The comments on the previous post about simple healthy habits has got me thinking: there are tons of ways to be healthy.  As a number of commentors pointed out, mental health is as vital as physical health.

Having this exchange earlier in the week didn’t help, either:

“I can’t remember the name. I’m totally blank. It’s like there’s a cactus rolling through my brain.  What, honey? Why are you cracking up? What!?!”

[My husband, between gasps of breath as he laughs.] “Tumbleweed, honey. There’s tumbleweed in your brain.”

Clearly, it was time for me to get proactive!

Eat Your Way to Better Focus

Morning Tea Ritual
One of the easiest ways to boost your brainpower is with foods that nourish it.While so-called superfoods like salmon and avocado aren’t everyday items, it’s not hard to feed your brain on a daily basis.

Morning: Sip a cup of fresh brewed tea. Both green and black tea can improve memory function and mood due to the antioxidant catechin, a bloodflow booster.

Afternoon: Snack on a handful of almonds. The vitamin E in almonds helps with memory function and retention. They’re easy to keep on hand and grab in a pinch.

Evening: Enjoy a square of dark chocolate. The caffeine can help you focus, while the flavenoids aid in bloodflow to the brain which can improve overall cognitive function. (Hooray for being able to finish the crossword!)

Get Moving to Avoid the Slow Burn(out)

Researchers out of the University of Illinois (among others) have noted connections between physical activity and mental acuity. While their focus was on early childhood, the results held for age groups well beyond the jungle gym crowd.  Response times were the biggest indicator that more exercise and activity were connected to brain function.  Reaction times went down in children and accuracy went up in older test subjects.

Exercise seems to be a solid hedge against cognitive decay (aka, the continuous brain fart).  Just simple walking, a few times a week, is enough to keep your brain in in good shape. In fact, the Salk Institute showed that adults can produce new brain cells, and physical activity is one way to promote that growth.

Exercise Your Brain Muscles

Brain Power
This one’s a gimme.  A wave of studies show that using the brain is a great way to keep it working—which is why games like Big Brain Academy are big sellers. (I stink at Visualize games!)  Exercises like memorization drills can actually increase working memory, the short-term storage of the brain.  The more you can store and process in short-term memory, the more complex problems you can solve.

So whether you try to add up your grocery bill in your head, memorize pi to the furthest decimal, or just commit to memory the complete works of Hall & Oates, you’re doing more than maintaining your brain.  You can actually build it up. How cool is that?

So I’ll be trying to incorporate a few of these into my everyday life.  The good news is that working my brain is pretty simple!  If you’ve got any more advice or tips, please head into the comments and add your ideas!

Creative Commons License photo credit: visualdensity

Creative Commons License photo credit: Andrew Mason

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