I’m back with our Brain Awareness series part 2 🤓.
Today, let’s talk about the crucial roles movement and nutrition play in keeping your brain strong. These are two of the most fundamental habits you can build to keep your brain and body healthy for a lifetime.
🚶🏻♀️➡️🏃🏻♀️➡️💃🏾🏋🏻♀️ Movement
Movement is one of the most powerful lifestyle interventions for preventing cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, cutting dementia risk by 30-40%! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Exercise grows new brain cells, especially in the hippocampus (memory center), and strengthens neural connections throughout the brain. It also increases BDNF 🤓 (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) – a protein often called “Miracle-Gro for the brain” that protects and repairs brain cells.
Even a single workout improves focus, attention, and decision-making for 2+ hours afterward by increasing blood flow to the prefrontal cortex. This increased blood flow also means more oxygen and nutrients reaching brain tissue, plus the growth of new blood vessels.
Want to improve your mood and lower stress? Exercise reduces cortisol (stress hormone) while increasing feel-good chemicals like endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. Last but not least, regular movement improves both sleep duration and depth. Remember, sleep is your superpower.
The best part is, it doesn’t take much. Just 30 minutes 2-4 times a week has been shown to significantly move the needle.
Homework:
- Get some movement in this week. Remember – you can squeeze movement in throughout the day.
- I challenge you to get out with a friend for a walk or a workout class this week. You’ll get 2x the benefit because you’ll be spending time with a friend
🍣🫐🥬🥑 Brain-Fueling Nutrition
Did you know that your brain uses around 20% of your daily calories (even more when you’re growing)? Your brain uses more calories than any other organ in your body, so what you eat has a direct and profound impact on your brain health. The goal? Feed your brain the fats, antioxidants, and nutrients it craves while avoiding the foods that create inflammation and brain fog.
You know what I’m going to say, right? Eat more whole foods, specifically omega-3 rich foods, plants and healthy fats, and less processed food and alcohol. But let’s dig into some specific brainy reasons:
The Omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fatty fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds literally build brain cell membranes and fight inflammation. The antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals found in fruits and veggies protect brain cells, enhance cognitive function, and potentially slow down cognitive decline. And the healthy fats found in avocados, olive oil, nuts, and seeds support brain structure and hormone production. Hormones…see the connections?
On the other end of the spectrum…most people realize too much salt, sugar and unhealthy fats are linked to chronic lifestyle diseases, but here’s the brain connection: high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes affect blood flow, raising the risk of vascular dementia. And too much alcohol? It literally shrinks your brain tissue and impairs memory formation.
Homework:
- This week, add ONE brain-healthy food to each meal – berries in your yogurt, walnuts on your salad, salmon for dinner.
- Go through your pantry and toss out some highly processed foods. If it’s not in your house, your odds of not eating it exponentially improve.
That’s it for today 🙂 Next time we’ll dig deep into your gut health might be the missing piece in your brain health puzzle. In the meantime, let me know what questions you have. I’m here for you!
Love,
Tracey
P.S. I realized I didn’t include a few important links in my last post.
- Sleep is your superpower https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MuIMqhT8DM&t=1s
- Menopause resources on the blog: https://traceypontarelli.com/menopauseresources/
