Discover 10 Ways to Protect the Health & Function of your Brain

Julie Doherty Naturopathic Physician Mount Gambier, South Australia

My Commitment and Dedication - Is to provide Evidence Based Guidance and Support that will enable you to Build a Firm Foundation to Master a Life of Optimal Health, Happiness, Vitality and the Best Quality. Beginning with the Key Essence to Build a Brilliant Mind. How Fuelling your mind to positive changes, understanding... more

Your brain is the most important organ in your body, if it is not functioning efficiently then neither will the rest of your bodily functions.

The food you eat can either cause you harm or irreparable damage both for the health of your brain and your body. Let’s see how to make food your best friend so you can — enjoy optimal health, happiness, and vitality. Choosing fresh, wholesome foods is the place to start for optimal regeneration and repair of both your mind and bodily performance. As with the food you eat, the lifestyle choices you make will too, have either a major effect on the health of your brain.

10 Ways to Protect & Support a Healthy Brain & Mind

Health research has discovered that over half of all premature deaths, loss of quality of life is due to unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as insufficient exercise, poor diet, and smoking. These risk factors increase the risk of a decline in mental health, dementia, Alzheimers, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.

People should remain active, engage in regular exercise activities at least four to five times per week, such as walking, swimming, or joining a sports club, and eat a healthy diet consisting of fresh foods such as lean meat, chicken, fish, vegetables, and fruit. Eliminate harmful habits such as smoking and recreational drugs. Where possible avoid taking prescription and over-the-counter medications. Doing these healthy actions provides a 50–60% percent lower risk for developing dementia, Alzheimers, heart disease and arthritic conditions than did those who didn’t exercise or who implemented healthy lifestyle habits.

Implementing a healthy diet and lifestyle habits, not only benefits a healthy brain, it will reduce your risk for heart problems and cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and abnormal heart rhythm.

1: Moderate or avoid alcohol consumption. It is shown that moderate alcohol consumption [such as one to two alcoholic drinks, once to twice a week] doesn’t have detrimental effects on brain health. Evidence is clear as to long-term over consumption of alcohol harmful and damaging effects that lead to cognitive impairment, motor neuron damage and loss of physical function.

Alcohol has a significantly higher damaging effect for women than it does for men. Remember it is your health, your vitality, and most importantly your autonomy and independence that will be lost.

2: Avoid overmedication and drug interactions. Stay informed about any drugs you take — prescription and over the counter — especially those you take long-term for chronic conditions. Avoid dangerous interactions and being overmedicated, which can cause memory problems and dementia.

Find a doctor who will guide you with your medications and making lifestyle changes that you can make to avoid long-term medication use. GHRI and the University of Washington (UW) researchers discovered in 2015, for example, that a class of drugs called anticholinergics — including certain common antidepressants, bladder drugs, and antihistamines — are linked to a slightly higher chance of developing dementia, kidney and liver problems. Research and find alternatives and lifestyle changes in preference to taking medications long-term.

3: Avoid a high-sugar diet. Research has long shown that high blood sugar due to diabetes can raise your risk for many health problems, including Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. But in 2013, a GHRI/UW research team discovered that high blood sugar raises your risk for these conditions — even without diabetes.

That’s one more reason to avoid food and drinks high in sugar, such as soft drinks both with sugar and also without sugar as these have harmful chemical substitutes, cakes, biscuits, lollies, and baked goods. Sugar has been found to make the blood sticky, therefore impairing blood flow and nutrition being supplied to organs and tissue. 

4: Minimize stress as you grow older. As people grow older due to life experiences they have a much more difficult time adapting to major changes, toxic and negative behaviors, people and activities. One reason is that cortisol, a hormone secreted when you’re under stress, has a stronger effect on older brains, challenging your ability to recover from emotional upset as you grow older.

As you grow older you have coped and managed through many trying and difficult times so your fight or flight mode is heightened protecting you and you received heightened emotions, feelings to avoid these situations. Understanding how these emotions work, mixing with positive, constructive people will all help.

5: Get enough sleep. Research has shown that inadequate sleep is linked to slower thinking and more risk for dementia. Individual needs vary greatly — but most guidelines recommend getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Frequent trouble sleeping does not mean you need to take sleeping pills for insomnia.

Such drugs can actually worsen cognitive problems. You may simply need to develop habits that can help your body settle down at night, like keeping your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool. Listening to relaxation CD’s, reading a pleasant book before going to be.

6: Get active. Each day engage in an activity whether it be going for a walk, meeting a friend, mowing the lawns, gardening or some form of sport or exercise that you enjoy.

7: Be flexible to positive change. Change is around us every day learning to adapt and be flexible is a major key to brain health and emotional balance.

8: Be protective of your head. Protect your head from bumps and bruises by wearing a strong helmet when biking, skiing, skating, or participating in other sports. Drive safely to prevent traffic accidents. Prevent unnecessary falls by wearing glasses or contact lens if you need them.

9: Wear comfortable shoes. Your feet have numerous pressure points that if you have uncomfortable shoes, will have a negative effect on your general health and well-being.

10: Avoid hazards. Use a cane or walker if you are unsteady on your feet maybe recovering from an injury or operation. Clear your home of trip hazards like electrical cords, loose rugs, slippery bathing surfaces, and poorly lit walkways.

Nutrition and Diet

Making positive choices with the food you eat is a key step on the road to optimal health. It is interesting that fresh foods are now being classed as superfoods by including fresh vegetables, fruit and pulses, now being seen as super foods into your daily eating plan, will not only keep your brain healthy and active. It will also give your body the support needed to prevent pain, ill health and disease. Therefore enabling you to be active for your whole life When I was growing up it was just called eating your veggies and there was never any argument, you just ate them because they were good for you, helping you to grow big and strong. 

Learn how to make food your best friend with Julie’s eBook — Eating to Live!

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