4 Tips for a healthy brain
Everyone wants to have a healthy and happy brain. While our society has been focusing on our physical fitness for many years, our mental health has had to stand back and watch our bodies shine. Now, it is time to turn the spotlight on our brain.
1. Sleep: The foundation of mental strength
Even though most of us know that sleep is vital for us, we still sometimes try to fool our body, thinking we can outsmart it. Sleep is crucial for our brain's memory and fitness. People who suffer from insomnia often perform worse on cognitive tests than those who get their healthy amount of sleep. Sleep also helps us to better control our emotions and attention span, so it is recommended for a minimum of six hours of sleep per night.
2. Inflammation: Poison for your brain
Recently, science has focused on inflammatory processes in our body as a potential cause of Alzheimer's disease. These inflammations can appear in many shapes and forms such as gingivitis. The majority of these inflammations are easily treatable and should thus be dealt with immediately so that the risk of them becoming more severe and damaging is rapidly eliminated.
3. Foreign languages: Protection against dementia
Learning a new language can be challenging and quite frustrating. Research shows that on average, multilingual people develop signs of dementia four years later than monolingual people. Learning a new language can protect us from early signs of dementia.
4. Brain training: An improved mental activity
Research shows that people who train their mental activity have a 46% lower risk of suffering from dementia than people who are not mentally active. Examples of being mentally active are playing chess, learning a language or playing an instrument. Due to busy schedules, we may not have the time to train our brain, but studies shows that a few hours of mental activities per week can improve our mental fitness.
Source: http://www.neuronation.com/science/4-tips-healthy-brain
1. Sleep: The foundation of mental strength
Even though most of us know that sleep is vital for us, we still sometimes try to fool our body, thinking we can outsmart it. Sleep is crucial for our brain's memory and fitness. People who suffer from insomnia often perform worse on cognitive tests than those who get their healthy amount of sleep. Sleep also helps us to better control our emotions and attention span, so it is recommended for a minimum of six hours of sleep per night.
2. Inflammation: Poison for your brain
Recently, science has focused on inflammatory processes in our body as a potential cause of Alzheimer's disease. These inflammations can appear in many shapes and forms such as gingivitis. The majority of these inflammations are easily treatable and should thus be dealt with immediately so that the risk of them becoming more severe and damaging is rapidly eliminated.
3. Foreign languages: Protection against dementia
Learning a new language can be challenging and quite frustrating. Research shows that on average, multilingual people develop signs of dementia four years later than monolingual people. Learning a new language can protect us from early signs of dementia.
4. Brain training: An improved mental activity
Research shows that people who train their mental activity have a 46% lower risk of suffering from dementia than people who are not mentally active. Examples of being mentally active are playing chess, learning a language or playing an instrument. Due to busy schedules, we may not have the time to train our brain, but studies shows that a few hours of mental activities per week can improve our mental fitness.
Source: http://www.neuronation.com/science/4-tips-healthy-brain