(CNN) — As the year winds down, people are focused on 2024 and the changes it will bring. Those who are more enterprising may consider making changes in the form of determination and intention.
But for those who are indecisive, it may be difficult to come up with them. With so many options, where do you start and what growth areas do you focus on?
Let’s think about it here. Let’s start with what excites you: your brain. It informs how we act, how we feel, and how we process all the information around us. And what happens in your brain also affects your body.
8th season of the podcast Follow life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta The brain has focused on some of its myriad states. organized brain, menopausal brain And that depressed brain.
Here are five brain tips from our podcast guests to help everyone stay sharp and focused in 2024.
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Getting enough rest is essential not only for your overall health, but also for your brain health. But what is enough?
“What we always tell people is that on average they want to sleep seven to nine hours a night,” says University Professor Victoria Garfield, a senior research fellow in the Medical Research Council Lifelong Health and Aging Unit. College London spoke to CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. “Now half the battle is won.”
Garfield said it’s okay if you don’t get seven to eight hours of rest, as long as you’re getting close to that amount and quality sleep. “It helps feed your brain.”
Short naps during the day can also lead to brain activation.one of garfield research People who nap regularly have been shown to have larger brain volumes on average than those who don’t.
“We think this is very important because a decrease in total brain volume is associated with certain diseases, increased mortality, and increased stress levels,” she said.
Two other tips from Garfield: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. And unplug your brain. Even if you’re not asleep, find another way to do something without thinking, like going for a walk, gardening, or chatting with friends.
Your brain needs food to function well, and it’s important to consider the source of that fuel.
“If you really want to optimize your brain, replace the foods you like with healthier options,” says Dr. Uma Naidoo, a nutritional psychiatrist and director of the Division of Nutrition and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Let’s do that.” About the faculty at Harvard Medical School.
Naidoo, a professional chef and author, uses food and medicine to improve the mental health of his patients. “We’re not at the point where we can say, ‘Eat this many blueberries to feel better,'” she says. But scientific evidence that certain foods can boost mood is “certainly emerging and growing,” she said.
“Be sure to eat plenty of green and yellow vegetables, 3 to 5 cups a day,” she said. “Folate, such as arugula and spinach, contains folic acid. Low levels of folic acid are associated with low mood.”
There are many other foods that can lift your mood. One of Naidoo’s favorites is dark chocolate.
“What we know from fairly large population-based (studies) is that consuming extra dark natural chocolate improves depression by 70%. With over 12,000 participants,” she said. “It wasn’t a candy bar. It was extra dark natural chocolate with serotonin, magnesium and dietary fiber.”
Naidoo also recommends fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as salmon, mackerel, anchovies and sardines, as well as fermented foods such as yogurt, nuts such as almonds, and seeds such as flax and chia.
Even if it doesn’t contain caffeine, it does contain caffeine. ,, It’s the most widely used psychotropic drug in the world, and it’s no wonder it has so many benefits. But as with all things, moderation is key. High doses can also have drawbacks.
“Caffeine, or more precisely, caffeinated beverages such as coffee and tea, has many very positive health effects.” science writer and author Michael Pollan. “They help with cardiovascular disease. They correlate with lower rates of Parkinson’s disease.”
Caffeinated drinks improve your mood, help you wake up, and keep you focused.
“There’s something transparent about caffeine consciousness. Things don’t seem…distorted in any way, but they certainly are. And the way to know that is by cutting out caffeine for a period of time. ” said Pollan, who did just that for three months (and documented his experience) Books I listened to recently, “Caffeine: How Coffee and Tea Created the Modern World”). He said cutting back on caffeine helped him understand his relationship with it.
But caffeine also blocks the chemical adenosine from building up during the day, which can cause sleep problems for some people. Therefore, Pollan says that using caffeine to stay alert is “To borrow money for the future.”
“My biggest advice is to be careful,” Pollan said. “When do you quit? When is the last time you drink coffee or tea during the day? What does it have to do with your sleep? Just make that connection.” In places like the Middle East and Ukraine It’s no secret that these are stressful times in the United States, with wars brewing and political conflicts smoldering. There’s also the opioid crisis, climate change, gun violence, and, of course, the lingering effects of the pandemic.
Just unplugging and breathing will reduce stress
All these stressful events are unfolding in real time through 24-hour news cycles and social media feeds, making it difficult to stay informed and not get caught up in the vortex of negativity. Masu.
“I’m concerned that, at least in the world we live in now, we’re not prioritizing mental health over, say, access to these things,” said Dr. said one Dr. Gail Saltz. York Presbyterian Hospital and Weill his Cornell Medical College, and host of the podcast “Would you like help?”
Saltz’s advice can be applied to any category of upsetting news.
“What many people can do is really think about how they’re consuming news right now,” she says. “I’m not saying, ‘You can crawl under a rock and have no idea what’s going on.’ I’m not advocating that, but maybe you can do it without any warning. We recommend that you don’t scroll through social media, where you’re constantly being bombarded with images that are really upsetting.”
Saltz recommends pacing yourself and taking deep breaths to relax your body and activate the parasympathetic (rest and digest) response, which is the counterpart of the sympathetic (fight or flight) response.
To do this, put your hands on your chest and breathe in through your nose for a count of five (to make sure your chest is rising, not your abdomen), Saltz said. “Then slowly exhale through your mouth to a count of seven. Exhale a little longer than you inhale,” she said. “The reason is that we know that taking a longer, extra breath slows your heart rate just a little bit, which…helps reduce anxiety.”
Five to 10 minutes of this type of breathing can help you feel more relaxed, both physiologically and psychologically, Saltz says.
Forgiving someone, whether it’s a friend, a stranger, or even yourself, can have a variety of physical and mental benefits, including reduced anxiety and depression, lower blood pressure, and improved sleep quality. But doing so isn’t always easy.
“Forgiveness is fundamentally a moral virtue. It is a compassionate response to those who have not been good to us. “Without making excuses for people, without forgetting so it doesn’t happen again, without necessarily having to make peace with them,” says Dr. McConlogue, a pioneer in the science of forgiveness and a professor of educational psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Robert Enright said.
But forgiveness is a habit, and it often takes time, said Enright, co-founder of the nonprofit. International Forgiveness Instituteprovides a roadmap for beginning the process of forgiveness.
“I often recommend not starting with the big problems,” he says. “Start small and learn the path of forgiveness, and you will grow in it. Then you will go to great things.”
Enright said if you’re feeling stuck or struggling with a situation, it may be appropriate to consider forgiveness.
“What is your path to healing? And if you have been tried and tried and there has been no healing, gently offer the possibility of forgiveness,” he said. “But it’s always the forgiving party’s choice.”
I hope you take these five lessons from Season 8. Chasing Life Podcast It will help you stay relaxed while keeping your brain sharp in the new year.Listen to the full episode here. Join us as we explore the topic of weight in January’s Chasing Life.