Why is it that some people stay sharp as a needle well into their 90s while others can't remember where they left their keys a few moments ago? They say the mind is a terrible thing to waste, so how can you keep yours? Today we want to share four of our favorite brain health tips. Young or old, everyone can benefit from practicing these smart lifestyle choices. Brain health shouldn't wait until it's gone! Protect what you have now, and it'll last a lifetime.
4 Ways to Support Your Brain Health at Any Age
Studies have shown that your brain degrades over time with age. Cognitive ability, memory, and analysis skills all fade over the years. Yet, some people seem to only get smarter and wiser with time. Science has shown that it is quite possible to keep your brain healthy for far longer than previously thought. Best of all, all you need is a bit of common sense.
1. Challenge Your Brain
By far one of the best things you can do for your brain is to keep it busy with challenging tasks. Notice the word challenging! Business alone can actually put your brain into a sort of auto-pilot, which doesn't benefit you at all. So, what should you do? Here are a few tips:
Mind Games
Games that force you to think will keep your mind thinking at higher levels. Take some time from your busy day to work on a crossword puzzle or play a round of Sudoku. Better yet, do something social by playing chess online or another game you like.
Add Complexity
Take normal tasks and add some complexity to them. Use the nutritional fact sheet on a product to calculate the exact amount to serve to achieve a certain caloric mark. When watching TV try to spell difficult words out loud when you hear them. Working little brain exercises into your routine actions will keep your mind razor-sharp. Remember, your brain really is like a muscle. It can only get as strong as you are willing to work.
2. Learn Something New
Speaking of working your brain, why not try learning something new? Tackle a project that forces you to learn and practice a new skill. Give a second language a try, or sit down and master that computer program that always confounds you. Why do these things do wonders for your brain health? It's all about plasticity and neural connections. When you do new things, your brain's neurons reach out to other ones to form new connections.
The Power of Plasticity
When your brain creates new synapses, you improve its plasticity: the ability to make even more connections or rewire old ones. When we're babies, our brains make connections instantly and easily. But as we age, this gets harder. Why? It turns out that the problem isn't really our brains, it's how we use them. We settle into a very static way of life. You have your 9-to-5 job, your kids grow up under your watch, and along the way, you haven't given your brain many new tasks to unravel. So shake it up! Whether it's your new year's resolution or a challenge with a friend, try something new. Your brain will thank you.
3. Improve Your Diet
Your brain consumes a significant portion of your body's energy. Large amounts of nutrients are needed to keep it running. Therefore, it's only common sense that what you put in will have an impact on what you are able to put out. When we eat poorly, our body devotes more energy to digest the food. That is why you feel sluggish after a heavy meal. Let's apply two simple techniques to improve our diets:
Be Wary of Labels
Truthfully, the more labels a package has, the less quick you should be to eat it! Processed foods have hormones and chemicals that have an effect on your body. What affects the body will also affect the mind. Strive to eat organic, locally grown goods whenever possible. If you have to squint to read what's in it, maybe leave it on the shelf.
Eat Less More Often
Our idea of three large meals made more sense when we worked in physically intense jobs throughout much of the day. You would load up on energy, take a long break in the middle to process lunch, and finish the day with food to give your sleeping body the material to recover. Nowadays we don't exert ourselves nearly as much as our grandparents did. So we should spread our meals out through the day, eating lighter and more frequently. Today's work is more mentally intensive, so we need to have a steadier supply of clean energy.
4. Take Smart Supplements
There's no doubt about it: supplements work. Our modern diets and lifestyles have excluded items from our diet that otherwise would have been commonplace. We need to return to the nature that was created for us, but how can you do that in times like these? Fortunately, powerful herbal supplements like the Common Sense™ Products HeadStart formula use proven brain health enhancers, like Gingko Biloba and Siberian Ginseng. These herbs have been known to man for thousands of years, only to be lost recently to modern science.
Learn More About Common Sense™ Herbs
If you would like to know more about herbs that can benefit you in so many ways, visit Common Sense™ Products and see what we offer. Our staff has decades of experience in herbal health and can help guide you towards a wellness plan that is right for you. Common Sense™ Products have helped thousands of people, some of whom you can see in our YouTube testimonials series. Find out what makes God's Pharmacy the best one there is.