We are all well aware of the benefits of maintaining general good health. However, there is a very specific area of our health that we take for granted. Mental health is never something we think of as our responsibility. When was the last time that you made plans to improve your brain health?
Nowadays, there are available and affordable medical tests that can help us establish the current state of our brain health, just as we can check the condition of our heart or do a general body check up.
In that way, we can take steps to prevent ailments such as Alzheimer’s, which take years and years to develop in our brain before they can be detected or start manifesting symptoms.
According to Dr. Daniel Amen, M.D., Founder of the Amen Clinic, and Tana Amen, B.S.N./R.N., author of “The Omni Diet”, among the most detrimental habits that gradually deteriorate the health of our brain, the most critical could be listed as follows:
Smoking, sleep deprivation, excessive consumption of fat, sugar or alcohol, a sedentary life style or lack of exercise, dehydration, the wrong kind of diet (even those where you deprive your body of some essential fats). All these will impact negatively on your brain.
In a nutshell, all the routines and good habits that we put into practice for our general good health will also benefit our brain. However, there are additional activities that we can implement to assist with the welfare of this important organ.
All the activity produced in our brain is based on connections between neurones; the synapsis. As we get older, the neurones also age, losing their ability to produce the synapsis, and eventually die. Unfortunately, the nerves do not have self-regenerative properties as some parts of our body do, so once they become old or damaged their only fate is death. The good news is that our brain is loaded with a lot of fresh neurones ready to create brand new connections.
For these to come to life, it is not only necessary to have cultivated a top-notch general health, which translates to good conditions for the brain, but most importantly, to have a consistent routine of mental exercising.
Is not uncommon to find people in their 70s who have a young and sharp brain with the cognitive capacities of a 20-year-old; these are usually people with a career that allows them a very active brain.
Meditation
The mental and physical benefits or regular meditation have been proven with magnitude. The practice consists of the use of several techniques to slow down the processes in our brain and body through deep breathing and focused thinking, favouring self-repair and resuscitation, including of course the brain, by slowing down the release of certain segregations. Neuroscientist and author of “Still Alice,” Lisa Genova says that these segregations, in excess, can be detrimental to our body; those such as cortisol which can cause blockages between the neurones, slowing down or stopping the synapsis that is one of the causes of several kinds of dementia, including Alzheimer’s.
Creative Activities
Learning to play a musical instrument, studying new languages, writing, painting; in fact, any kind of creative activity that creates new challenge has an enormously positive influence, not only in our brain, but also our entire body. Everything that represents a new activity, implying learning or discovery, forces the brain to break away from established thinking patterns created by years of habits, and create new and fresh paths of connections that help the brain remain young and active.
The advantage of having in stock these new connections is that when the inevitable happens and those old cells face their final destination, we are not left with a dried out brain, but instead, we have a whole set of spare fresh brain connections to keep it fully functional for much longer.
Keep in mind that when we embark on creative or artistic endeavours, the focus should stay away from being a master, which creates in ourselves an inhibiting stress; instead we should see it as an exercise that will help to extend our brain life.
