It is natural to wish to stay young forever – but – this is not how life works. As you get older, it is natural to experience a decline in your brain functions. For instance, you might start forgetting small details, such as where you placed your car keys or your phone.
However, we are here to tell you that a decline in brain function can be avoided with the following tips:
Stimulate Your Mind
You can prevent your brain from aging through mental stimulation. Ideally, you should give your brain some activity to do, which will help your brain create new cells. You don’t have to overthink about what activities you can give your brain to do. If you were to read regularly, you would stimulate your mind. Also, consider doing some mental gymnastics, such as doing some puzzles or solving a math problem.
You might as well do tasks that involve your hands, such as painting or crafting. You can also do some hand and finger exercises to increase dexterity and flexibility.
Be Active
To keep your brain young, you must engage in physical exercise, too. When it comes to keeping your body and mind young, you might want to join a health and wellness center to get a customized workout plan that is according to your needs. Apart from your body, your brain requires a workout, too. On that note, by training your muscles, you can do your brain a great favor.
So, here is what happens: when you work out or move your body through exercise, you increase your blood flow. Improved blood circulation then helps transport oxygen-rich blood to those parts of your brain that are responsible for critical thinking.
Exercise And New Brain Cells
When you exercise, you will also be making new brain cells. This aspect indicates that you will be able to improve the connection between the different brain cells, too. Through exercise, you will be keeping your brain younger. As you will keep up the recommended workout sessions, you will start to notice an improvement in the way your brain performs.
It is important to mention here that your workout requirements in your 40s or 50s will be different than your workout session in your 20s and 30s. As we get older, the workout requirements keep changing, too.
Focus on Your Diet
This one is a no-brainer. You might have heard it before that you are what you eat. What you eat impacts your entire body, including your brain. The first thing you might want to do is to change your diet and your meal times. If you are in the habit of skipping your breakfast, then you might want to change this bad habit with the healthy habit of getting your breakfast right.
Often, people underestimate just how crucial healthy eating is because a good diet is not only helpful for your body but also your brain. If you are making the mistake of lining up at fast food chains, then you are doing yourself a great favor.
On that note, amp up on fruits and veggies. Also, focus on omega-three fatty acids, which are equally good for your brain health.
Improve Your Blood Circulation
Another thing that you can do to keep your brain young is to improve your blood circulation. If you have high blood pressure, you are at a higher risk of cognitive decline. The best thing you can do is to make certain lifestyle changes to improve blood circulation and bring your blood pressure to a healthy level. As mentioned earlier, physical exercise can help keep your brain younger. Simultaneously, a workout can help reduce your blood pressure and keep it at a healthy level.
Make sure to decrease your alcohol consumption and maintain a healthy weight.
Learn to Manage Your Stress
It is important to mention here that you should avoid stress and learn to manage stress in healthy ways. Chronic stress can not only accelerate your brain aging but can also increase the chances of developing dementia or Alzheimer’s. Excessive stress is also linked with inflammation, which can affect your brain cells.
Subsequently, if you fail to manage your stress the right way, your body produces too much cortisol, which negatively impacts your brain cells, causing you to forget things. Your brain might as well struggle with forming new memories and learning new skills.
Walk More – Stress Less
When it comes to controlling your stress, you might want to move your body and walk it out. You will be surprised to know what a twenty-minute walking session can do to your mind and body. When you go for a walk, your brain produces feel-good chemicals that can lower your stress levels and make you feel better inside out.
So, do yourself a favor and go for a walk or a quick jog around the block whenever you feel stressed out.
Keep Your Emotions in Check
Your emotional health is as important as your physical and mental health. Here is the thing: if you are suffering from anxiety or depression, the chances are high that it will affect your mental health in the long term. People who have depression and anxiety usually score poorly on cognitive tests. The same goes for people who are essentially sleep-deprived or feel mentally exhausted more often than not.
On that note, if you want to decrease your risk of dementia, you must ensure that you are in the right state of mind. If you don’t take care of your mental health, you will get overwhelmed with stress and anxiety, which in turn will affect your brain health and functioning.
Final Thoughts
If you want to keep your brain young for as long as possible, it is essential to take care of the basics, too, which is to protect your head from injury or trauma. You drastically increase your chances of cognitive impairment. So, make sure that your head is safely protected. If you work at a construction site, you must always wear protective headgear. The same applies if you play certain sports or ride a motorbike.
