Staying fit is not just for your body. It is also important to keep a fit brain. Brain fitness is about keeping the mind sharp and preventing or battling cognitive disease. You have the ability to promote healthy brain development through brain fitness, exercise, social interaction, and protecting yourself. No matter when you start, whether it's early or late in life, following some simple practices can aid in mental health.

Here are some methods you can use to engage your brain and keep it in top shape;

Learn a new skill. Research has shown that learning a new skill can improve brain functions. New skills not only improve memory, but they help the portion of the brain that ensures protection of the memories. Furthermore, new skills, particularly the more complex skills, engage the brain comprehensively instead of in small portions.

Play brain games and practice memorization Brain games such as Sudoku and crossword puzzles positively have been shown to improve connections in the brain. They also affect short-term memory, and have been shown to stave off the growth of protein deposits (beta amyloid) that negatively impact brain health. Try to keep your mind as active as possible

Read often. Reading an array of material – books, periodicals, poetry – engages and exercises the brain. Learning new words is similar to learning a new language, which has been shown to improve brain function and expand brain activity in multiple sections.

Stay in touch with friends and family. Some research has shown that people who maintain close personal relationships and emotional support from friends have a better chance of fighting dementia. Even general social connectivity has been shown to help the brain.

Expand your social circle. Try to make new friends in locations you currently don't have any. Engaging in social activities has been shown to improve brain health, but doing so in many different ways could ramp up the benefits. Join more groups. Make new friends. However you can, engage more people for a greater amount of time. Simply put, higher levels of social interaction relate to lower risks of poor mental health.

Get physical exercise most days. Studies have shown that walking 45 minutes a day created positive brain activity. This brain activity helps the neurons of the brain survive. Scientists believe it’s related to the influx of additional oxygen during the exercise. Further studies have shown executive level skills like planning and scheduling were also improved by the walking program. Additionally, the actual size of the brain, particularly the frontal lobe where cognition occurs, increases with exercise

Get regular checkups. Dementia-related illnesses are diagnosed via an assortment of tests like brain imaging and blood-work. Some drugs, or particular doses, may have a negative affect that exacerbates poor mental health. Research has shown early diagnosis of symptoms related to mental impairment can help reverse potential cognitive impairment

Choose healthy foods. Choosing more healthy options can help your brain as well as your body. Attempt to minimize the foods that have higher concentrations of saturated fats, trans fats, and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Try, instead, to eat foods like grains and leafy vegetables, both good sources of vitamin B, that have been shown to lessen the risk of mental disease.

Limit harmful substances. Drinking, smoking, and drug abuse have been shown to negatively impact mental health. Drinking, smoking, and drug abuse have been linked to dementia, brain deterioration, and a variety of disorders, respectively. Multiple studies have displayed that stopping smoking or drug abuse, and minimizing alcoholic intake, increases the odds of living a healthy mental life as you age.

Get enough sleep. Studies have shown that restless or interrupted sleep is tied to the increase in brain proteins that are associated with Alzheimer’s. Other studies have shown that healthy, sound sleep helps fight off Alzheimer’s related genes. Currently, it’s not known if poor sleep causes Alzheimer’s symptoms, or if Alzheimer’s leads to poor sleep, but the connection between the two is significant.









Source: Inc.
Image Source: Getty Images