Simple Ways to Improve Your Brain’s Health

Follow these tips to boost your brain — and your body!

I’ve never been a huge fan of exercise. For me, the health of my brain is a bigger priority. But if you look after your brain, your body benefits too.

A healthy brain relies on a well-functioning body. And vice versa — looking after one means you’re looking after the other. You might call it a win/win situation. I think of it more as a knock-on effect. Because I have made changes to take better care of the ol’ grey matter, I’m physically fitter than I’ve ever been before.

Below are some of the simple practices I keep to ensure my brain’s health.

1. Sleep

As essential to our health as food and water, sleep often gets pushed aside for other things. Our body definitely needs it, but arguably, our brain needs it even more. Everyone knows that without enough sleep it’s hard to think, regulate our emotions, or responses in stressful situations.

There’s a bunch of research showing not enough sleep has adverse effects on our physical health. We court cardiovascular issues, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, and obesity if we skimp on shut-eye.

It’s pretty grim for our brain too. A small study by a group at Tel Aviv University on the effects of sleep deprivation used electrodes implanted in 12 patients’ brains to monitor brain activity.

It showed that brain cells were ‘dampened’ by lack of sleep. Neurons responded to stimulus slowly, fired weakly, and their communication took longer than usual. I think of it as their brains dragging their feet.

Some regions of the brain were caught ‘napping’ while the rest of the brain tried to function. The study focused on the temporal lobe where much of our visual perception and memory works. The consequences of the ‘napping’ brain are that when we see something — say a familiar face — it takes a couple of beats for us to place that face correctly, or react appropriately to it.

I have personal experience of this after a 26-hour flight to see my sister a few years back. I saw a woman waving and smiling at me as I walked towards the arrivals gate. It took me a good few minutes to realize the woman was my sister and smile back.

Lots of good stuff happens for your brain (and body) while you sleep. Not least of all your glymphatic system waking up. This system works to distribute lipids, glucose, amino acids and neurotransmitters in your brain. All these are integral for its optimal function. Along with that, the system clears excess fluid and neurotoxic waste products.

Getting enough sleep enables your neurons to rest, your glymphatic system to do its work and your parasympathetic system to deliver the restorative effects we associate with a good night’s rest. Enough sleep means somewhere between 7 and 9 hours. You may be able to function on less, but restricting sleep means restricting your brain’s ability.

2. Daily exercise

This is an area that took me a while to adopt. As I noted earlier, I’m not a big fan of exercise for exercise’s sake. Going out for a run, joining a gym, or taking up a class are all perverse forms of self-punishment to me.

Fortunately, daily exercise doesn’t have to be quite so intense. Pretty much anything that will get your heart pumping is going to be good for your brain. Most studies suggest two to three hours of moderate exercise each week are enough to support brain health.

I smiled when I learned that — it’s something I can do! Walking, swimming, dancing in the kitchen — it doesn’t matter what it is. Even housework that raises your heart rate is going to be good. It doesn’t even have to be done in one go. In fact, spreading it through the week is better.

Exercise supports and protects the brain’s memory and thinking capacity. Researchers at the University of British Columbia found heart-pumping exercise boosted the size of the hippocampus — the part of our brain implicated in verbal memory and learning.

A different study found that endurance and resistance exercise prompted an increase in IGF and IGF-1, hormones that delay ageing and promote brain development. Neurotrophins like BDNF that encourage the survival of nerve cells also get a boost.

3. Look on the bright side

People who score higher on mental well-being scales also tend to have better memories and thinking skills. Good mental well-being is difficult to define, but it’s generally associated with feeling satisfied with your life - where you are, where you’re headed - and generally feeling happy within yourself.

It’s mostly got to do with how you evaluate your life overall.

A positive attitude and better brain health go hand in hand. It’s not clear which comes first, but study after study points to the fact that you can’t really have one without the other — particularly as you age.

We do know that chronic stress shrinks the prefrontal cortex — the area largely responsible for memory and learning. We also know that a sense of purpose, a positive outlook and just feeling good are associated with better brain health and a 20% reduction in the risk of dementia.

Although there’s no hard evidence that a positive outlook will protect your brain, multiple studies do point in that direction. Looking for the silver lining and finding joy in life will likely do your brain lots of good.

4. Stretch your body to improve your mind

Yoga is great for your body. It can improve flexibility, strength and balance. I find yoga stretches at the end of my day are perfect for relaxing tense muscles and preparing for sleep.

It turns out that yoga may also be really good for your brain. It’s the combination of physical postures and stretches with breathing and meditative focus that delivers brain benefits.

A review of 11 different studies on the effects of yoga on the brain concluded that yoga practice appears to have a positive effect on the functional connectivity of the Default Mode Network (DMN), the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.

Each of these brain regions is involved in memory, learning, planning, behavior, and more. The positive effects of yoga on the DMN include better ability to focus, and reductions in ‘self-related thinking’ or rumination. Increased blood flow to the brain and release of endorphins are additional benefits that support a healthier brain.

A healthy brain in a healthy body

A strong mind requires rest, exercise, a positive attitude and time to stretch and reflect. Taking care of your brain means you’ll likely have a happier life. You’ll also end up with a healthier body.

It doesn’t take a whole lot of change. Make sure you get enough sleep, move a little each day — even 30 minutes is enough — and take some time to appreciate life.

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