6 Golden Rules To Keep Your Brain Young
Lund University
Our brain is the energy hungry organ, it weights 2% of our body weight, yet consuming 20% of our energy at the rate 10 times faster than other tissues in our body.
When our brain work right, we work right. It is the hardware of our soul. It is an organ of intelligence, planning, decision making. Is it a natural law our brain become less active when we age? The answer is "NO".
Listen up! You should have a fast acting brain no matter how old you are. As long as you live right, your brain can actually age back. Here are the 6 golden rules:
1. Get 8 hours Sleep
Sleep is the biggest investment on our brain health. It helps detoxifying the cerebral fluid, and flushing out all the toxins that build up during waking hours. 80-90% people who suffer from depression or anxiety have sleeping problem. Teenagers need 8-10 hours sleep while an adult at least needs 7-9 hours sleep per day. Never too late to start sleeping for a better brain.
2. Eat Real Food
Stay away from all processed food, artificial sweeteners, refined sugar! They slow down your brain cells’ use of insulin, cause neurological problems ranging from memory to the ability to learn. Instead, eat real food with high quality fat, e.g. avocado, fatty fish, coconut oil, walnut etc to absorb right amount of omega 3 which enhance hormones building to communicate between nerves.
3. Healthy Bowel Movement
Our gut is the 2nd brain. Poor digestion causes poor brain health. Make sure you have at least 2-3 bowel movements everyday. Make sure you have enough probiotics intake which help building a healthy gut flora. Go for the whole food or get good quality supplements for that. Besides, make sure you get right amount of vitamins, deficiency of B12 causes smaller brain too.
4. Exercise
Keep your body moving reduces risk of dementia by 30-40%. Have regular exercise per week, try different types by combining yin and yang, running, swimming, hiking, cycling, tai chi, yoga, or even a simple walk are great choices. Keep it balance, fun and sustainable.
5. New learnings
Read an inspiring article, work on a sudoku, or talk to some smart people. Find ways to keep your life new and creative, new learnings always grow new brain cells & improve your memory.
6. Have 5 gratitudes a day
Stress management is a key to brain health, it reduces cortisol which causes brain damage. One of the good way to practice mindfulness is to write down 5 gratitudes a day when you wake up or right before you going to bed.
It's never too late to start healing your life, your body and your mind with a healthy brain function. Start practicing the above and keep your brain young. Contact me for further advice:
