Training ground for your brain
Mental health and brain fitness are my biggest passions. My grandmother, a once very energetic and peppy person (the kind that lit up the room) fell victim to Alzheimer’s disease and the look on her face when she tried to remember who I was is a pain that she never. forget.
I have taken mental fitness head on, and I feel my life will be well spent, indeed, if I can help just one person stay mentally fit and healthy. More than one? Success beyond my wildest dreams!
The fact that brain health is a topic of great concern today provides us with a wealth of information. It’s reassuring to know that some of the brightest minds of our day are hard at work finding ways to prevent dementia, Alzheimer’s, and memory loss in general.
Below is a summary of what I’ve learned from my own reading and research, so lace up your boots and get ready to get serious about your mental health!
Foods that contribute to brain health
Certain foods are very beneficial for mental health. Fortunately, these are delicious foods that are good for every other part of your body, too. Generally speaking, when it comes to health, what benefits the heart also benefits the mind. If you follow a diet that is “heart healthy,” for example, you are also following a diet that is “brain healthy.”
The following foods are especially good for your brain and memory:
- blueberries
- Omega 3 (wild salmon, tuna, supplements)
- protein from lean meats
- eggs
- walnuts
- dark chocolate
- acai berries
- Green tea (Japanese matcha is especially good for mental health)
- Coffee
If you’re very familiar with heart-healthy diets, you’ll see a lot of similarity (except for the coffee, maybe).
Adequate rest and relaxation for mental fitness
Many people believe that they have memory problems when it turns out that they simply lack sleep. Make sure you get all the sleep you need at night. The amount of sleep one person requires differs from the next, so it’s hard to say exactly how many hours you should aim for.
Here is a simple test. Ask yourself if you are generally tired around noon. Do you tend to lose focus and think you would give anything for a nap? How about in the morning, is it a struggle to get going? If you answered “yes” to one or both of these questions, start going to bed a little earlier each night. Keep doing this until you can answer “no” to the same questions.
Mental games and activities
Here’s the fun part! To keep your brain stimulated and active, you need to engage in a number of different and stimulating activities. Here are some suggestions.
- Browse brain game puzzles and workbooks. The market is saturated with these books and they are very effective in keeping your brain stimulated. Tip: Make sure you don’t get the same type of puzzle every time. Mingle! Buy crossword puzzles this week, Sudoku next week, word search next week, and so on. Even funny puns are great for your brain.
- Reading a lot. And I mean a lot! Sometimes I get lost for hours reading articles online. I find so many different topics that interest me and I read until I learn at least 10 new things about each topic. At night, I test myself on the new things I learned that day and am disappointed if the number is less than 30. Throughout the week, I challenge myself to find ways to turn newly learned information into conversations. Tip: Don’t read the same types of articles over and over again. For example, if you love astrology, read all the books and articles on your fascinating subject that you can find, but also read about other things. EVEN things you know nothing about, like ancient China, black bears, Motown, the Civil War, Clara Barton, etc.
- Stay physically fit. Fitness is very important for mental health. Walk or do some type of exercise every day, most days of the week.
- Find ways to deal with stress. Stress is just as bad for your mental health as it is for your physical health. Find ways to cope when you are anxious or stressed.
- Find educational apps. I have fallen in love with apps and I am the reigning queen of educational apps. If you search through iPhone and iPod Touch apps, you will find many mentally stimulating apps in the areas of vocabulary, state capitals, travel, foreign languages, brain teasers, etc. The possibilities are endless.
Remember three things:
- What’s good for your heart is good for your brain. Take very good care of one and you will be taking very good care of the other. It’s a 2-for-1 deal that none of us can afford to ignore.
- CHALLENGE and STIMULUS. Every day, keep these two words in the forefront of your mind because that’s what it’s all about. You must keep your mind active because inactive minds are breeding grounds for problems.
- Enjoy and embrace life. Have fun with life and realize that there is a big wonderful world out there. Don’t let yourself down or cut yourself by narrowing your world. Live out loud and live life to the fullest. Find new things to do, places to go, people to meet, and things to learn. A day without learning something is a lost day, so don’t go on…keep growing!
