3 Essential Habits To Boost Brain Health:

A Complete Guide To Taking Better Care of Your Brain

If you're like most Americans, you're probably concerned about the health of your aging brain, and with good reason. The brain is arguably the most important organ in the human body, influencing every aspect of your daily life. It’s also the most complex. Neuroscientists are still unraveling the workings of the brain and central nervous system. However, one thing is certain: Maintaining brain health significantly impacts your quality of life at every age, especially in older adults with certain risk factors.

What Is Brain Health? 

There is no universally agreed-upon definition of brain health. Nevertheless, a core tenet of brain health involves maintaining optimal brain structure and cognitive function. 

• The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines brain health as “an ability to perform all the mental processes of cognition, including the ability to learn and judge, use language, and remember.” 

• The World Health Organization defines brain health as “the state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioral and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over the life course, irrespective of the presence or absence of disorders.”

• According to the National Institute on Aging, “brain health refers to how well a person’s brain functions across several areas, including cognitive health, motor function, emotional function, tactile function, and sensory function.” 

Essentially, brain health breaks down to this: Are you able to think clearly, manage your emotions, and behave in ways that help you achieve your goals and feel healthy? Or do you struggle with muddled thinking, uncontrolled stress, impaired learning, and memory loss? 

Why Prioritizing Brain Health Matters

Brain health is the cornerstone of your overall health and wellness, longevity, and well-being. It impacts everything from your ability to problem solve and follow directions to your relationships and personal sense of fulfillment. The health of your brain also affects your mobility balance, and coordination. A healthy brain helps you handle life's challenges, enjoy experiences, and make new memories.1,2 

However, the health and function of your brain can be affected by various factors. These include age-related changes, traumatic head injuries, mental health conditions such as depression, and neurological disorders like dementia. Additionally, environmental and lifestyle factors such as smoking, stress, social connectedness, sleep quality, and nutrition also influence your brain health.3

To maintain a healthy brain, experts recommend certain healthy lifestyle choices associated with long-term brain health and cognitive function. Making small changes can have a big impact. Here are three simple ways to enhance your brain health daily.

3 Habits To Support and Maintain Brain Health

1. Get Enough Sleep

Sufficient quality sleep is essential for healthy brain function. Running on little sleep impairs thinking, concentration, and reaction times. Without sleep, your brain cannot form the neural pathways needed for learning and creating new memories, a process known as memory consolidation.  

Aim to get seven to eight hours of continuous sleep most nights. When you are asleep, your brain is busy reorganizing and recharging itself. Recent research indicates that sleep can help clear out "cobwebs" and improve brain function. While you sleep, your brain also removes toxins that have built up during the day, which plays a neuroprotective role in brain health. 

2. Stay Physically Active

Regular exercise comes with an extensive list of health benefits, such as a lower risk of obesity, and brain health is no exception. For starters, physical movement increases blood flow to the brain, delivering more oxygen and nutrients vital for brain function. 

Multiple research studies indicate that physical activity helps with a lower risk of cognitive decline and may slow the progression for those at risk of Alzheimer's disease, highlighting exercise's role in combating age-related cognitive decline. 

Federal guidelines recommend that all U.S. adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week. That could be walking, swimming, biking, or anything that gets your heart rate up. To help get started, aim for 20-30 minutes of movement four to five times per week.

3. Manage Your Stress

Chronic stress can wreak havoc on your body, causing systemic inflammation, weakening your immunity, and increasing your risk for heart disease. Sustained stress can also create changes in your brain that affect memory and cognitive function.   

Studies show that people with immediately elevated stress levels are more likely to have poor cognition. Meanwhile, long-term stress is associated with a decline in cognitive functions, including memory, attention, and problem-solving abilities.

Implementing strategies such as mindfulness meditation and deep breathing to manage stress levels can improve cognitive function and mitigate stress-related changes in the brain. Moreover, stress, sleep quality, and physical activity are intricately interconnected. Prioritizing these three areas in your daily routine will inherently boost your brain health. 

Additionally, brain health experts say to remain socially involved, limit alcohol consumption, eat a healthy diet (a mind diet includes proteins, whole grains, and leafy greens), quit smoking, lower your cholesterol, and keep your blood pressure in check. Decades of research have shown that experiencing high blood pressure in midlife, specifically from the age of 40 to the early 60s, is linked to a heightened likelihood of experiencing cognitive decline during later stages of life. 

What’s more, emerging research suggests that brain nutrients, like DHA and citicoline, may provide essential compounds to help maintain healthy brain structure and function. Citicoline is an important nutrient for the brain, playing key roles in supporting brain metabolism, cognitive function, and overall brain health. 

Cognizin® is a premium nootropic that provides your brain with a patented form of citicoline. Cognizin is the only branded form of citicoline that has been clinically tested for efficacy in studies, demonstrating its ability to support focus, attention, and memory.

This article was written by an employee of Kyowa Hakko Bio Co., LTD, the company that owns the patent for Cognizin® Citicoline and supplies this ingredient to MOSH. The opinions expressed in this article are their own and are intended to provide valuable information to our readers.