Do you find yourself feeling lethargic at your desk after lunch? Are you becoming more and more forgetful? Do you need to be more alert at school? Is multi-tasking becoming a thing of the past? It is possible to keep your mind from becoming as dull as number two pencil during a standardized test. Simply follow these eight smart ways to improve brain power and maintain focus.
1. Eat your Vitamin C – When it comes to your brain’s health, which ironically is something most of us do not actually think about very often, consuming Vitamin C through nutritious foods is essential for brain health.
To help maintain healthy brain function, incorporate the following vegetables that are highest in Vitamin C into your diet: yellow peppers, red peppers, pokeberry shoots, green peppers, canned butterbur, raw watercress, horseradish-tree pods, broccoli, raw parsley, canned pimentos, Chinese cabbage, banana peppers, and scotch kale, mustard greens, chives, squash turnip greens.
The Vitamin C in fruits can also help you maintain healthy brain function. The fruits highest in Vitamin C include guavas, cloudberries, strawberries, lemons, papayas, kiwis, oranges and grapefruits, star fruit, pineapple, lichis, and peaches.
2. Exercise for Memory – Another smart way to maintain healthy brain function is to exercise. Exercise not only benefits your body, it benefits your mind. When you run, do aerobics, ski, bike, chase a toddler around the house, or any other physical activity which increases your heart rate, you are performing cardiovascular exercise. You increase blood flow to every part of your body, including your brain. Even simple exercise like walking can help improve memory.
In addition to increasing blood flow the the brain, and improving memory, exercise is also a natural way to relieve stress and stave off depression. When the body and mind are stressed, memory and the ability to think clearly may be affected.
3. Play a Game – Your brain needs its own form of exercise, in order to maintain brain health. Ideal games for sharpening your mind include Soduko, word finds, crossword puzzles, Bingo and Scrabble. Basically, any game which requires you to do a bit of focused thinking will benefit your brain more than watching another half hour of television.
4. Vitamin E – Vitamin E is essential for the health of cells. Vitamin E also improves brain function. Foods rich in vitamin E include ready-to-eat cereals, cooked spinach, coriander leaves, almonds, sunflower seeds or sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanuts, broocoli, kiwi and mango.
5. Continue Learning Keeping the brain engaged and exposing your brain to new concepts and ideas will help maintain healthy brain function. You can keep your brain active by learning a new language, teaching yourself something new, taking a college course, or an adult education course.
6. Magnesium – Another nutrient that is essential for healthy brain function is magnesium. Magnesium has been proven to help maintain memory in people who are middle aged older. Foods rich in magnesium include wheat germ, raw dock, Swiss chard, beet greens, spinach (frozen or fresh), clams, fresh basil, coffee, tea, rice bran, kale, arugula, coriander leaf, okra, zucchini, hearts of palm, mustard greens, summer squash, okra, oat bran, and broccoli.
7. Memory Games The brain’s health also benefits from memory games. The brain is like a muscle, and needs to be flexed as often as possible to stay healthy now and in the future. Memory games can be played at any time by anyone, they can be played alone or with friends or family. Make mental lists of songs, movies, colors, cities, countries, numbers, or whatever interests you.
For two or more people, pick a category and go through the alphabet. Each time you add one more word, you have to repeat all of the other words in front of it. For example, for colors I would say azure. The next person would say azure, and then blue, etc. This is a fun memory game to play while driving or with kids.
8. Vitamin B – Consuming enough Vitamin B will also help maintain healthy brain function. Vitamin B enables the brain to focus. Vitamin B also affects the brain’s ability to maintain memory. Foods high in Vitamin B include cereal, potatoes, bananas, garbanzo beans, chicken breast, beef, clams, oysters, veal, turkey, and many more.
