Mind: keep learning

Fuel Your Brain for Success – Eat Well

How we think and feel depends on our brain function and, like our body, our brain functions well or poorly depending on the fuel it receives – the food we eat.

Do you ever get food cravings when you feel stressed or under pressure? Find yourself reaching for chocolate or chips? Eating these foods can make you feel better in the moment but its only temporary, that immediate sugar rush is usually followed by a low and lack of energy.

So give you mind a helping hand and boost your brain health with plenty of fruit veg, nuts, seeds, oily fish, change from ‘white’ refined food to ‘brown whole foods, and don’t forget to drink plenty of water to hydrate your body and mind.

You can find more information about the best foods for your mental health in the learn more section at the end of this module.

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep gives your brain important ‘down time’ to process and store the information it receives during the day. Not getting enough sleep affects your mood and ability to concentrate, and can also lead to anxiety and depression. So aim for seven to eight hours of sleep each night. This isn’t always easy, especially if you have young children, but even a small change like shifting your bedtime forward by an hour could make a big difference to your energy levels.

Want to know more about how to get a great night’s sleep? Check out the ‘Want to learn more?’ section at the end of this module.

Give Your Mind a Workout

Just like our body needs a workout, our brain needs a workout too – otherwise it gets flabby.   Keeping our brain active not only helps keeps it fit and healthy but it can also reduce the risk of developing dementia. So it’s important that we keep it active and challenged. The Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has spent his life studying this. He came to the conclusion that…

“the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times — although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.”

Csikszentmihalyi calls these moments ‘Flow’.

Find out more about flow in the next section.