How to keep your brain healthy with simple daily practices

Whether we like it or not, the brain works without interruption: it solves problems, remembers, analyzes, and feels. At the same time, research confirms that brain health can be improved at any age. The good news is that it’s not that difficult to do this. Below are a few simple habits that are easy to integrate into everyday life.

8 simple ways to take care of brain health daily

1. Add strength exercises

They help regulate blood sugar levels, maintain hormonal balance, and reduce inflammation, all of which directly affect cognitive function. Squats, push-ups, planks, and other bodyweight exercises strengthen not only the body but also memory, concentration, and learning ability. Regular strength training also increases the production of dopamine and serotonin, which means it makes you more energetic and resistant to stress.

2 Teach yourself to “tune out”

Due to the barrage of news and various notifications on your phone, your brain is overloaded with a constant stream of information. In order to efficiently recover and recycle data, it needs rest time. Without regular rest, you lose your attention, creativity, and decision-making ability. Get into the habit of short “detoxes”: walking without a phone, meeting, and ending the day without gadgets in your hands. At such moments, alpha rhythms are activated: the brain is literally “cleansed”, processing accumulated impressions.

3. Eat consciously and chew carefully

The quality of chewing is directly related to the digestion and assimilation of substances that nourish the brain. When you eat in a hurry, your body gets less energy, and your brain gets less glucose, its main fuel. Mindful eating is also a training of attention: to feel the taste, aroma, texture, slow down, and be “here and now”. This practice reduces stress levels, improves digestion, and helps to develop a healthy relationship with food, which eventually affects the mental state.

4. Choose “smart” snacks

You need to pay attention not only to calories, but also to the quality of the products. Omega-3, found in fish, nuts, and flax seeds, supports the structure of neurons. Prebiotics and fiber improve the state of the microflora, which means they affect the production of serotonin and anxiety levels. Colored vegetables and berries are rich in antioxidants that protect brain cells from aging. Even a small piece of dark chocolate with a high cocoa content will help you improve your concentration and mood. The main thing is to remember the measure.

5. Drink enough water

The brain consists of almost three-quarters of water, so mild dehydration reduces attention and memory. If there is not enough fluid in the body, the blood becomes thicker, so oxygen delivery to the neurons slows down. Visit. A F R I N I K . C O M . For the full article. This causes fatigue, irritability, and headaches. Therefore, it is important to drink regularly, without waiting for thirst. The best option is to drink pure water or herbal teas without sugar. Coffee and alcohol, on the other hand, increase dehydration, so they should be compensated with an extra glass of water.

6. Look for joy and laugh more often

Emotions are directly related to cognitive health. When you experience pleasure, dopamine and endorphins are released in the brain, substances that not only boost mood but also strengthen the connections between neurons. Laughter, creativity, favorite hobbies, or meeting loved ones activate pleasure zones and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Even short moments of joy act as a “reboot”: the brain becomes more flexible, finds solutions faster, and copes better with stress.

7. Take care of quality sleep

While you sleep, your brain “rewrites” daytime impressions into long-term memory and cleanses itself of toxins. Lack of sleep literally robs you of the ability to think clearly: attention decreases, mood worsens, and anxiety increases. To maintain cognitive health, sleep 7-8 hours and try to go to bed and get up at about the same time. In the evening, it’s better to avoid screens and bright lights: the sleep hormone melatonin is sensitive to blue radiation from gadgets.

8. Develop your curiosity

Your brain loves novelty because it stimulates the formation of new neural connections. Therefore, it is important that you constantly learn new things, travel along unusual routes, and master languages. Even small intellectual challenges like solving crosswords or reading popular science books train cognitive flexibility. At the same time, it is important not to stop there: the more often the brain leaves the comfort zone, the longer it remains young.