Alzheimer’s and Dementia. They can strike fear in the strongest of hearts. And they are in the list of top ten chronic diseases leading to a decreased health span for the patient, and increased care-giving required from the family.
In the recent years there has been a lot of research in the field of brain health. There are many medications in the pipeline but none that is curative as far as I know.
So the focus has to be on preventive measures and trying to delay the onset of the disease as much as possible. The ways to delay the disease start in the 50’s and 60’s. Research has not come up with any one method to do that but emphasized the importance of good health habits. So what are these good health habits which can help improve our brain health?
- EXERCISE : Always the first in any list to improve health. WHY? Because think, what does any kind of movement do? It pumps blood throughout the whole body, including the brain. And when blood circulates, it brings fresh nutrients to the brain and carries away the toxic end products of metabolism. It’s the difference between a freely flowing river vs. a stagnant pool. So move. Choose your method. A minimum of 30-45 min a day, either done together or broken up into 10-15 min segments. More important, try to move every half hour, even if it is fidgeting in place. Or count your steps. My goal is 10,000 steps in a day. Yes, studies are showing that 7,500 steps are sufficient, but this is one case where more is better.
- REST: So after exercise, time to think about rest. There is some research showing that the brain is actually the most active when one is sleeping, it’s cleaning up the toxic products collected during the day. Improve your sleeping habits. A clutter-free, dark, noise-free bedroom will help. Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day helps with sleep. Taking a 20 min nap in the afternoon is refreshing, it helps relax the body and brain.
- STRESS: Mental stress can be of different kinds- the day to day stress of losing the keys, or dropping coffee on the keyboard or being late for an appointment. Then there is the long-standing stress of unfulfilled dreams and desires, regrets, lost connections with people you love. All this is Distress. There is also the good kind of stress, called Eustress, which might be due to the first day at a new job or riding a roller coaster. I can say for myself that Eustress is not very common in my life now, maybe due to my experience, but good things don’t give me too much stress. I don’t get too stressed with the daily happenings either. I wonder however about what kind of long-standing regrets and unfulfilled dreams do I hold in my heart. That is one area I like to explore with the help of meditation and spirituality. I follow a couple of podcasts which help me think on these lines: the tenpercenthappier podcast by Dan Harris, The Art of Happiness by Arthur Brooks.
- DIET and NUTRITION: There is not one single food or food group which is the best for the brain. Research is coming up about anti-inflammatory diet as maybe helping with keeping the brain healthy. As the name suggests, it helps fighting against inflammation, which is the main cause of brain and body disease. The Mediterranean Diet is a good example of this along with the Traditional Asian and the south East Asian/Indian diets. The basis of these diets are home-cooked, plant-based, non-processed, low sugar foods. I cook at home most of the time. We do eat packaged food, chips, cookies, cakes which include added sugar so that’s what I have to work on.
- WORK THE BRAIN: As we go through life, there comes a stage where we are doing more or less the same things everyday, day after day. The seasons merge into each other, each summer seems the same as the one before. The brain likes routines but it thrives on variety. In the last 15-20 years or so there’s been a glut of research that shows that older brains can learn. And when they learn they form new neural connections. Which means that in case of any trauma to the brain there is ‘brain reserve‘ built in which lets those new neural connections to take over and help the person function. The neural connections are built when the brain is worked. Put in the effort to learn a language, or some musical instrument, or as my father did-he solved all the levels of the Rubik’s cubes till level 20!! I am learning Italian, well, it was for a trip to Italy, but Covid…oh well.
- CONNECTIONS: Build connections in the community. Studies have shown that even a simple greeting between people we meet in the grocery store builds connections. Call up your friends and relatives. Go volunteer. Wave to the other walkers and runners, gradually you build a community of people who recognize you and that’s a good feeling.
So these are the main ways to build brain health. Note that these are also the ways to be generally healthy. And all the above can be done slowly and gradually, it’s a matter of building those habits. Just thinking and working on some of these points is a brain workout.
What one thing are you going to do today to help your brain??
I am still learning to post pictures on this blog-that is my brain workout! I still don’t know how to edit these, but baby steps!