What should you do to be the best steward of your brain?
It’s simple. You should seek novelty and challenge. The reason I say this is because of a study called the religious orders study, where a bunch of nuns and converts volunteered to give their brains upon their death. So, what happened was, that the researchers started examining these historical samples and realized that some nuns had Alzheimer’s disease and that their brains were physically getting chewed up with the Alzheimer’s and yet nobody knew it when they were alive, because they weren’t showing the cognitive deficits. The reason for this was, that the nuns were living in the converts until the day they died. They had social interaction, they had chores and responsibilities, they played games, they were doing all kinds of stuff, and that is why they were building new bridges all the time, even though their brain was physically degenerating with the ravage of the disease. So, as a result they were able to essentially fight back against the degeneration of the tissue.
So, the key is, that for most people as they grow older their lives shrink, that is why it is so important to always seek challenge, what I mean by that is to be between the levels of frustration and achievable. That is where you should always want to keep yourself in life, and as long as you’re there you’re doing the best thing you can do for your brain.
5 natural medicines for your brain
Meditation for brain power
You get to experience the power of your mind through meditation and mindfulness. Meditation is great for the brain, because sometimes we must disconnect in order to reconnect with ourselves, its like a little pit stop. Our brain isn’t meant to go fast all the time, we need these little rests, it is here you can consolidate information and accelerate learning. In 2018 there was a joint study done by New York university and Virginia Tech, and they found that 13 minutes of meditation over 8 weeks, not only enhanced the mood but also enhanced things like focus, concentration and working memory.
The power of movement
When your body moves your brain grooves. The reason I say this, is because when you move your body you create brain derived neurotropic factors which is like fertilizer for your brain. Many of us live this very sedentary lifestyle, where we sit behind a screen all day long, and that can really damage the brain, so are you taking time to move?
There was a study done in 2015 at Cambridge University where they took participants and did a baseline in terms of cognitive ability and then they had a part of the group exercise, and the other part of the group watched videos of people exercising, and then they followed up. That’s when they found out, that those who exercised enhanced their activity in the prefrontal cortex, and that the effect lasted for hours.
Neuro-nutrition
Your brain is an energy hog. Its only 2% of your body mass but it requires 20% of the nutrients. Your brain requires different nutrients than the rest of your body.
There was a study from 2015 done by Dr. Drew Ramsey from the journal of Missouri State Medical Association, where they were discussing the benefits of nutrients and brain health in details, specifically severe nutritional deficiencies in vitamin B12, B9 and zinc. They found out that deficiencies in these vitamins can cause things like depression, low mood, fatigue, cognitive decline, and irritability.
Eating food with high nutrition reduces inflammation, which is linked to higher rates of mental illness, increased risk of depression, mild cognitive impairment and ADHD. So bottom line is that you can control your mood, mind and even memory by the food you decide to eat.
Sleep for brain heath
Every function in your brain is impaired by lack of sleep. When you sleep you consolidate short-term to long-term memory. When you sleep you can potentially clean out beta amyloid plaque that could lead to brain aging challenges.
The American Academy of sleep medicine and sleep research Society released a study that recommended, that adults get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night to avoid adverse health problems. Individuals who get less than 7 hours of sleep were shown to experience impaired immune function, increased pain, lower cognitive and physical performance.
To get a good night sleep it is recommended that you sleep in an environment that is cooler, because it triggers the production of melatonin which helps you to relax. It is also recommended to reduce lighting, as our screens sometimes are keeping us awake, because it is mimicking sunlight. So, you want to sleep in a dark environment, ideally with blackout curtains or an eye mask.
The secret to happiness
When you want to improve your cognitive performance and brain health it is not just about your neurological networks but also your social networks. Who you spend time with is who you become. We all have these mirror neurons. We are constantly imitating the people around us. We start developing the same habits and behavior as the people around us. So, you want to make sure you built your positive peer group, because we all need people to cheerlead for us, we all need people to pat us on the back, to encourage us and challenge us.
There is an 84-year-old study on happiness at Harvard University and the power of being healthy and happy, that found that the number one contributor was the people around you. Because who we spend time with is who we become. So be conscious of the people you have around you, if you are around energy vampires, and they are taking your energy away, no wonder you’re not motivated.