How do we ensure that our brains continue to function well? Here, effective functioning calls for healthy stimulation. Even though our brains will naturally deteriorate, there are also factors like food intake, and thoughts and emotions that can make or break brain health.
Introspect on what kind of food you eat daily. Whatever we feed our body has implications not just on our physical health but also on the functions of our brain. If you are someone who indulges in junk food regularly, consume caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol excessively, you may find that you feel less energetic and that sometimes, you can experience slower brain functions. Therefore, one must be honest with themselves and question the impact of their diet on one’s brain health.
Alongside that, thoughts and emotions can also cause our brains to become weaker. When we are feeling down, our brains can function at a slower pace, and it may take more effort to think. Hence, making our brains stronger can start from the inside of ourselves; think about the conversations you hold with yourself – are they critical and self-sabotaging or helpful and positively challenging?
Assess the impact of positive and helpful thoughts, and emotions on your actions, relationships, productivity, problem-solving, decision-making, confidence and more. Then, consider the impact of negative and self-sabotaging thoughts and emotions on the same. This may help you better understand how your brain is affected and help you with tips to improve brain health.
Of course, the factors mentioned above are things that we commonly do that have become a habit. If we can rectify those habits to be better, such as eating cleaner and healthier or having more positive thoughts and self-talk, we can make our brains healthier.
On the side, there are also habits that we can learn to develop to improve our brain even more:
Find your mental stimulation
Keep learning any topic that sparks interest in you. Some people like to delve deeply into a subject that interests them, while many others love to explore and learn various topics that cover art, music, history, technology, infrastructure and more. It is suggested to explore topics out of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself to learn something different and gradually increase the difficulty level depending on how far you want to go with that topic/learning.
Get the basics right
It is not only diet, but also fitness and sleep that cannot be compromised on. Fitness and sleep are also equally important. Developing a healthy fitness routine and sleep schedule will parallelly take care of many other aspects for better brain health.
Connection and Relationships
It is important to connect with the people around you. We are social creatures after all and our relationships with people can deeply affect our emotional state which, in turn, can affect how our brains function. Connecting with someone does not always require one to engage in meaningful and intellectually stimulating conversation. We can also connect with others by laughing, smiling and enjoying some meaningless conversations occasionally. Connect and be friends with people of all age groups, it allows us to broaden our horizons and be more inclusive.
So, we can work to improve our brain health by remedying our food habits and outlook. Thereafter, we can also consider learning new things to work our brain. We can also incorporate good fitness routines and sleep schedules into our lives. Last but not least, we can learn to be open to connecting with more people and developing lasting relationships.
If you or someone you know is struggling with their thoughts and emotions and are unsure why, please feel welcome to have a chat with our in-house counsellors, Ms. Harshali Kotekar and Ms. Glenda Dsilva.
