Are You Looking After Your Brain?
Have you been looking after your brain during this pandemic?
The best way to look after your brain while "stuck" in isolation is through things like;
Exercise, by getting your body and heart moving keeps your brain stimulated. Cardio exercises stimulate your brain by helping to grow your hippocampus which is the part of the brain that is in charge of verbal learning and memory.Resistance training can help with age related memory loss (amongst other benefits). It has been posited that up to 150 million people will be affected by dementia and strength training has been shown to delay its onset.
Are you learning anything new? Other than where the pandemic has spread to and other scary bits of information. By learning something new each day it not only strengthens our learning ability, it can also help to make us happier (see link).
How is your diet? A diet rich in antioxidants (not chips, pizza and beer) helps to reduce oxidation and plaque build up which can cause future neurological impairment - Try the Mediterranean diet, like fruits, fish, grains, eggs or check out this link
How are you sleeping in this constantly changing world filled with urgent news updates we live in? Sleep is great for recovering and recharging. When you get in a deep enough sleep, CSF flows around our brain and removes plaques that is linked to Alzheimers disease. Good sleep also helps to store memories of what you learnt that day for recall later.
If you’re reading this, you’re at least a little bit social, in this forced “self-isolation” realm we’ve found ourselves in, we’re not able to socialise like we used to at cafes, clubs or gyms. We can get involved in social community chats on FB or on other platforms. Social connection is what we need to do because it helps to combat stress and depression, and it can also help with preventing memory decline with age. You can join a group and learn something by talking with other people.
If you combine all of these points together, you will do wonders for your body, mind and soul. You could get involved with an online cooking course and then you could follow someones workout they have posted online with the items you might have in your house.
Long story short, try to look after yourself when you #stayathome
G.