Just as we care for our bodies, we should care about how to improve brain health. It's easy to think they'll keep going with just food and water, but just like our muscles need exercise, so does our grey matter.
With recent news also confirming our brains aged faster in the pandemic, it's never been more important. Someone who knows this all too well is woman&home's resident GP, Dr Amir Khan, who is also the resident doctor on shows like ITV's Lorraine and This Morning.
He's often asked about the brain's role in healthy ageing, so we put the question to him: how can we improve our brain health with simple everyday habits?
"We all want to keep our brains as healthy as possible as we age, and although there is no 100% hack that will stop you from getting dementia, doing a few things consistently can significantly reduce your risk," he says.
How to improve brain health
1. Keep moving
Regular exercise is key for boosting brain health, Dr Amir Khan tells woman&home in his exclusive video.
"Exercise stimulates circulation and improves blood flow up to the brain, ensuring it keeps getting all the nutrients it needs to function and reducing the risk of strokes and mini strokes," he says.
"There is also evidence that exercise actually helps us grow new brain cells – yes! The hippocampus area of our brain, which helps with memory and thinking, grows new brain cells in response to chemicals produced by exercise."
Even five minutes of exercise lowers dementia risk, so think of the best exercises for longevity if you're thinking of making a change to your routine. That includes cardio exercises like regular walking, weight training, and mobility exercises like home Pilates workouts or yoga.
2. Learn a new skill
"Lots of people think doing puzzles can help reduce the risk of dementia, but there is actually no conclusive evidence for this," says the doctor. Instead, try learning a new skill.
"There's good evidence that learning a new skill uses different parts of your brain and reduce the risk of dementia. You are best off learning to play a new instrument, learning to speak a new language, or even cooking a new dish from a recipe you haven’t seen before."
3. Take a look at your diet
While the MIND diet is considered one of the 'best' ways of eating for better brain health, even making small adjustments to your diet can help improve brain health.
"The cells in our brain contain a lot of healthy fats, one of which is Omega-3 fatty acids. We can't make these ourselves, so we need to get it from the food we eat," says Dr Khan.
"Think oily fish, walnuts, flaxseeds, and chia seeds," he suggests, as these are among the foods rich in omega-3. "Antioxidants are in things like berries, nuts, dark green leafy vegetables, and these can help undo damage caused to the brain through everyday stress, reducing the risk of dementia."
4. Socialise often
When we're stressed, our social lives are often the first thing we move out of the calendar. However, Dr Khan suggests this is exactly what we should be prioritising.
"When we meet up with others and have conversations, it's like exercise for our brains. It has to respond to verbal and visual cues," he says. "Plus, we know that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase your risk of dementia."
With age, hearing loss can make maintaining a social life and having conversations difficult, which is why the doctor recommends having regular hearing tests as you get older "so you can hear and participate in social conversations".
5. Get enough sleep
There's no one route to learning how to improve brain health, but if there was, getting better sleep would be right at the top.
"The brain cleans and prepares itself when you are asleep with vital functions it can't do when you are awake," says the doctor. This includes activities such as memory consolidation and waste removal, all of which are essential for a healthy mind.
"Research shows that consistently sleeping for fewer than five hours a night doubles your risk of dementia," he adds, so aim for seven to nine hours of good quality sleep every night.
What causes poor brain health?
Poor brain health is sometimes outside our control. With age, our brains naturally begin to decline and some diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and diabetes, can impact function.
However, in another video shared to Instagram, Dr Amir Khan flags that some lifestyle habits can negatively impact our brains more than others.
- Constant multitasking: While this might make us feel like we’re being productive, it actually “stresses the brain and it can weaken short-term memory and increase our cortisol levels," says Dr Khan. "Over time, that can affect our brain matter, which is linked to focus and emotional control."
- Chronic core sleep deprivation: "Every bad night impacts memory and attention," he says. "Long-term lack of sleep, particularly deep sleep, limits the brain's lymphatic system (the brain's waste disposal system), increasing plaque formation on the brain, which is linked to Alzheimer's dementia."
- Doomscrolling: “Hours of passive scrolling overstimulate the brain, trigger the stress response and reduce dopamine sensitivity affecting memory and mood,” says Dr Khan. It's an especially bad habit to have in the evenings, as "the blue light exposure before bed impairs melatonin release, affecting deep sleep".
- Skipping meals: Skipping breakfast in particular is not a good idea. “Glucose is the brain’s primary fuel. Intermittent fasting can be helpful in some cases, but skipping meals too often can reduce concentration and trigger brain fog, especially in people with busy lives or hormonal fluctuations,” he says.
- Social isolation: “Studies show loneliness is as harmful for cognitive health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day,” says Dr Khan. He explains that socialising is protective for our brains as we age because it “boosts cognitive reserve and reduces dementia risk”.
If you have concerns about your brain health, speak to your GP.
