What is brain health?
The brain is one of the most complex and important organs of the body; it controls every thought, action, and movement throughout the course of a person’s life. Even more importantly, it controls the things we don’t actively think about like breathing or digestion. Without brains, thousands of organisms would cease to exist! Since our brains play a part in every aspect of our lives, maintaining good health for risk reduction includes good brain health.
So, what does brain health mean? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines brain health as everything from brain function to recovery, development to adaptability. Good brain health is a state of well-being where someone can function no matter what life throws at them, based on their own individual abilities and experiences.
It is important to note that while mental health can play a role in overall brain health, they are not one in the same; brain health encompasses so much more and thus can be positively or negatively affected by someone’s decisions, experiences, and actions.
What factors affect brain health?
Despite the many external and controllable factors contributing to brain health, there are many which are far beyond our control. While this does not mean that only some people can make successful and positive changes to their brain health, it does mean that everyone’s path to achieving good brain health looks a little different.
It may be surprising to read that many of the factors associated with overall good health like a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, and regular physical activity are also directly linked with good brain health. These factors are all important for maintaining optimum brain functions like hormone messaging and to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses like cnacer.
Other factors that impact brain health include:
- Sleep hygiene
- Stress levels
- Smoking status
- Social isolation
- And many more!
How can I identify when my brain health is poor?
Throughout life, we all experience emotional challenges and stressful situations. They may be brought on by illness, the loss of a loved one, or financial stressors. Sometimes simple life transitions that shift us away from our comfort zones and make us questions our abilities are enough to cause extreme stress, self-doubt, and poor brain health. The golden rule to identifying compromised brain health is to kep an eye out for persistent symptoms that negatively affect your thinking, your mood or behaviour, and actively work against them. Symptoms can vary from person to person, so keeping intune with oneself is important for balanced brain health.
Some typical examples of poor brain health include:
- Poor sleep habits (too little or too much sleep)
- Mood changes
- Over and under reactive behaviour to normal situations.