There’s no time like now to take steps towards improved brain and body health. Luckily, some of the most impactful habits you can adopt require less effort than they do consistency. Your brain performance and body’s health decline with age, but there are still actions you can take to decrease the negative effects of aging. Let’s talk about how small habits, such as taking mental performance supplements or watching how much you eat, can give you an extra push onto a healthier path.
Exercise is the first step towards healthier habits.
The most mentioned benefit of working out is losing weight. Exercising helps prevent additional weight gain and maintains weight loss. Similarly, physical activity can combat and prevent illness and disease. Metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes are all decreased by implementing a regular fitness schedule. Your body will feel better in the short term and stay healthier long term due to regular exercises.
Exercising also helps with mood irregularities, making it a great habit to improve brain and body health. Feeling sluggish or unable to sleep properly? Research shows that a quick exercise session at home or in the gym can boost your overall energy and even promote better sleep. If you’re struggling with anxiety or depression, keeping a fitness regimen releases dopamine and endorphins that help combat any drops or changes in mood. It’s recommended that adults have about 30 minutes of physical activity a day, so try to work some sort of easy activity into your schedule to start. Once you begin seeing and feeling the benefits of your hard work, you can add more to your routine and enjoy the benefits of your persistence.
Set a sleep schedule for better brain and body health.
It might be harder to walk the walk than to talk the talk, but sleep is essential when it comes to your brain and body health. Not getting enough hours makes it hard for your body to heal itself, and you will put unnecessary strain on your immunity by lacking the hours you need to recoup after a long day. Similarly, lack of sleep takes a toll on your brain performance. Sleep deprivation leads to a lack of focus, memory issues, poor cognitive performance, and more. Figure out what makes you feel healthiest and construct a sleep schedule that makes you and your body happy. This way, your body and mind can rest, and you won’t be in danger of throwing your natural rhythms and hormone production out of whack.
Remember to socialize.
Even if it feels like it’s what you need, sometimes alone time can be detrimental to your health and brain performance. By self-isolating, you could potentially be endangering your brain’s gray matter, or its outermost layer that controls information processing. You are at an increased risk for anxiety, depression, and feelings of loneliness by avoiding any interactions with other people. That is to say, you don’t need to be the most social person in the world to keep your mind happy– you just need to find a couple of trusted friends with whom you can regularly interact and socialize with. You can start small by putting yourself in public situations. Go to a park, sign up for a creative activity, and make sure you’re participating in some form of stimulating interactions.
Monitor your portions.
A common misconception that leads to overeating is that serving and portion sizes are the same. While serving sizes are standardized measurements of food, such as those found on nutrition labels, portion sizes are individualized.
The serving sizes you’re provided with can often be different from what your portion size should be. This discrepancy has led to “portion distortion” in the United States, or difficulty determining what a portion should be. For example, the food you’re served at a restaurant is often several portions on a single plate. This is a common practice and, while it’s tempting to finish every delicious bite of your order, it’s potentially harmful to your health.
Eating based on your individual portion helps encourage hunger regulation, or your body’s way of expressing that it’s hungry or full. There are two major hormones that tell you when to eat: ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, and leptin, which suppresses appetite. By eating exactly what you need to stay healthy, those hormones reach a natural balance and make it easier to continue controlling your portions. Overeating, on the other hand, disrupts this balance, and makes it difficult to understand your body’s wants versus its needs. Overeating is linked to brain damage and memory loss, as well as a variety of physical conditions that may catch up to you later in life. Try to combat these issues by staying conscious of what/how much you’re putting into your body.
Take mental performance supplements.
Unfortunately, many of the mental and physical symptoms you experience can be traced back to some sort of deficiency. Mental performance supplements are a way to combat the lack of vitamins and nutrients within your body, making it easier for you to complete your daily tasks and invest energy into your other healthy habits. Take note of any recurring issues you may have and if mental performance supplements could help.
The type of supplements you should take depends on the types of issues you’re having. Once you have a clear idea of the problems you’re regularly facing, give our BIPRI team a call at 615-933-5188 to chat about the best supplement options for you. We would love to help you improve your brain and body health through natural remedies. Visit our website for more information about supplements to help the mind and body.