Healthy Minds, Healthy Life El Paso

A Healthy Mind

Our brain is one of our most important organs that controls everything that we do. From learning how to walk at our earlier stages, learning new motor skills, to remembering nostalgic events in our lives. However, when tragedy strikes, our brain is the first one to get impacted.

The brain has many functions in the past that were structured, fixed, and therefore, hard-wired. That changed in the 1970s when neuroscientists discovered that the brain was the opposite of what they originally thought. It turns out that the brain is continuously changing and gathering information for many life events called neuroplasticity.

Our brain’s neuroplasticity has helped us re-learned simple motor skills by training our bodies to do these functions through rehabilitation from any brain injuries that anyone has been through. However, for some people, when they are recovering from any tragic events can encounter many mental struggles and have a hard time to bounce back. The most common mental struggles are apparently stress.

Stress

Stress is common to our daily lives and can affect our mental and brain health and can be classified into two categories.

Good Stress: Increases energy, strengthens the immune system, immune to other stressful situations.

Bad Stress: High blood pressure, mental health problems, weaker immune system.

These two categories can make our brain go into overdrive, however, once you find out what stresses you out; you can actually find many ways to de-stress and relax. Some examples are taking up a hobby to make your brain learn a new technique, while others are either exercising or talking to someone.

When you’re exercise, not only your whole body feels good, but also you can let out whatever is frustrating you when you put the work in. And when you are done exercising for thirty minutes to an hour, you will feel a whole lot better with a clear head. When you’re talking to someone, it feels pretty good to have somebody there to listen to your problems and sometimes they will give you some advice and maybe something to drink so you can feel relaxed a bit and let your worries slip away.

Other times when you want to keep your brain healthy is to eat some really good food. Some of the food we eat have been known to keep our brain’s motor skill running and making your body feel good. Omega-3s, antioxidants, L-theanine supplements are consumed to calm down the neurotransmitters that are in our brain.

Neurotransmitters

This leads to our neurotransmitters, GABA and Glutamate, to be monitored by MRS (magnetic resonance spectroscopy). When these two neurotransmitters are being monitored, doctors have found out that the patient’s glutamate is in overdrive and that they need to increase the patient’s GABA in order to lower the excitotoxicity and protecting the brain’s grey matter or else the brain will get destroyed.

Some of the best ways to ease an anxious mind are to figure out what is causing our brains to be extremely anxious in any situations that are thrown to us. Our brain is like the CPU of a computer that we programmed and managed so we can have these thoughts, passion, and desires that are wired into our minds. The brain is an intricated network of neurons and receptors that co-exist to various internal and external stimulations.

So, if we were to find the “virus” that is causing our brains to be overwork and anxious, we can change our mind to make it mellow out and tell ourselves that we are fine. Our brain has six brainwaves that are well known and here is a very quick outline of what each wave does.

• Infra-low: The “reset” wavelength helps our brain slow down and reset our thought process.
• Delta: These waves help us go into a deep meditative state.
• Theta: These waves benefit our memories, intuition and learning process.
• Alpha: These waves make us feel calm and be at a resting state.
• Beta: These waves are split into three sections and each section deals with our waking state: Idling, calculated thoughts and learning new experiences.
• Gamma: These waves make us have a quiet, calm healthy mind when we need peace and quiet.

The first five brain waves are key for us to have a calm, collected healthy mind when we have to go to sleep. We all know that having 8 hours of sleep is essential for us to have a healthy mind. When we don’t get enough sleep, we feel grouchy or even more tired when we have to get up to go to school or work. So, we have a bit of caffeine to lift our spirits up, and of course, go through the day. Even if we have some time to spare a quick nap for about thirty minutes seems to help our brain process what we learned and then feel refreshed after that nap.

Proper Sleep = Healthy Mind

Like the last paragraph stated, when we don’t get enough sleep, we feel more tired when we have to get up and start our day. However, let’s say someone is very anxious or has depression can suffer from hypersomnia. When a person suffers from hypersomnia, it takes that person’s willpower to actually get up and go out of their bedroom.

What they think is that “I don’t feel well” but; it is actually their brain producing so much glutamate and have less GABA that may be a factor to these triggers. But when we find supplements that can help our brain rewired itself naturally with these supplements that we find in food. As Hippocrates stated, “Let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food.”

All in all, our brain is one of the most valuable organs that we must take care of. Whether it be taking up a new hobby, going to eat some good food to fuel our brain cells and protect it at the same time, or even finding a quiet place to meditate. We have to have to make sure our brain’s neurochemistry is doing okay and that it is healthy enough to experience new things that we encounter throughout our lives.

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NCBI Resources

The relationship between the body and the mind is still far from being fully understood. However, there is no denying the significant connection between our physical health and our mental health. When your body is healthier, your mood is more level and positive. Just like keeping a food diary can help you identify a food allergy, keeping an anxiety diary can help you see what things in your life are triggering your anxiety. Triggers for anxiety can include a wide range of things, not all of them related to human interactions. All for a healthy mind!

Cites

Neuroplasticity: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity

12 best brain foods: Memory, concentration, and brain health: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324044.php

5 Surprising Ways That Stress Affects Your Brain: www.verywellmind.com/surprising-ways-that-stress-affects-your-brain-2795040

Hypersomnia: Causes, Symptoms, and More: www.healthline.com/health/hypersomnia