If you ask someone what they do to keep healthy, chances are they will talk about heart health, weight, exercise etc. but rarely will you find someone that also adds what they do to keep their brains in top form.
I am lucky that I was blessed with a brain that was acute enough to get me to a great school, to get me through that school, and to land me a great job. Here’s what I have been doing to ensure my brain is getting the right kind of food and exercise to keep it healthy for a long long time to come:
1. I do 30 minute aerobic exercise (elliptical and/or stationary bike) 4-5 times every week. I always note a marked improvement in my mental acuity and clarity on the days I work out in the gym, and scientific studies have also shown that exercising helps keep your brain sharp.
Reference: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/memory-improvement/HA00085
2. I eat omega-3 fatty acids – good fats, found, among other things, in walnuts and fishes. You can also get omega-3 supplements in pharmacies (I buy mine in bulk from Costco). In addition to having a score of cardiovascular benefits, these fats also help keep my brain healthy. Eating too much omega-3’s can be detrimental to one’s health, so if you are thinking of incorporating the supplement in your diet, be sure to talk to your doctor about it first.
Reference: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fish-oil/NS_patient-fishoil
3. I eat blueberries – every morning, before going to the gym, I drink a protein shake and eat half a cup of berries (sometimes I will eat just blueberries; at other times, I eat a mixture of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and marrionberries). Even though I would like to eat fresh blueberries, the cost is prohivitive ($4 for a 6oz box); so I opt for frozen berries from the frozen foods aisle of my grocery store. These fruits contain phytonutrients that can help improve short term memory and promote healthy aging.
Reference: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/health-foods/NU00632
4. I exercise my brain – I play sudoku and Brain Age on my Nintendo DS. I don’t know of any research that proves these puzzles actually work in keeping my brain healthy, but they are fun, and I feel like my brain gets at least a little workout out of these.
5. I am learning a new language (currently French, but I am thinking of switching to Spanish). For my day to day work,I end up using the analytic side of my brain the most (I am a software engineer). I feel that learning a new language uses the other parts of the brain that would otherwise lay dormant and possibly lose function.
So what do you do to keep your brain healthy? Leave a comment and let me know because I would be most interested in trying them out.
