Common Brain Health Mistakes

Disclosure: This article was sponsored by Quincy Bioscience, the makers of Prevagen

When we consider our health, we often think about our blood pressure, heart rate, lung capacity, and digestive health. But did you know that it’s just as important to be aware of your brain health?

Why You Should Be Aware of Your Brain Health

According to the National Institute on Aging, brain health refers to the ability to concentrate, remember, plan, learn, and maintain an active, clear mind. It involves being able to leverage your brain’s strengths including logic, information management, wisdom, perspective, and judgement. In short, it’s about maximizing your brain’s abilities and reducing the risk of normal age-related decline.

It’s important to understand that just like you can exercise to keep your heart healthy, there are things that you can do to keep your mind active and healthy. Doing so can reduce the risk of, as well as age-related issues like memory loss and the decline of fine motor skills.

Common Mistakes and How to Correct Them

Unfortunately, many people who believe that they’re doing everything they can to keep their brains healthy are making mistakes and putting their brains at risk. In fact, sometimes even the smallest things can have a significant impact on your health. Here are some of the most common brain health mistakes and how to correct them:
Not drinking enough water: Prevagen, the manufacturer of an over-the-counter dietary supplement that has specifically been developed to support brain health for adults of all ages,* points out a common fact that many people still don’t get the recommended 64 ounces – or 8 cups – of water each day. Note that some people might need more depending on their activity level or weight. Being properly hydrated boosts your energy levels, helps detoxify your body, keeps your skin and organs healthy, curbs your hunger, and improves your digestion – so drink all day long to enjoy all of these health benefits.

● Using electronics before going to sleep: Electronics like televisions, tablets, computers, and phones emit low-intensity blue light, which can delay and alter your body’s internal clock. This negatively impacts your sleep and makes it more difficult to get up in the morning. It’s advisable to stop using electronics between half an hour and an hour before going to bed. Alternatively, you can use a red light filter that reduces the blue light emissions on your electronics and ensures that your internal clock isn’t affected.

● Maintaining poor sleep habits: Almost 33 percent of Americans don’t sleep enough. On the other hand, some people sleep too much. Sleep is necessary for us to maintain our mental health, combat memory loss, and repair our bodies. A lack of sleep or too much sleep can cause depression and exacerbate other mental health issues. To avoid this, try to get at least seven hours of sleep each night.

● Hitting the snooze button: If you love hitting the snooze button and getting those extra few minutes of sleep, you might want to rethink that habit. If you let yourself fall back asleep, your brain resets to the beginning of the sleep cycle. That means that when the alarm goes off again, you’ll probably feel sleepier than you did before because you’ll most likely be in a deeper part of the cycle.

● Having poor posture: Slouching or hunching are the main causes of neck, shoulder and back problems. Plus, they can cause headaches and digestive issues. Work to improve your posture overall by sitting and standing upright. You can also achieve this by participating in activities like weight training and yoga. All of these activities will strengthen your core and provide you with more stability and flexibility.

● Being stressed: In the short term, moderate amounts of stress can help some people perform better. However, long-term stress and/or high levels of stress are detrimental to both your mental and physical health. To stay healthy, be aware of your stress levels, and plan your activities accordingly. Sometimes, taking a step back for a day or two can be enough to help you recover, while other times, you might need to reduce your responsibilities and activities for a longer period of time.

● Sitting all day: An increasing number of people are sitting all day long – as much as 12 to 15 hours daily. They sit in the office, in the car, and at home.. Although exercise is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle, it doesn’t counteract all of that sitting. Avoid the negative effects by getting up and moving around every 30 minutes or so.

● Isolating yourself: Isolation can make you more and affect your long-term health. It can cause you to fixate on the negative and make you less active, and it can even place you at a. In contrast, when you’re social, it helps you avoid loneliness, low self-esteem, and distorted thinking. So make the effort to spend some time with friends and family on a regular basis.
Other Things You Can Do to Boost Your Brain Health
In addition to remedying these common mistakes, there are several other things that you can do to improve your brain health, according to Psychology Today:

● Eat well: Eat a diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids, lean proteins, and whole grains.

● Practice meditation: According to recent research, meditation helps calm the mind and improves memory and concentration. It can also stimulate brain growth in important areas. Moreover, people who have practiced meditation for a long time appear to have more folding – or gyrification – of the brain cortex, which enables their brains to process information more quickly and efficiently. They also have a higher cell density in their frontal lobes, which are associated with behavioral control and forward planning, as well as in their hippocampus, which controls memory. Meditation even appears to increase people’s general intelligence.

● Exercise: When you move, the blood flow to your brain increases, which results in higher levels of glucose and oxygen going to your brain. Exercise also helps stimulate the growth of new brain cells and connections between cells. In fact, some research suggests that exercise can lead to intellectual enhancement. In addition, exercise requires you to concentrate on physical coordination and balance, which gives your brain a workout.

● Be mentally active: Whether it’s crossword puzzles, Sudoku, or a jigsaw puzzle – brain games can boost your brain health. So can learning new things and engaging in brain training, which helps improve decision making speed and working memory.

Enjoy an Active and Clear Mind

Maintaining your brain health should be just as important as maintaining your heart or lung health. By knowing what the most common mistakes are and how to avoid them, you can significantly increase your chances of keeping your brain healthy. And when you eat a healthy diet, meditate, exercise regularly, and remain mentally active, you can be sure that you’re doing everything in your power to boost your brain health so that you can enjoy an active and clear mind now and in the future.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.