Healthy Brain habits 1

What habits are good for the brain?

Exercise regularly. Stay physically active.  

Get plenty of sleep to help manage stress, sleep plays an important role in your brain health.

Eat a Mediterranean diet or any healthy diet.

Stay mentally active and find ways to stimulate your brain.

Remain socially involved.

Quit smoking.

Control blood pressure and blood sugar levels.

We know that a bad diet and a perpetual indentation on the couch aren’t good for you or your brain. Work on the good habits and get rid of some of your bad habits to help your brain stay healthy.

Bad Habits to overcome:

Dwelling on the negative. Pondering on hatreds, dislikes and destructive thoughts has been linked to a decline in cognition and memory in people older than 55. The study found that those who repeatedly dwelled on negative thoughts had more of the biological markers of Alzheimer’s disease.

From time to time, it is normal to engage in negative thinking, but this is a changeable behaviour. The next time you’re overtaken by negative thoughts, you do the following:

Make a list of five specific things that you are grateful for and focus on those.

Take some deep belly breaths, try a new task or change your focus to something in your environment.

When a negative thought pops up, greet it with “Hello".

Ignoring the science about vaccinations. It’s estimated that more than half of Americans blew off the flu shot during the 2021 flu season, and many people are hesitant about keeping up with COVID-19 boosters. But opting out of vaccinations may be a missed opportunity to keep your brain healthy.

A recent nationwide study of adults over 65 found that people who received at least one influenza vaccination were 40 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Other researchers have found that people ages 65 to 75 who had received the pneumonia vaccination had a 25 to 30 percent reduction in their chance of developing Alzheimer’s.

A sweet tooth beckons.  I love having a tall glass of orange or other sweet fruit in the morning and many of us include a tall glass of orange juice for breakfast. A 2017 study associated sugary beverage consumption with poorer episodic memory as well as lower total brain volume and hippocampal volume. And 2022 research found that sugar-sweetened beverages like soft drinks, sweetened tea, fruit drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks were all significantly linked to declined cognitive function. It may be far better to eat whole fruits, not drink their juices.