A big topic these days is brain health, especially for those of us who are, ahem, middle-aged. When we were in school, conventional wisdom said that our brains were largely formed by age 2, and that not much change happened physically in the brain after about age 7.
What a difference a few decades makes — in the research, not in us! (Well, that too, but that’s another topic.) Now we know that many things we do affect our brain health, including how we think and feel. So here are some tips, pulled together from various sources, that are supposed to contribute to better brain health as we age.
1. Recognize that chronic stress makes your body sick. Stress causes the release of hormones, especially cortisol, which impacts our whole body, including the brain. One of the areas of the brain especially impacted by these hormones is the hippocampus, which is responsible for our ability to remember new things. Anything that we do to reduce the amounts of chronic stress we have, and to heal its effects, is going to help with brain health.
2. Get enough sleep. I’ve posted elsewhere in this blog about the effects of chronic sleep deprivation. We need sleep for cells to rejuvenate on a physical level. Our brains need time spent sleeping to process our day, especially stressful events. Try to make sure that you’re not burning the candle at both ends. Give your body and your brain some rest.
3. Exercise. There’s no getting around. Our bodies need to move, and our brains benefit in so many ways. Hormonally, when we exercise, we produce hormones that are beneficial to brain health. Improved blood circulation is also a plus. And, if we’re doing certain sports or other activities that require lots of hand-eye coordination or fancy footwork (think table tennis or dancing), we’re engaging many different parts of our brain as well.
4. Avoid toxic substances. This means nicotine, caffeine and alcohol, but it also means pesticides, artificial flavorings or colorings, and heavy metals. We all take in varying amounts of these things, but as with so many other issues in life, it’s a question of moderation and load. The less we put into our body that’s damaging, the better off we’re going to be, and this includes our brains.
5. Eat a healthy diet. Naturally, the more good things we put into our bodies, the healthier we will be. Our brains need lots of vitamins and minerals to function well. Omega 3 oil, essential oils found in a healthy diet and in supplements, contributes to brain health. And all those good colored fruits abd vegetables contain anti-oxidants, which help neutralize the free radicals released by toxins described above.
6. Learn new things. If we keep learning new things, we keep adding new neuronal connections, so that’s a literal physical effect that helps explain why “use it or lose it” applies to our brains. At the same time, we can work on “un-learning” negative thought processes. The metaphor I use with clients is that our negative thoughts and beliefs “wear a groove in our brains”, and it’s not far from the truth. Scientists think that habitual thoughts form “neuronal pathways”, so the more we think something, the more we strengthen that pathway. Make sure you’re strengthening positive pathways.
7. Be social, and be flexible. It’s very important to maintain social networks, and to develop new ones, at all times of life, but especially so as we age. Attrition takes its toll, meaning people in our lives move away, drift away, and eventually die. If we’re going to live long and enriching lives, we need people in them, and that means meeting new people. If we’re busy learning new things and keeping active, that should come fairly easily. All this “newness” should help keep us flexible, too. Just as we don’t want our joints to become stiff, we don’t want our thought processes to become “stiff”, either. We all need to keep examining our opinions and our reasoning, and be open to at least hearing new arguments.
8. Keeping meaning in your life. It’s not all about exercise and diet to just benefit ourselves. It’s a long-standing wisdom to realize that the best way to feel good is to help someone else. If you want to keep your brain healthy, reach out and help someone. If you are physically healthy, there are endless possibilities. If you are less mobile, you may be able to help people in easy-to-get-to settings, or even over the phone. If you are a spiritual person, no matter what your religious persuasion, realize that you can make a prayer list and pray daily for the people on it. This is something we do practically until our last breath, and I believe it helps.
Happy aging, and good luck with all that new learning!