Yawning and Your Brain

Have you ever been some where and you yawned and someone looked at you like "am I boring you?" Yawns actually are a good thing and if you are a speaker and see someone yawn take it as a compliment. While we often think that yawning is related to boredom, fatigue, or just plain rudeness, it is not. Yawning helps cool down our brains so that they function better.

Our brains function much better when they are cool. Believe it or not multiple studies have been done studying yawns and increases in brain and body temperatures. Many people still believe that yawning happens because of a lack of oxygen. There was a study in 1987 that disproved this.

In fact the yawn provides a means for increasing alertness and arousal, especially if you are changing from one mental state to another, such as going from activity to inactivity, or sleeping to waking. The yawn is a mechanism to recharge so you can better absorb information.

Staying Healthy as You Age

I've talked about this before, but since I'm kind of on the keeping you young as you age this month, here's another piece to it. Keeping yourself mentally active is just as important as keeping yourself physically active.

A study done at the University of Illinois for people in their 60's and 70's indicated that being trained and playing video games helps the brain become more agile, with memory and reasoning ability also improving.

There are some free games on the AARP site to help your brain. Give them a try. They are on the top left of this page click here

Protecting Your Brain Health #3

Lastly in protecting your brain health, is to protect your youth. What I mean here is to age in a healthy manner. Avoid things like smoking, limit the amount of alcohol you drink and exercise regularly. Take the age test to see what your age is compared to your numerical age.

Keep you brain intellectually stimulated and socially engaged. This not only improves your brain health but your overall health. Keep your brain as vibrant and functional as possible.

Protecting Your Brain Health #2

Another way to protect your brain health is whatever you are doing to protect you heart health. Anything that you do to help the blood vessels in your heart will also help the blood vessels in your head.

This can include things like controlling your blood pressure. Watching what you eat, like cutting down on sugar and other foods related to causing inflammation.

Protecting Your Brain Health

I have talked about brain health before, but I think it bears some more thoughts. With the increasing number of people developing Alzheimer's Disease, there are a few thing you can do to help protect your brain.

First is to literally protect your brain. Use a helmet when cycling, use seat belts, and use care when there is an increased risk of a fall, such as when you are on a ladder. We know that Alzheimer's is linked to previous head trauma, so protect your head. I cross country ski and I usually say it's just me and the trees, but I still wear a helmet. Those trees can give you a pretty nasty rap on the head!

Little Things That Can Imporve Heart Health #5

Yesterday I talked about breakfast as being the most important meal. Today let's talk about what things are healthy choices throughout the day. Today, I want you to start by adding 1 extra serving of fruits or vegetables. If you are eating less than 5 servings a day, your goal will be to get to 5 a day and maintain that level. So start today by adding 1 extra to whatever you are currently eating.

Fruits and vegetables not only help with heart health, but they help with brain chemistry, brain health, strengthening your immune system to helping the bowel to function better. Substitute a piece of fruit for dessert or whatever it is that you are eating during the day when you crave sugar. This is a healthier way to eat and you will crave sugar less.

Boosting Your Brain Health

There are several ways that you can boost your brain health. If you live in a coastal state or in Colorado, you are probably already doing things that boost your brain health. The first thing is eating DHA omega 3 in fish like salmon or trout. Included in your diet should be colorful fruits and vegetables.

Secondly, get at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day. You don't have to go to the gym - walk for 30 consecutive minutes.

Thirdly, play games, learn a new language, do crossword puzzles, soduko, or have a hobby that requires you to think some.

Lastly, socialize, volunteer, participate in clubs, or attend religious services.

The more active you are the better your brain health.

More on Drumming

One of the things that happens when you are in a drumming circle or just drumming yourself, you are doing a cardiovascular exercise, but you are also putting your body and heart beat into the rhythm of the drum. This has a healing property that is difficult to describe.

We're all familiar with that fact that most indigenous people have drumming as a part of their culture. Not only does drumming connect you with your roots, but it also exercises both sides of your brain. If you are drumming with both hands, both sides of your brain are being used. This is a great mental exercise.

Brain Health

Researchers have shown that marriage helps keep your mind sharp. Now that's a new twist right. But what they found was that individuals who were single at midlife (age 50) and remained single were at greater risk to develop diseases such as Alzheimer's.

What the researchers believe is that by having a partner, you may be given social and mental challenges that stimulate the brain. I know someone out there is saying something like, boy, I'm really challenged alright. But be happy that you have that challenge and that it may delay or prevent the onset of dementia.

Eggs - Should I Just Eat The Whites?

I mentioned before that eggs have gotten a bad rap for many years and many reasons. Again, you want to read those labels because you're looking for free range chickens to be laying the eggs that you eat. The whites are the best part, however, you should also know the benefits of the yolks and there is one very specific one.

The yolk of the egg contains lutein and xeazanthin both of which are important for eye health and helping to prevent macular degeneration. But both of these need fats to be absorbed and that is also contained in the yolk of the egg. There is another reason to eat the yolk. It also contains phosphatidylcholine which is an important nutrient for good brain health.

Exercising Your Brain As Well As Your Body

I know I've talked about this before, but I'm going to bring it up once again. If you're lifting weights, walking, jogging, or doing strenuous physical exercise, don't forget to exercise your brain.

I have a patient who is 105 years old. She is sharp as a tack and knows more about the world and the affairs of the US then I every thought of knowing. So how does she stay so sharp you might ask? She exercises her brain on a daily basis. Her body is actually getting pretty frail, but she uses her brain daily. She reads the newspaper from cover to cover every day. When we had 2 newspapers in this city, she read them both. Then she talks to people about what she has read.

Another thing she does is to learn a new word every day. Not just the word and what it means, but also how to spell it. She is always the champion at the spelling bee each month in the senior highrise that she lives in.

Some other things you can do is to change things up every couple of days. Take a new route to work, brush your teeth with the opposite hand, put your clothes on differently than usual. If you put your shirt on first, put it on last. Obviously you can't put your underware on last, but for women if you put on your panties first, put them on after you put on your bra.

Do mind games. One of the things I have always done is the crossword puzzle every morning. Now I have added a second crossword and the Sudoku puzzle. Any kind of brain game will help exercise your brain and keep you young.

#6 Healthy Habit

Yesterday I spoke about friends and how that helps keep your brain healthy. The next healthy habit is to do things that keep your brain functioning at a high level. Remember to exercise your mind with things like crossword puzzles, etc. It's the use it or lose it principle. You don't want to live to 100 if you don't know who is sitting next to you or where you are.

I have a 105 year old woman who is one of my patients. She is absolutely as sharp as they come. She actually knows more about current events than I do. Maybe that isn't saying a whole lot since I'm only in touch with what people tell me. This woman reads the paper cover to cover every day. When the election campaigns were happening, she knew which states voted for which candidates. She is very sharp, because she uses her brain every day and keeps it functioning at a high level.

Rest for Brain Health

The last thing I want to mention about brain health is rest. Getting into good sleep habits is important for the brain. Research has shown that people who have slept only 4 hours a night have an increase in a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone which is related to the deposition of fat in the abdomen. Cortisol also has an effect in the brain.

The area of the brain where memory occurs is the hippocampus. When cortisol levels are high, this area of the brain begins to shrink. By increasing sleep to 8-9 hours, the amount of cortisol drops significantly. The other thing about cortisol is that when the levels are high, the brain cells are unable to produce energy to function.

I'll talk a little more about sleep again tomorrow.

More on Brain Health

You may find it interesting that you are less likely to develop dementia if you are socially active. Many studies have indicated that if you have a large social network, you are less likely to develop dementia.

This doesn't have to be a formal thing. Just hanging out with friends and family can really make a difference in your mental health. Research has shown that social interaction has a positive effect on both memory and cognition.

This doesn't mean you have to spend the entire day in social interaction, but you should look to have at least one social interaction a day. That is not a terribly big order, but as you get older it is more and more important for this to happen.

Exercising the Mind

While physical exercise is important to keep your brain functioning at a high level, exercising the mind is equally important. What I mean by that is challenging the mind to keep it sharp. The key to mind exercise is to have it be a challenge, include variety and novelty.

If you like to play cards, play multiple card games. Bridge is great, but also play some other card games.

There are multiple computer programs which challenge the mind. You can also do something as simple as using the mouse with your opposite hand.

My favorite thing is to do a crossword puzzle every morning. I've now added to that and do a sudoku and kakuro puzzle every morning as well. These types of puzzles help keep the mind sharp.

Keeping Your Brain Healthy

I've been talking about food the past several days, but now I want to shift gears and talk about some other things to help you keep your brain functioning at peak capacity.

Just as your heart requires some exercise so does the brain. Studies have demonstrated that individuals who perform aerobic and strength training actually improve their cognition or ability to think. There has also been a decrease in the rates of dementia in individuals who are exercising regularly.

Any activity that requires thinking to perform, such as dancing, tennis, tai chi, yoga, Pilates, skiing, or even jumping rope, keeps the brain actively working. To turn the brain on more, try doing resistance training with balance and agility exercises.

For brain health, 3-5 times a week will keep your brain going. Now for some of you, I kow you just said, but I don't want to go to the gym. You don't have to go to the gym. You can do some of these things at home, but if you need some type of structure, you can get the Wii Fit. This is the nintendo game played on a TV. It will put you through the balance, strength, and aerobic workouts.