Your brain is your ultimate Weapon. It’s the only weapon that you have with you for all kinds of situation you may find yourself in. So, it’s only natural to have the desire to sharpen it and make it as powerful as possible. As our brain is the only tool that we have available 24/7 to deal with life’s challenges, empowering the brain through various activities sounds like a good idea.
Let’s say you want to improve upon the current condition of your brain. How do you approach it? To answer that question, first let’s talk a little about the brain itself.
Necessary Information about the Brain
The brain is a relatively tiny part of the body. It only weighs like 3 pounds, but it uses 20% of our total energy consumption.
Therefore, our body is very cautious about making it as efficient as possible. As a Child we are born with many different faculties of the brain, but they wither away as we become adults because, to increase efficiency our brain shuts down or limits resources to the parts of it that we don’t use as often.
Another thing we need to know about the brain is that it’s made solely with fats. And its preferred source of fuel is from ketones.
Okay, now that we have learned a little bit about the brain itself, let us discuss about how to improve its day-to-day functionalities, i.e. focus and cognition.
Foods for a Healthier Brain
Let’s first talk about the foods you need to intake to grow your brain. The old convention was that you are born with a set number of neurons and that you cannot generate any more. But this idea has been debunked and now we know that new neurons grow all the time. Your diet can influence it. The diets that support a healthy brain the most consist mostly of fats; as the brain itself is made from fats. You may want to eat salmon fish oil and nuts and fish rows. Also, a balanced diet where you get all kinds of nutrition is helpful.
The Importance of Sleep
Now let’s talk about the rituals that will boost your brain. These are habits that will enhance your brain’s performance. The first thing you want to ensure is good sleep. Make sure you have a good amount of uninterrupted sleep every day. If you couldn’t sleep one night, then don’t sleep for Two or three hours in the morning. Rather skip sleep completely for that day and get an uninterrupted longer sleep later. Because, when you interrupt your sleep midway, it’s harsh for the brain and the brain thrives when you let it complete its sleep uninterrupted.
How Exercise Boosts Brain Power
The next ritual you may want to incorporate in your daily life is to exercise. Exercise feeds your neurons, helps to grow novel synapses and makes them stronger. Working out will also make you more focused and energetic. Your ability to concentrate and your willpower will also increase. So, it’s a good idea to start your day with a workout regimen.
The Power of Meditation
The next daily ritual you may want to incorporate in your everyday life is to meditate. Meditation detaches you from your monkey brain and lets you see it as is.When you focus in the present moment, it releases unnecessary burden from your brain and lets you think more clearly and see things more clearly.
Tips and Tricks to Enhance your Brain
Okay, now there are some tips and tricks that you can use to help your brain retain all its potential faculties that usually wither away as we don’t use them. One way to do that is to use your left hand as often as you can. Another way to do that would be to learn dancing. And the best and the most holistic way to do that is to think about difficult stuff and take new challenges.
How Ketosis helps your Brain
The last thing I want to introduce is the importance of ketones. We can take our fuel from food in two ways: from glucose with the help of the insulin that our body produces, or from fats through ketosis. Our brain’s preferred mode of getting its fuel is through ketones. And that’s why it’s a good idea to introduce intermittent fasting or ketogenic diets in your life. People with intermittent fasting have reported to have higher focus and concentration and overall better mood.
So, there you go. I hope these are some helpful pointers for you to start building a healthier brain and nurture it properly.
(I must acknowledge the hard work of Dr. Rahul Jandial, What I’ve learned, Barbara Oakley, Impact Theory and Sam Harris. I wouldn’t have the slightest clue about all this if I hadn’t been following them.)
RaihanRiad 