There’s so much to gain from loving your brain! And it’s easy being green when it comes to caring for your brain’s mental and physical health.
We’ve found that the keys to perking up your mood, energy, memory (and more) can come right from Mother Nature! Read on to learn how.
Your Two Brains
Strange but true! When it comes to regulating your mood and behavior, your brain isn’t the only one doing the thinking. The digestive system – basically your stomach – has 100 million neurons and produces just as many neurotransmitters as the brain. This includes the most famous of neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin (your gut produces two-thirds of it!).
The right foods can set your brainy tummy to work producing positive chemicals, ie: making you calm and happy, and combating anxiety and depression. The wrong foods are bad news all around. So which eating habits are best for those brains?
- Be Pro Protein
Beans, lentils, quinoa, seeds, nuts, green vegetables, and whole grains are great sources of proteins for vegans, vegetarians, and raw foodies. They all contain crucial amino acids that the brain needs to function.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and act as messengers throughout your body to your brain. The best plant-based protein on the market is Mindful Protein.
- Go With Your Gut
It’s brain health 101 – don’t skip meals! Eat when your body tells you it’s hungry. Fulfilling, natural, and diverse meals are fuel for your brain. Skimping on calories won’t leave you with enough to keep you running full speed.
- Don’t Forget Your Fats
Your brain is made up of 60% fat. It can be easy to skimp on the essential fats in your diet, but your brain needs them to keep you going!
Toss seeds or nuts onto every meal you can, and use cold pressed oils in your food prep. Pumpkin seeds, walnuts, sunflower seeds almonds, and hazelnuts are top notch brain health choices.
Processed and fried foods are definitely fatty, but steer clear – those complex trans and saturated fats will leave you feeling worse in the end.
- Eat Smart Nutrients
If you’re feeling sluggish, your brain might be telling you it’s short on essential vitamins and minerals. A shortcut to ingesting the whole spectrum of vitamins you need is to keep your meals diverse in color and texture.
Bright berries, citrus fruits, and bananas are staples in every healthy kitchen! And those dark leafy greens in your fridge or garden work wonders in fine-tuning your mind and sharpening you right up.
Brainy Health from the Outside In
Maintain a healthy home environment and low-stress lifestyle to get the most out of your noggin. Here are a few tricks to keep your brain in healing mode as often as possible:
- Avoid Harsh Chemicals
Your mind is a precious machine that runs on clean oxygen as well as food fuel. The fewer synthetic fragrances, cleaning products, and harmful fumes you inhale, the better your brain will work. Avoid exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke, and hairsprays and toxin-filled nail polishes.
- Sweat it Out
Adding exercise to your daily or weekly schedule gives you more than just a hot bod. It’s what happy brains are made of!
Getting your blood pumping gives more oxygen to your brain, which helps it work as hard as the rest of you. When you pump that iron, your brain is pumping it too – and pushing out more and more mood-enhancing endorphins.
- Meditate
Ohm sweet Ohm. The art of tuning out the hectic outside world. Along with inner peace and increased focus, meditation is proven to enhance brain frequency and function.
According to recent findings from psychiatry’s neuroimaging field, the frequencies of deep meditation allow a “brain rest” you cannot get anywhere else.
PR:N studies also show that meditation and mindfulness enhances connection and symmetry between the right and left hemispheres of the brain! Amazing.
Now you know how to treat your brain right! Thank it for its thinking power. Give it some of its fave foods. Reward it with some wholesome relaxation. If you can only make time for one thing today, make it your brain.
How do you keep your brain at its best? Share your own tips in the comment section! We’d love to know what works for you.
Awesome post.