Some tips to maintain a healthy brain

Many studies suggest that what is good for the heart is also good for a healthy brain. Therefore, leading a healthy life and avoiding a sedentary lifestyle and excesses can reduce the risk of suffering from neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. In this article, we explain 8 key aspects of maintaining good brain health.

According to the WHO, one out of every 4-5 people in the world is affected by a brain disease throughout their life, and they are the main cause of disability. The fact is that we all want to be happy and for this, it is important to be healthy. To achieve this? The most important thing is to have a healthy brain and yes, it is in our power.

 If you would like to be healthy your first target should be your brain health. Therefore, we do not have to wait for our minds to heal to have a healthy body. We must anticipate this, and prevent it, because a healthy mind can lead to a healthy body, according to Álvaro Pascual-Leone, professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School (Boston, United States), in an interview with Infosalus.

Thus, and on the occasion of the publication of his book El Cerebro Que cura (Plataforma Actual), of which he is co-author with Álvaro Fernández Ibáñez, founder of Sharp-Brains, and David Bartrés-Faz, the doctor in Psychology, this neuroscientist celebrates that loss of brain health, cognitive ability, and risk of brain disease is not inevitable.

The also director of the Berenson-Allen Center for Research in Brain Stimulation, and the Division of Behavioral Neurology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, specifies that a healthy brain is not simply a brain that does not have the disease. It is a brain that works optimally for the age and circumstances of the person. That is, it is a brain with an appropriate function for the age of the person and the performance demands of the person, he clarifies. 

For this, he says that it is not only important to assess how the brain is performing, but also how the brain performs that performance, how it does it so that we perform in that way. It is like cars, which can, for example, accelerate from 0 to 100, but do they burn the engine while? How long will they be ready to accelerate from 0 to 100 by burning the engine? warns the neuroscientist.

Likewise, he stresses that a healthy brain is also plastic, that is, it maintains the ability to change according to the needs and challenges that a person faces throughout life. It is what is known as neuroplasticity of the brain, or intrinsic property of the brain that causes it to change throughout life in response to all experiences, influences, thoughts, feelings, insults, or injuries, for example.

Having a healthy brain, according to Pascual-Leone, is also maintaining what we call a cognitive reserve, that the brain can free up resources to cope with challenges that are placed before it, such as diseases. It is cultivated throughout life by maintaining an active brain.

 At this point, the professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School emphasizes that it is in our power to maintain a healthy brain but it is also that he considers that it is our responsibility. Our lifestyle, exercise, how we sleep, what we eat, and the cognitive challenges we put on, are things that we can control and modify, and that have a direct impact on brain health, on its cognitive reserve or plasticity, he adds.

What can we do to keep our brains healthy?

We know that certain health practices can help us take care of our brain:

• Follow a Mediterranean diet. Control hypertension

• Give up tobacco

• Monitor obesity, cholesterol, and diabetes

• Get moderate exercise every day

• Take care of your emotional well-being

• Keep the intellectual activity

• Cultivate relationships

1. Follow a Mediterranean diet    

More and more experts are recommending adopting the Mediterranean diet as a model of healthy nutrition. Thus, foods like extra virgin vegetable oil, vegetables, fruits, fish, eggs, and cereals are essential. Salt, animal fats, sugar, and convenience foods should be avoided as much as possible.

2. Control hypertension

It is advisable to keep hypertension under medical control and to carry out periodic controls of blood pressure, especially if it is high, and even if it is being controlled with treatment.

3. Give up tobacco

One of the factors that we must avoid to maintain a healthy brain is smoking. Eliminating this habit from our lives is very advisable to stop numerous diseases.

4. Monitor obesity, cholesterol, and diabetes

For this, it's advisable to follow a diet and perform the relevant medical check-ups.                     

5. Get moderate exercise every day  

Simply adopt a simple exercise routine every day, such as taking a brisk walk for 30 minutes, going to the gym, playing sports, or doing a workout in the park. If your rhythm of life forces you to go up and down, you can do it walking and take advantage of these trips to invest in your health. Housework, DIY, dancing, or playing with kids also add up to daily physical activity time.

6. Take care of your emotional well-being

Emotional well-being is essential to have a calm and balanced life as possible. At the same time, it is convenient to treat depression adequately and take the necessary medical and psychological control.

7. Maintain intellectual activity

A high cognitive reserve can be a good ally to maintain a healthy brain and resist the effects that Alzheimer's can cause. For this, it is important to keep our minds stimulated with activities that pose few challenges.

One of the most recognized activities is reading. Chess and board games also are highly recommended, as many of them require calculation skills, recent memory, and foresight. Everything that involves learning and acquiring new knowledge will also favor our cognitive activity, be it taking cooking classes or learning a language or musical instrument.

8. Cultivate relationships

Another fundamental part of brain health has to do with social relationships. you would like to get out of the house and stay socially active. Talking with people and keeping up to date helps to have a young brain. We must try to spend time with our loved ones and maintain contact and relationships with friends and neighbors. Participating in associations, clubs or volunteering can also help to establish new relationships.