Top tips for boosting brain health

Tips for boosting brain health

Whether you're young or old, it's important to ensure you have a healthy brain. From helping you to enjoy an improved lifestyle to allowing you to concentrate at work, I think looking after your brain is just as important as maintaining your body.

When your brain and overall health is not at its best, it can lead to a number of consequences. Some of these include fatigue, a lack of concentration, depression and having little or no energy. There are a number of ways you can boost your brain health, though, and I've outlined some of my top tips for doing so below.

The first is ensuring you enjoy a healthy diet. People can all too often make the mistake of thinking that if your body appears in a good condition on the outside, everything must be fine on the inside. However, if you're not taking in vital nutrients and vitamins, your brain cannot work at its full capacity.

We all know we should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, but we can sometimes be guilty of not doing this. (Give me the choice between a slice of cake and an apple, and I'll certainly choose the dessert!) Try and add lots of vegetables to stirfrys, soups and casseroles to help increase the amount of nutrients you absorb.

brain health

This is especially a good trick if you've got children, as they won't notice they're eating as many greens as they would if you simply piled them on to a plate.

Oily fish is another brain-boosting essential, as this contains omega-3 fatty acids that are one of the best foods to eat when improving your inner health. If you don't like the taste of fish, you can take fish oil in capsule form instead.

Another way to improve your brain health is to avoid experiencing too much stress. While this might seem easier said than done, it's important to make time to wind down and relax if you want to ensure your mind stays healthy.

Modern families often lead busy lives, with long working hours, lots of after-school activities to ferry children to and from and trying to juggle housework. Even if you just take 15 minutes a day to go on a walk with the dog (my favourite activity), soak in the bath or simply lie down and close your eyes, it'll give you a chance to recharge your batteries and put everything into perspective.

My next tip is perhaps not as obvious as having a healthy diet and time to relax, and that is increasing your intake of oxygen. Consider buying a can of oxygen to keep at home. I know this might sound a little extreme, but let me explain the benefits of doing so.

Increasing how much oxygen you breathe in can help eliminate headaches, lead to a better night's sleep, boost your concentration at work and delay the ageing process of your brain cells. With you better able to deal with your employment tasks, you might even find you get to leave the office earlier if it takes you a lot quicker to complete your duties.

Reducing your workload and getting home even just 15 minutes earlier than usual can work wonders for your mental health. I certainly feel a lot more positive with even just these extra minutes to spend relaxing with my family or simply watching TV.

Do you believe in the benefits of oxygen therapy? If so, leave your thoughts below as to what positive results you've seen from this.