How to Keep Your Brain Active

The brain is the control center of our entire body. It's essential to keep your brain active and alert, regardless of age. Maintaining a healthy and active brain helps reduce stress, improve memory, and contribute to higher levels of creativity. Keeping your brain busy also decreases your chances of developing dementia or other brain-related diseases.  

Brain health and activity are essential, no matter your age. Whether you’re a senior, or helping a child grow big and strong, a healthy brain can have a positive impact on your mental and physical health.  

Keep Adult Brains Active 

As adults, it’s essential we work towards better brain health and wellness. Here are our top five ways to keep an adult’s brain active and healthy: 

• Maintain a healthy diet filled with brain and heart-healthy foods. Healthy foods include fatty fish, dark chocolate, blueberries, broccoli, and nuts.  
   
  Sticking to a healthy diet will give your brain the fuel it needs to work correctly. A good diet will also give your brain the longevity required to maintain its functions and remain healthy. 
   
• Certain brain games can help people of all ages maintain their brain health and help the brain stay strong for the long haul. Some brain games include puzzles, crosswords, trivia, and sudoku.  
   
  Brain games should be challenging, yet easily achievable. These games will test the brain in multiple ways while simultaneously keeping its functions sharp. 
   
• Learn new things often. Studies show that learning something new can help enhance a brain’s functions and strengthen its abilities. Some ideas are learning a new word every day, learning a new language, or trying a new hobby!  
   
  With smartphones, learning can be easy, fun, and usually free. We recommend Duoloingo for learning a new language and the New York Times daily puzzles for mental stimulation. 
   
• One way to improve brain functionality is to try and use all your senses at the same time. Scientists believe that if you engage each sense at the same time, it will challenge your brain to adjust to a new experience that it may not be familiar with. 
   
• Stay active and exercise regularly! According to a study completed at the University of British Columbia, regular exercise can help enlarge the hippocampus; the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning.  
   
  Additionally, exercise has been proven to be a mood booster. Regular exercise can also help improve sleep patterns and anxiety issues. The exercise you choose can be low impact. Even taking a daily stroll helps keep your brain active. 
   

Child Brain Health 

Brain health isn’t just for adults, it’s crucial to start taking care of your child’s brain before they’re even in this world; prenatal health can help developing brains. In addition to eating well while the baby is growing, here are the most effective ways to improve a child’s brain health: 

• Set your child up for success with a good diet. Just like it is with adults, babies and children greatly benefit from food that helps with brain development. Healthy foods that fuel the brain include eggs, lean meat, leafy green vegetables, beans, nuts, and seafood. 
   
• Keep your children active! Movement is so important to keeping both the body and mind as healthy as can be. Beyond mental health, exercise has amazing benefits for the body and mind. An active child can have a better attention span and brighter moods, routine exercise can even help them think faster.  
   
• Enforce a bedtime. Sleep is critical for people of all ages. And oftentimes, babies and children need more sleep than adults. When a child loses out on sleep, they are irritable, cranky, and can’t mentally process information as fast as they normally would.  
   
  Help your child learn to fit everything into their day by not overloading their schedule and prioritizing sleep. 
   
• Challenge your child’s brain by giving them puzzles and other brain teaser toys. Matching games are also fun and help memory. Parents can also encourage their children to make art or participate in pretend play; both these activities help stimulate the brain and help with creativity. Coloring pages are also a great way to stimulate growing minds. 

Keeping a brain healthy is as simple as eating the right foods and staying engaged with your environment. Building up the discipline to practice brain health nearly every day can be a challenge, but once mastered, it’s rewarding. These are also simple activities that can improve you and your family’s overall health.