.”
Socialize Regularly
Humans are social creatures. This social nature has been a key element to our survival as a species. Social interaction plays a vital role in strengthening neural networks related to attention and memory. Engaging with others, whether through social gatherings, volunteering, or virtual connections, can positively impact brain health. The impact of this is tangeable. In one study, for example, older adults who reported having pleasant social interactions on any given day had higher cognitive performance for the two days following that interaction. Socializing comes more naturally to some people than others. If you find yourself socially shy, that’s okay. You will, however, need to push yourself out of your comfort zone from time to time. Join a club, volunteer, find a walking buddy, pick up the phone and call that long distance friend or family member. Your brain health will be better for it.
Avoid Excessive Alcohol and Smoking
Excessive alcohol consumption and smoking can lead to cognitive decline, memory issues, and an increased risk of dementia. We know this. Alcohol, as we know, quite literally alters or shuts down certain brain processes, at least temporarily. While one drink every once in a while won’t have a big impact, over-consuming or regular consumption will, with the worst of these being regular, heavy drinking. Dr. Hamilton says that over-consumption (aka getting buzzed or drunk) actually causes temporary brain dysfunction. Over time, this causes damage to your brain. Smoking, as we know, has zero health benefits. It’s bad for your cardiovascular and therefore brain health. If you have tried to quit in the past but were unsuccessful, don’t give up. Keep trying, as the health of your brain depends on it.
Read More: 10 Toxic Habits That Destroy Your Brain Health and What You Can Do About It
Protect Against Air Pollution
You can’t necessarily control the level of air pollution in the place where you live, and for most of us, simply moving elsewhere is not a feasible option. Air pollution has been linked to an increased risk of dementia, though, with areas of higher pollution seeing more dementia cases than those with lower. So what can you do if you live in an area with high air pollution? Start by monitoring air quality reports and wearing a mask on days with poor air quality. This can help reduce exposure to harmful environmental toxins. Secondly, consider writing to your local government to try and get the air quality of your city on their priority list. Things that can help decrease air pollution include planting more trees, bushes, and other plants throughout the city to help filter the air. Others, though perhaps more difficult to implement, are more bike lanes and making the city more pedestrian friendly and focused versus cars. Improving public transportation will also effectively reduce the amount of cars out and therefore reduce emissions. Finally, a campaign to get people thinking about how much they are driving and encouraging other forms of transportation, particularly for short trips, will help to reduce emissions and improve air quality in your city or town.
Manage Stress Levels
Life is stressful, there’s no questioning that, but it is critical that we find ways to reduce and manage as much of our stress as possible. Chronic stress can have a negative impact on cognitive function and brain health. Finding strategies to minimize stress, such as mindfulness practices, relaxation techniques, or seeking support from mental health professionals, can promote better brain health. Make these stress and mental health management strategies a priority that you don’t compromise for. Whether it’s pre- or post-work workouts, your daily meditations, or going to regular therapy, these activities must be included regularly so that you can function optimally in your daily life.
The Bottom Line
Your brain health is not something to sit idle on. If you lose your brain health, you lose your life – long before your physical body actually dies. Incorporate these 9 strategies for better brain health into your regular routines. This will not only improve your cognitive performance in the short term, but will greatly reduce your risk of dementia and other brain-related illnesses in the future.