It’s 8:30 in the morning and you are running to your first class. Your head is in a sleepless fog, your limbs are heavy from a hard night of studying, and you feel like arthritis is gripping your joints despite supposedly being in the ‘prime of your youth.’ Yes, university is a trying adventure, where leading a healthy lifestyle is always scheduled to start tomorrow. Despite pending papers and imminent exams, a healthy paradigm must be adopted in order to perform your best in class. Once you see the benefits of these few simple tricks, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them!
If you let your body succumb to fast foods and inactivity, you will know in a matter of months what it feels like to be fifty. The first step in preventing this is to find a healthy-living mantra. My go-to is mens sana in corpore sano, translated from the Latin as: “a sound mind in a sound body.”
When you are stressed, stress hormones, or glucocorticoids, surge through your veins, inducing the sensational cravings for sugary and fatty foods. Indeed, indulging in such cravings will seem like the best way to release your body from the misery of stress, since these foods very effectively induce dopamine— the ‘happy hormone.’ As you can imagine, this is probably the worst way to give your brain a boost, as every downhill ride leads to an uphill climb. Below are some simple tips to incorporate brain-empowering substances into your daily regime that will refresh your mind:
Eat regularly. Avoid blood suger-induced mood swings by feeding your body at least three times a day, accompanied by nutritional snacks like nuts, seeds, multi-grain crackers or fruits. Food is fuel, and without fuel your brain is sure to stall.
Start taking a multivitamin. Young people generally do not feel the effects of vitamin and mineral deficiencies, but, you might be surprised at how invigorating a simple multivitamin can be.
Get your Omega-3s. You may have heard of the benefits of Omega-3 for brain health, supported by ample evidence. For the science majors, Omega-3 builds the myelin sheath —the nerves’ insulation and protection. A great source of Omega-3 is salmon, either of the fresh or canned variety. This—source is both affordable and easysimply flake the salmon onto your salad, or pair it with toast for a brain-boosting breakfast. Other sources rich in Omega-3 include walnuts, pecans, pumpkin, and flax.
You can never have too much vitamin B. Especially for the vegetarians out there, vitamin B deficiency is a silent killer if not taken in sufficient amounts from sources other than meat products. Fatigue, hair-loss, and brain-fog are all common symptoms of deficiency in this key vitamin. As well, the absorption of many nutrients depends on vitamin B12, worsening your nutritional deficit.
Eat flavonoids. Strawberries, elderberries, and blueberries are rich in these anti-oxidants, which add a further boost to your brain’s cellular function. Flavonoids also give a boost to your mitochondria, powering your cells from the inside out.
Dopamine is your best friend. This ‘feel-good’ hormone will elevate your mood, reinstate your enthusiasm, and activate all levels of pleasure. Phenylalanine is an important precursor found in soy products, beets, almonds, eggs, and whole-grains. On the side, chocolate is a good sustainable mood booster. The anandamide in chocolate is a fatty component that mimics the active ingredient in marijuana, whose mood-modulating effects are well documented.
Get active. It takes effort and perserverance to do so, but you can always start small. A 20 minute power-walk before class, dancing wildly with your roommates, or doing a few laps up and down the stairs is enough to reap some of the benefits of proper movement.
Blood circulation. If you are a student, chances are you are sitting for a good portion of the day. Blood pools in your legs and pockets of unoxygenated, dead blood pools form in the most unlikely places. Getting your heart-rate up eliminates these pools and invigorates your senses, as well as your brain!
More dopamine. Yes, this “happy-hormone” is powerfully induced by even light exercise. Post-work out, you are sure to come out smiling! The “happiness effect” is increased by the release of endorphins that block the pain transmission centres in the brain, leading you to a sense of euphoria.
Brain development. It has been proven that exercise increases memory, dulls physical and mental pain, and even leads to the generation of new neurons. Yes, exercise leads to the increased influx of calcium and consequent activation of BDNF, a transcription factor increasing neurogenesis. Furthermore, exercise reinforces nerve connections, maximizing the memory formation from those hours of studying.
Start your new healthy life style today. Get up, get out, and walk over to your nearest grocery store for some brain-boosting meals!
