World Thinking Day 2021: Tips to Boost Your Smart Thinking - Gigadocs - Online Appointment with Best Doctors

With progressing age, our brain functions also change, especially its ability to remember things that may impact our daily active life.

It may often happen that in the kitchen we overlook the reason why we were there, or even forget our friend’s name from school and college. Though memory lapses can occur with any age, they are most common as we age. In serious cases, it may lead to dementia, or progressive Alzheimer’s, whose contributing causes include brain injury, or neurological illness most feared among the senior age group. As time progresses, regular wear and tear in the brain’s structure may slow down cognitive processes. Subsequently, this would hamper one’s ability to learn new things or win over distractions that block memory and learning. These changes can be frustrating when there are new skills to learn or several responsibilities to undertake.

World Thinking Day

Thinking improves our critical abilities, and our aptitude to remember things, places, and familiar events. The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), and the Girl Scouts of the USA and Guide organizations around the world celebrate the World Thinking Day on the 22^nd. February every year. Would thinking day is a global event that aims to highlight the concerns affecting their global community. Previous World Thinking Days have addressed the concerns of environmental sustainability, access to education, poverty, and gender inequality.

Health Tips for a Sharper Brain

To sharpen our mind, and enhance our critical thinking capabilities, here are tips that boost smart thinking.

Challenge your Brain

Regular reading is directly correlated with greater mental functioning in old age. In a study published in the journal Neurology, regular writing and reading can reduce the rate of memory loss by as high as 32%.

Advanced learning may go a long way in strengthening our memory by getting us into the habit of being psychologically active. To boost critical thinking, challenge your brain with mental exercise that activates brain cells and stimulates communication skills. You can consider playing chess or bridge; join a book group; pursue music or art or do crossword or jigsaw puzzles. Building cognitive capability is an ongoing process therefore it is essential to make learning a lifelong priority.

Don’t forget to Exercise

What benefits your body benefits the brain. Regular exercise, which may be as simple as meeting your friends over a walk refreshes your mind and goes a long way to improve your cognitive skills. While you are walking the thrust created by your footsteps transmits pressure waves through the arteries. This augments the blood flow and promotes the development of a healthier mind. Try adding outdoor activities like hiking, walking your pets, yoga to your daily or weekly routine to boost blood flow into your brain.

Healthy Food for the Brain

Food that encourages brain cognition includes nuts, milk products, green vegetables, chickpeas, kidney beans, etc. Don’t forget to include brain-healthy nutrients like Folate, choline, vitamin B6, B12 to your meals. or an extra brain boost, try including these foods in your diet, suggests Gigadocs-

Turmeric– Curcumin, an active ingredient in turmeric is an active antioxidant that may boost brain memory, ease depression, and help boost brain cells growth.
Dark Chocolate- Dark chocolate can never go wrong! Excellent food for hypertension, dark chocolate contains cocoa or cacao that constitute flavonoids. Cacao flavonoids may encourage neuron and blood vessel growth in the sections of the brain that is involved in memory and learning. Additionally, dark chocolates may also stimulate blood flow in the brain.
Berries– The antioxidant compounds in berries (like strawberries, mulberries, blackcurrants) may improve the communication between brain cells, reduce inflammation, increase plasticity to help the brain cells form new connections that aid learning and memory. Berries may also delay age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
Green tea– Tea can be stimulating to brain wellness if taken in the right quantity. Teas like green tea increase brain alertness and aid in focus. Green tea rich in polyphenols and antioxidants is an excellent stress buster. Besides green tea has also been linked to a reduction in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
Eggs– They are a storehouse of nutrients like B6, B12, folate, and choline tied to brain health. Choline helps to create a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which regulates mood and boosts cognitive memory. One large hard-boiled egg contains 164mg of choline that meets 30-36% of your daily requirements.
Oily Fish-Oily fishes are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids that improve the structure of brain cells (neurons). Oily fishes like Cod, Sardines, Indian Salmon support the formation of membranes around the brain cells.

Maintain a Good Posture

Maintain an upright posture, while you are sitting or sleeping. This improves your blood circulation to the brain. Sleep with an aligned spine on your back which is less stressful on your spine. If you have a habit of sleeping on your side, keep your head in a neutral posture with your chin straight ahead. Walk straight to reduce the risk of falls that are very common at old age. Maintaining a healthy weight and body mass will improve your activity levels and in turn make your brain alert and strong.

Sleep to Improve Memory

Sleeping troubles can be perilous as it could lead to hypertension and high sugar. Shortage of sleep affects your concentration, memory, and other cognitive functions. To promote cognitive thinking seniors must try to sleep for seven to eight hours each night. Youngsters (ages of 26 and 64) with the hectic work schedule need about seven to nine hours of night sleep.

To promote peaceful sleep, set a routine and stay consistent even on the weekends. Avoid heavy, oily food that disrupts REM and slow-wave sleep. Refrain from large serving sizes which can irritate your stomach, making you lose sleep.

Develop a Hobby

Music has therapeutic properties. Listening to your favorite music can help boost your creative thinking, reduce stress, lessen anxiety, improve memory and cognition abilities. You can try gardening, painting, or playing a musical instrument to engage your brain to produce Dopamine- the happy hormone.

Focusing on your brain health is one of the best things you can do to improve your memory, concentration, focus, and mental agility, regardless of age group.

Gigadocs for your Healthcare Needs

By incorporating the above tips for brain health you’ll get to challenge your mind, sharpen your cognitive skills, and possibly learn something enriching too. At Gigadocs, we believe in offering the most advanced medical care facilitated by our experienced doctors for all of your and your family’s healthcare needs. For chronic and non-chronic diseases consultations, our medical practitioners are just a video/ phone call away.

Avail the facilities of storage of healthcare records in a secure environment to store your healthcare records, available on demand. Track your child’s next immunization on the Gigadocs immunization schedule. To know more, Gigadocs is available to download from the Appstore and Play store-

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