How to keep your brain healthy

Nurturing your brain health is essential for overall well-being. This involves protecting your head, staying mentally active, and adopting healthy lifestyle habits. Read some practical brain health tips below. 
 

1. Protect your head and your hearing

Always wear a helmet when there’s a risk of head injury eg, horse-riding, skateboarding, snowboarding, playing contact sports or riding your bike. Repeated or severe traumatic brain injuries may increase your risk of dementia.  
  
Watch out for falls and remove clutter at home or obstacles that might be a trip hazard, such as loose mats or rugs. Be careful on ladders, steep driveways and uneven ground. 
 
Hearing loss is a known risk factor for dementia. If you have hearing loss, wearing hearing aids can help reduce your risk.  
 
Practical steps to protect your ears and hearing can include wearing earplugs or earmuffs in noisy environments like concerts, construction sites, or sporting events. Read more about protecting your hearing health. 

2. Get moving

Not only is exercise good for your overall health, it’s also good for your brain health. Kiwis who get plenty of exercise are more likely to have sharp minds. Regular physical activity can also boost your balance, flexibility, strength and energy, and it can even lift your mood. Research suggests that regular moderate aerobic exercise – enough to raise your heart rate – might help lower your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. 

3. Aim for a good night's sleep

Quality sleep is essential for your brain. A good night’s sleep helps your brain work better, improves your memory, keeps you sharp, and makes everyday life easier. Sleep also helps with stress and feeling down.

 Aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night. If you snore loudly (or someone complains that you do!), it might be time to see your healthcare provider. Snoring could be a sign of a sleep problem such as sleep apnoea. Sleep problems might increase your risk of thinking problems and dementia. 

If you have any trouble getting to sleep, or staying asleep, take our Twenty Winks sleep questionnaire to get personalised information about how to improve your sleep quality. 

4. Stay socially active

Meeting up with friends, scheduling regular catch-ups and having an active social life is a great way to fight off stress and depression, which can both make memory problems worse. Studies show that feeling lonely or isolated can also increase your risk of thinking problems and Alzheimer’s. If you’re aiming to be less solitary, volunteering at a local school or joining a community group is a great place to start.  Read our page on social isolation and helpful tips for avoiding it. 

5. Engage your brain

Activities that challenge and engage your brain such as crosswords, sudoku, online solitaire, puzzles etc, can help keep your memory sharp and improve brain function. It’s a case of ‘use it or lose it’ when it comes to brain power, and anything goes. Try learning a musical instrument or a second language or pick up a new hobby. Generating 'mental sweat' helps your brain build new cells and strengthen connections between them.

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6. Eat a healthy diet

A healthy diet rich in fruit, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and protein from plants and fish is good for the overall health of your body. A Mediterranean diet has been found to be good – eating foods with a lot of omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins and antioxidants supports brain health, which may lead to better mental function. Try including more leafy green veges, fatty fish (eg, salmon and sardines), berries, tea, coffee and walnuts in your diet. Read more about eating well for a healthy brain(external link).  

Image credit: Canva

7. Medicines and alcohol

Medicines and alcohol can interfere with how your brain functions, making it harder to think clearly, react quickly, and make good decisions. Always follow the instructions on medicine labels, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines. 

If you drink alcohol, keep it to a minimum (no more than 1 drink for women and 2 for men per day). Too much can cause memory problems, falls, and make other health issues worse. Read about alcohol and harmful drinking. 

8. Protect your overall health

Common health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and high cholesterol can also affect your brain health. Other issues such as hearing loss and uncorrected vision loss are risk factors for dementia. If you have any ongoing health problems, follow your healthcare provider’s advice on managing them. If you’re generally healthy, talk to your healthcare provider about steps you can take to stay well. 

If you want more information or you’re worried about your own, or somebody else’s memory or thinking, get in touch with your healthcare provider.