Smart Ways To Increase Your Brain Power

Like all things in the body, our brain health is impacted by the health of all our other operating systems. There are a range of healthy habits you can adopt today to protect your brain as you age.

Pay Attention to Your Gut

Recent research has made extraordinary connections between the state of your microbiome and the health of your brain. Your microbiome is an ecosystem of organisms that live in your body supporting the health of your gut, immune system and your brain. In fact, most of your microbiome exists in your gut. Consequently, your diet influences the state of your microbiome and thus, your brain health.

When your gut is in prime condition, your brain power strengthens. You will experience the following:

• Improved ability to concentrate and learn

• Optimal brain energy and positive mood

• Enhanced memory

• Overall cognitive health

To improve the state of your microbiome, try Optimal Digestion, a synergistic blend of gut-friendly herbs, minerals, medicinal mushrooms, and enzymes that promote healthy digestive function.

Eat Brain Boosting Superfoods

For better or for worse, the food we eat impacts our body and mind—we’ve all experienced brain fog after a particularly gluttonous night out; similarly, the clarity we can experience when we clean up our diet is no longer a mystery. Some foods have proven positive impacts on brain power. These general principles of healthy eating apply to brain, as well as body, health.

• Consume plenty of fruits and veggies

• Reduce refined sugars and high glycemic carbohydrates

• Eat more legumes and nuts

• Avoid red meat

• Eat more plant-based proteins, poultry and fish

The basics of good nutrition provide the foundation; incorporating superfoods on top of a solid nutritional baseline provides added benefits. Add these brain superfoods to your diet for long-term cognitive health:

1) Nuts provide healthy fats along with vitamin E, which has been linked to preventing cognitive decline.

2) Your brain is made up of 60% fat and it needs the right fatty acids to repair and maintain synapses. You can get what you need from eggs, flax, and oily fish.

3) Blueberries have been shown to help short term memory and coordination. They also have one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants compared to other fruits and veggies.

4) Kale, chard, spinach, and other dark leafy greens are chock-full of essential B vitamins for brain health, as well as folic acid and iron, two other key nutrients for brain health. Iron is particularly important and often overlooked—it ensures that  your blood can carry enough oxygen to supply your brain.

5) Zinc is responsible for regulating communication between neurons. Zinc supports the hippocampus, which controls learning and memory. Find zinc in pumpkin seeds, nuts, and peas.

6) Super-packed with antioxidants and vitamin C, broccoli also contains vitamin K, which has been known to enhance cognition.

7) One of our favorite ways to get antioxidants (and boost mitochondria!) is with dark chocolate. Look for chocolate that is 70% cacao or darker for maximum brain boosting.

8) Ginkgo biloba has been used for centuries to help boost memory by increasing blood flow to the brain

Energize Your Body For Brain Health

The mind-body connection has been a foundation of Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine for centuries. Although Western medicine has been late in the game to catch up with Eastern philosophy, recent decades have moved in the direction of merging evidence-based research and the mind-body connection.

According toNorman Doidge, the doctor who introduced the world to neuroplasticity, “brains evolved many millions of years after bodies did, to support bodies. Once bodies had brains, they changed, so body and brain could interact and adapt to each other. Not only does the brain send signals to the body to influence it; the body sends signals to the brain to affect it as well, and thus there is constant, two-way communication between them. The body abounds with neurons, the gut alone having 100 million.”

In other words, the mind influences the health of the body, and the state of wellness in the body affects the mind. There is no separating the two.

Simple tricks to energize your body:

• Move your body

• Step outside and enjoy nature

• Get your zzzzzzs

Physical activity energizes the body and provides lasting brain power. Research shows that even moderate physical activity can increase attention span and focus. When you exercise, your body releases norepinephrine, a hormone known to have a strong influence on memory.

If you have been exposed to a lifetime of toxins, however, you may find that you feel sluggish and sick after exercise due to accumulated metals and pollutants in your body. Environ-Metal Detox helps remove toxins from your body, which will clear brain fog and energize your body. Plus you will receive the benefits of exercise and physical activity without the discomfort of detoxing. This formula is clinically proven to safely and effectively remove heavy metal toxins from the body.

Know More: The science behind Environ-Metal Detox

Getting outside, enjoying nature, and clearing the mind improve brain health. Step away from electronics and other demands to focus your thoughts and clear your mental slate. Spending time in nature has been shown to not only decrease brooding and negative thoughts, it also can improve cognitive abilities.

Go Deeper: Our Top Destinations for Camping and Hiking in California

Sleep is an important factor in memory retention and brain cleanup. When natural sleep cycles are interrupted, brain fog settles in. Get the recommended eight hours to ensure that newly learned skills are retained, short term memory is transferred to long term memory, and you start your days with maximum brain power.

A Supplement to Explore: Deep Wave Sleep

Use Your Brain

As you know, mental exercises boost brain power. Like strengthening a muscle, we can train different areas of the brain through practice and repetition. If you’re looking to improve focus, meditation will help you to build the muscle of concentration. If your goal is better information retention, memorizing your favorite poetry, song or a recipe you love can be a baby step to long-term memory-enhancement. Looking for more plasticity and problem solving? Crosswords or other logic puzzles are proven to boost your brain.

One of my favorite ways to boost brain power is to step out of my comfort zone to learn a new skill. When we are challenged, we are essentially stretching our brains, expanding our capacity. When these skills utilize the physical body in coordination with the mind, like yoga, tai chi, learning a musical instrument or knitting, the mind-body connection is established and brain power is enhanced.

Photo by Daniel Hjalmarsson on Unsplash