Health

Easy way to keep your brain sharp!

Write letters, write in a Journal, or take an online class.

According to the Journal Of The American Medical Association, all those things build communication pathways in the brain.

They also keep existing pathways active – which supports the memory-power you already have and helps with the creation of new memory.

Those things again: Write Letters, Write in a Journal, or take an online class.

Journaling right before bed has always helped me offload all the ruminations and worries about the next day ahead. It’s such a powerful practice. And now we know it also keeps our brain sharp.

Do you need another reason to thoroughly clean the house, or tackle chores you’ve been putting off? It could boost your brain health! That’s according to Dr. Noah Koblinsky from the Rotman Research Institute in Toronto. 

He and his team studied mentally-healthy senior citizens. Each participant was given a cognitive test and a health evaluation. They were also asked to track their exercise, and list the chores they did each day, including cleaning, cooking, and gardening. 

The result: No matter how much or how little a person exercised – like walking, running or cycling – those who spent more time doing chores had greater brain volume, which is a key measure of good cognitive health. 

Dr. Koblinsky believes chores are so beneficial to the brain because they get us up and moving. Doing chores also requires planning and organization, which helps promote the formation of new neural connections. And that one-two combination helps boost blood flow to the brain, and slows cognitive decline. Meaning, tackling your daily chores could significantly boost your brainpower.

What is the one chore you hate the most? Let me know at [email protected].

Mine is cleaning the gutters. I feel like my ‘ladder days’ are behind me!

If back pain is bothering you, go take a walk! 

According to the journal Clinical Rehabilitation, a 20-minute walk a few times a week can be as effective at eliminating back pain as some forms of in-office physical therapy. That’s because a lot of times, back pain is caused by muscle tightness. 

And walking not only stretches back muscles, it strengthens back and abdominal muscles that support the spine. That means they’re less likely to seize up. So, for backaches, your prescription is a 20-minute walk, three times a week.

There’s a new treatment being prescribed for depression, anxiety – and even pain! It’s a “social prescription” – which can include anything from a cooking class, to a group hike, to a day at a museum, or a book club.

And there’s a growing amount of scientific evidence that shows social prescriptions can be just as effective as some medications at relieving pain and depressive symptoms. The difference is that social activities have NO side effects…… and they’re often better at helping people overcome their underlying anxiety or loneliness than a pill.

Dr. Michael Dixon is a pioneer of the social prescribing movement at the College of Medicine in the UK. And he says it doesn’t really matter which social activity your doctor “prescribes”…… 

The key is that it should involve something you’re truly interested in. Because that increases the odds you’ll actually follow-through with the activity on a regular basis – unlike, say, patients who often “forget” to attend a physical therapy session.

and one more thing….in studies involving everyone from kids to older cancer patients, almost everyone exposed to a “social prescription” – even once – reported significantly less stress, less pain, and improved well-being!

It’s a pretty serious situation if you – or someone you love – has to be admitted to a hospital’s intensive care unit, or ICU. 

So, this next tip is all about making a potential ICU stay as comfortable as possible: Bring some EARPLUGS…… Because that will lower your risk of suffering some of the most common ICU disturbances.

That’s according to a study from the University of Antwerp, in Belgium. 

Researchers found that many patients admitted to hospital ICUs wind up suffering secondary conditions that are caused by the ICU……everything from mild confusion, to severe insomnia, to delirium. And it’s all down to the sensory overload created by all the bright lights and beeping machines. 

But this new study found that when patients started wearing earplugs in the ICU, to help block out the most distracting noises, their risk for experiencing secondary conditions was cut IN HALF! And researchers say that’s significant, considering something as simple as a good night’s sleep can boost your immune system, and promote faster healing from even the most serious health issues.

It’s why researchers recommend bringing a pair of earplugs the next time you need to be admitted to the hospital, for ANY reason.

There’s a reason why it feels so good to spend time by the ocean. 

Psychologist Dr. Paulette Sherman says saltwater releases tons of negative ions. And, once we breathe those ions in, they enter our bloodstream, boosting oxygen levels in our cells and increasing the production of the calming, happiness-boosting neurotransmitter serotonin. 

In fact, studies show that people who regularly spend time near the ocean tend to be more energetic and less depressed than people who are rarely near the water.

But if you’re landlocked, don’t worry. Go float in a pool. Researchers at the University of Delaware found that relaxing in water blocks out extraneous noise, and gives our senses a break from over-stimulation. That creates a meditative calm. Even watching water flow electronically works. 

Dr. Sherman says brain scans show that watching waves crash, or a waterfall splash, whether electronically or in real life, is calming and reduces the production of stress hormones. 

I know school teachers won’t be happy with this but….

We are now hearing that chewing gum is the latest super-life-hack. That’s according to the American Institute Of Stress. They say most of us tend to clench our jaws when we’re stressed, but the act of chewing can obliterate that tension.

Chewing gum can also make you more alert……The chewing action releases the hormone serotonin, which helps you feel more awake. 

Chewing gum can even improve test scores! In studies from St. Lawrence University, students who chewed gum while taking a test felt significantly more alert and even received higher scores. The researchers explain it’s because the chewing motion gets blood flowing to the head.

If you’re going to take a mental health day off work – which day should it be? 

Here’s the answer from Dr. Lisa Orbé-Austin, a licensed psychologist who focuses on helping professionals manage their careers. 

She says don’t take off a day mid-week – unless you have no other choice. Because it’ll be harder to disengage from your job when work is looming the next day. It won’t feel restorative because you’re coming down from the last day of work and also preparing mentally for the next day. 

It’s better to tack a mental health day onto the beginning or the end of the week, so it becomes an extension of your weekend, and you can fully disengage.

If you want to add an extra 10 years to your life…. Go swimming! 

According to Northwestern University, the more you swim, eat right and avoid tobacco, the longer you’ll live. Their studies looked at more than 355-thousand people and found that swimming can add as many as 10 years to your life. 

The studies found that, among healthy people, those who swam regularly had an 80% lower risk of heart disease. And another study, done by the University of South Carolina, found that over the course of a 13-year study swimmers had the lowest rate of death. 

So why would that be? The researchers speculate that it’s because swimming works the entire body – not just the lower half, like running. Plus, because water makes us buoyant, it’s something almost everybody can do……

Even people who have bad knees, arthritis or are overweight. And you don’t need to spend your life in the pool. An hour a day was all it took to get the longevity benefits. And it doesn’t matter what stroke you do – they’re all equally good. 

In fact, jogging in water – or water aerobics – will also provide the same life-lengthening benefits.  

Life is pretty much back to normal……But a new survey by the American Psychological Association finds 75% of people are still experiencing daily stress-related symptoms – including headaches, sleep issues, fatigue, and feeling overwhelmed.

Well, experts are blaming it on so-called “ambient stress” – which is stress that’s running in the background, below our level of consciousness. That’s according to clinical psychologist, Dr. Laurie Ferguson. It’s like the ambient noise in a coffee shop. You don’t even notice the machines buzzing, or the hum of conversation – but it’s there. 

And that’s what ambient stress is……It’s just always there, eating away at us. The journal Environment and Behavior describes ambient stress as chronic and negative, but we function like everything’s fine, when it’s really not. And, over time, it takes a toll. 

Now in 2020, we were acutely aware of our stress. So we started baking, doing zoom calls with friends, and walking around the neighborhood. But now that we’re constantly in a state of low-grade stress – it’s become part of us, so we’ve stopped trying to manage it.

So what can we do? Start managing it again! Dr. Ferguson says it helps to give your brain new stimuli. Even small changes, like eating something new for lunch, can introduce healthy novelty. And exercise is also key. It’s proven to override stress – even ambient stress.