Keep Your Brain Healthy During Menopause With These 3 Simple Things
October 8th 2017
Menopause and Brain Fog
Many of us are familiar with those spacey, brain fog moments menopause brings, which is brought about by hormone disruption and the effect it has on the oestrogen receptors in our brain.
Recent research also suggests frequent hot flushes can result in memory lapses. Lack of sleep from night sweats also hinders our ability to function properly during the day.
The good news is, it does get better, but while you're waiting, give our 3 Top Tips a try!
1. Get Regular Aerobic Exercise.
Simply put, aerobic exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which helps your brain create new neurons and improve neural connections.
People who increased their heart rate with daily moderate exercise improved their memory performance and showed enhanced neural efficiency while engaged in memory retrieval tasks.
Try to incorporate just 30 minutes a day of moderate physical exercise—such as walking—for a significant impact on your brain health.
2. Eat for brain health.
Diet also plays an important role in brain health, and there's an impressive amount of research confirming that essential fatty acids, like omega-3s, are very beneficial. Omega-3 fatty acids also help scavenge free radicals that attach inappropriately to tissue and damage it.
Since our bodies are unable to produce these fatty acids on their own, we need to make sure that foods rich in omega-3s like salmon, shrimp, sardines, eggs, walnuts, and almonds make a regular appearance on our plates.
Fruits and vegetables, high in a type of antioxidant called flavonoid, also play a major role in brain health. Foods rich in flavonoids offer a number of neuro-protective properties and can decrease rates of cognitive decline and potentially slow the progression of many neuro-degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. Foods rich in flavonoids include tea (black, green, oolong), bananas, colourful berries, onions, apples, citrus, ginkgo biloba, parsley, red wine, and chocolate.
3. Meditate every day.
Meditation is neuro-regenerative. A study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital found that mindfulness meditation, over the short period of only eight weeks, increased the amount of grey matter in regions of the brain involved in learning and memory, regulation of one's emotions, and self-awareness.
As you transcend through menopause, you will find meditation will become your new best friend.
Practice it daily to control symptoms such as stress, anxiety, mood swings and even hot flushes, as well as those brain fog moments.
