Brain Awareness Week takes place from March 11-17, 2024 this year. It is an annual global campaign to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science. This week, we highlight the importance of the brain and provide tips on how to improve brain health to help people lead healthier and more productive lives.
Eating Super Foods
Research shows that the best brain foods are the same ones that protect your heart and blood vessels. Eating the following foods can help boost brain health:
- Green, Leafy Vegetables: Kale, spinach, collards, and broccoli are packed with brain-healthy nutrients such as vitamin K, lutein, folate, and beta carotene. These veggies help slow down cognitive decline.
- Fatty Fish: Fatty fish, like salmon and cod, contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for brain health and may lower levels of beta-amyloid, a protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
- Berries: Flavonoids, the natural plant pigments that give berries their brilliant hues, also help improve memory.
- Tea and coffee: The caffeine in your morning cup of coffee or tea might offer more than just a short-term concentration boost. Caffeine also helps solidify new memories.
- Walnuts: Nuts are excellent sources of protein and healthy fats, and walnuts in particular might also improve memory. Walnuts are high in a type of omega-3 fatty acid, that’s good for both the heart and brain.
Source: Foods linked to better brainpower
Exercise
In a study conducted at UBC by Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose, it was found that regular aerobic exercise, such as walking, cycling and swimming, can help maintain our thinking skills and brain health as we age.
Source: New study to examine the impact of exercise on aging and brain health
Meditation
Meditation can be good for the brain, helping to keep it healthy as we age. A study found that people who practice a type of meditation called Vipassana show changes in how their brains connectivity, especially in an area linked to memory called the hippocampus. This suggests that meditation might help protect our memory and possibly even prevent conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
Brain Injury Prevention
Helmets provide a 63 to 88% reduction in the risk of head, brain and severe brain injury for all ages of bicyclists. Helmets provide equal levels of protection for crashes involving motor vehicles (69%) and crashes from all other causes (68%). Injuries to the upper and mid facial areas are reduced by 65%.
Source: Helmets for preventing head and facial injuries in bicyclists
Sleep
Quality sleep is crucial for various brain functions, including the communication between nerve cells (neurons). Recent research indicates that sleep serves a vital role in clearing toxins from the brain that accumulate while you’re awake, essentially acting as a form of housekeeping.
