Lets talk about Brain Health
Lets talk about Brain Health, our brains are mostly smart, creative and flexible in their natural created state when we get into the life we often make incorrect lifestyle choices; live in stressful conditions; have injuries to our heads and all these have an impact on our brain health. Depression a symptom that often presents itself in our consulting rooms like chest pain, it is not a diagnosis according to some doctors. There are many causes of depression like grief; heart disease; gut problems; a brain that is working too hard or not hard at all; a traumatic brain injury from a vehicle injury or a sports injury; a low thyroid function is to name a few. The underlying root cause needs to be investigated and understood to help improve the quality of life of people suffering. In this blog, I would like to encourage us all to take heed of the 8 wise tips to improve our general brain health and for those suffering, please continue to search for the root of your imbalance.
Diet, nutrition, stress reduction, and management have shown to restore normal brain chemistry in.
8 wise tips to assist in improving Brain Health
- Get 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every evening: sleep deprivation is bad for the brain, it slows the brain and causes a reduction in performance and mental function tests. When we are sleep deprived we tend to be more irritable and lacking in mental and emotional stamina. Tired brains tend to forget things more often, are more forgetful and are generally not as sharp as people sleeping enough
- Laugh and do something that is fun and new: This helps to relieve stress, it is a time that you are able to shut out all the day-to-day stresses, “a little time for me”, when you look after your own needs and feel fulfilled you are more able to give of yourself. Doing something new stimulates the brain to grow more dendritic connections, this in turn helps us to communicate better and become smarter. Have fun, life is precious!
- Eat a colourful plate of vegetables and AVOID trans-fatty acids off your plate: Various colors of vegetables and fruits have different phytonutrients and they have significant effects in stimulating the brain, research has shown these tiny molecules to biological response modifiers, this means that these chemicals found in vegetables and fruit have the ability to modify our immune response….Vegies are GOOD for us!! Trans-fatty acids are DANGEROUS for our brains and they are found in baked goods, margarine, chips and fried foods. These bad fats are incorporated into our cell membranes and they make our brains sluggish and increase brain aging
- Avoid white sugar and drink plenty of clean water : Need we say more!!
- Get some exercise and focus on deep abdominal breathing: Exercise is a great way of getting your body to detoxify naturally and deep abdominal breathing assists in rectifying the body’s pH
- Great brain supplements to consider: Where to begin with supplements? If you don’t enjoy taking pills consider these well known supplements for brain health, they have also been shown to prevent brain degeneration. DHA (Usually found in your omega 3 capsule)300mg daily, Vitamin E 200IU daily, Vitamin B complex (Containing the following: B1 -50mg, B3 – 50mg, B6 – 50mg, Folate 200mcg, B12 – 500mcg) daily and Phosphatidyl serine 100mg.
- Check your Homocysteine levels annually: A simple blood test that could alert you to a potential brain problem long before you experience the first symptom. Homocysteine is an amino acid that is produced by every cell in the body, it serves a function in our biochemical pathway but excess amounts of homocysteine can result in your brain shrinking, can reduce hand-eye coordination and lead to depression.
- Think three times before taking a drug: If you are using prescription medication or using over the counter medication more than three times weekly please make sure that these medications are NOT depleting your brain of important nutrients. Many drugs deplete the body of vitamins B and CoQ10 which are essential to brain health.
Enjoy discovering your improved brain health!
Yours in health
Drs Dos Ramos
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