If you’re trying to be fit and healthy, you need to make sure that you’re looking beyond your body alone. The mind-body connection is all too real, and neglecting your mind by not paying attention to how you improve its health can eventually impacts on your body, as well. Brain health is just as important for a vital and happy life, so here, we’re going to look at a few of the ways you can invest in it.

Make sure you have a balanced diet

A good diet includes not just what you need to manage your weight and build muscle, but it should provide the necessary nutrients for the whole body. There are plenty of foods that are specifically good for the brain that you should do some research into, with omega-3 fatty acids (commonly found in fish, nuts, and seeds) being of particular worth. However, you need a diverse diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats to ensure the development of a healthy brain. Just as important is avoiding the parts of the diet that are bad for the body, including the brain, which includes things like processed meals, too much salt, and saturated fats.

Get your blood pumping

Exercise is good for the whole body, the brain included. For one, it floods the brain with positive neurotransmitters, such as endorphins, which can help you not only feel happier but more alert in general. Aerobic exercises, strength training, and yoga are all great for the brain, helping to boost the blood flow to the brain, which in turn stimulates neurogenesis, which is the development of new neurons in the brain. This process continues throughout our entire life, so it’s important to make sure that blood makes it to the brain on a regular basis. Even the basic bodyweight aerobic exercises you can do in your own home can make a big difference. If you can’t afford gym membership or gear for the home, then you just need to purchase a skipping rope.

Get a good night’s sleep

The exact function of sleep, what it is, how it works, and its specific purpose, are not fully understood by science just yet. One thing is clear, however, and that is the effects of not getting enough. Failing to get your 7-9 hours sleep every night can have profound impacts on your cognitive function, and make it much harder for your brain to form memories effectively. You should use a sleep timer to ensure that you wake up between cycles of REM sleep, as well, as waking up between cycles can see you feeling much more alert for more of the day. Good sleep has a whole range of impacts on other parts of health that are good for the brain, such as helping to alleviate your stress, as well.

Stay hydrated

Getting enough water and keeping the body hydrated is just as important for the brain as it is for the rest of you. Not enough water and your organs begin to function less efficiently, including your brain. Optimal brain function requires you to make sure that you get enough water, and dehydration-related cognitive decline can have some pretty drastic effects, not all of them in the short term, either. This is especially important in the the summer, when the heat can have worse impacts on your cognitive health. Aside from drinking water, you can eat foods that have higher water content, and even moisturizing products for the skin can help you better retain and lock in hydration.

Find some stimulation for the brain

While someone aiming to live a healthy lifestyle might easily tick all of the boxes above, it’s often easier to forget to give your brain the training and care that it needs. Brain training, whether it’s through puzzles like Sudouk and crosswords, reading new books, or playing games that specifically test your intellect, such as chess, can greatly help improve the neuroplasticity of the brain. Some games, like chess, have even been shown to improve your IQ. While not a muscle, the brain can be trained like one, and you do get to better enjoy the skills that you practice with it. Learning new skills and partaking in new hobbies, in particular, are good for neuroplasticity, as well. Whether it’s a new language, new musical instrument, new type of craft or otherwise, constantly engaging the brain in things that are new to it can be great for its health.

Spend time with your friends

Don’t lock yourself away in a room, spending all of your time completing puzzles, of course. Social connections are important for brain health in a wide range of ways. Practicing social skills improves memory, emotional intelligence, and vocabulary, for one. However, it has also been found that isolation and the lack of social contact that the brain craves may actually be one of the major causes of dementia. Engage in regular social activities and maintain those strong social connections to reduce stress, improve cognitive resilience, and ensure good brain health for the future.

Be mindful of alcohol and drugs

Over reliance on substances that alter your brain chemistry can have profound impacts on its health, and that much should be expected. Alcohol, and many recreational drugs, can have a serious effect on brain health, such as killing your brain cells and inhibiting the growth of new brain cells, which can lead to cognitive impairment. The mood disorders that are commonly a risk when overusing alcohol and drugs can also be a significant risk to the health of the brain. In small measures, some alcoholic drinks can be beneficial to brain health. A glass of red wine a day genuinely is good for you. You just want to make sure that you don’t push it too far.

Stop smoking

Given how bad nicotine and tobacco use can be for the rest of your body, there should be no surprise that smoking can be just as bad for the brain. The major risk to your brain health comes from the vascular problems caused by smoking. Smoking affects your blood flow, which can prevent blood from reaching the brain. As mentioned, this is vital for the development of new neurons in the brain and, without that, you can begin to slip into cognitive decline.

Ensure that you keep an eye on your long-term health

Given how important your blood flow is to the health of your brain, you should be sure to monitor your general health on a more regular basis, as well. Chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol can all affect your brain health. As such, you should schedule regular checkups with your doctor and be sure to follow any treatment plans to prevent chronic disease from affecting you. You might not know that it’s impacting your health until you get it checked out, so it’s worth making an appointment at least once a year.

Take supplements to improve your brain health

As mentioned, your diet can help ensure that your brain is getting the nutrients that it needs, but it’s always worth considering filling the gaps in your diet with the vitamins and nutritional supplements that can help ensure the right balance. There has been a lot of increased focus specifically on brain supplements, as of late, with a lot of new products hitting the market that promise to have all manner of effects in improving your cognitive function. However, many of these supplements are as-of-yet unproven, so it’s important to focus on what works and what does not. There are nutrients that we already know are good for your brain health, and that you want to include in your diet. Try to focus on acquiring more of these, rather than focusing on getting into the latest fad supplement that promises unproven benefits.

Manage your stress levels

Most people understand, on a general level, that stress can affect how their brain works. When you’re stressed, it can feel like you’re in a brain fog, it can be more difficult to think clearly and to recall information. Basically, when you’re stressed, parts of the brain can get overtaxed, which in turn can make it difficult for the rest to work efficiently. However, the effects of stress on the brain can go a lot deeper than temporarily making it hard to organize your thoughts. It may have significant long-term impacts, such as reducing the development of parts of the brain that are tasked with more complex thoughts, can it is thought to even be a potential contributor to dementia. As such, you should ensure that you do what you can to manage your stress, whether that’s getting into hobbies, meditating, or extricating yourself from stressful situations.

With the tips above, you can ensure that you give your brain health just as much care and investment as you do for your body. It’s up to you to keep it up, of course.