Content updated from previous publish date.
What determines your overall health in life—how you look and feel and even how long you live? Basically, it all boils down to one thing—the quality of your decisions. The choices you make may be helping you achieve your weight and fitness goals, keeping you healthy, and making you look and feel younger than you are. Or your decisions can be preventing you from getting to your goal weight, contributing to illness, and making you look older than your biological age. To live a healthier life, you need to make better decisions and that depends on the health of your brain. The following 8 brain-based tips will help you do it.
8 BRAIN-BASED TIPS TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS
1. Learn to love your brain.
When your brain is troubled, you are much more likely to act in
impulsive, careless ways that put you at risk for illness and early death. When your brain works right, you are more likely to act in thoughtful, conscientious ways that help you live longer. People with a healthy brain tend to take measured risks, not dangerous or hazardous ones that jeopardize your health. When you love your brain and care for it, better behavior will follow.
2. Upgrade your brainpower.
Nothing is more important to your health than the quality of the
decisions you makein your life. And the quality of your decisions is a direct reflection of the physical health of your brain. Taking time to look at and upgrade your brain health may be the most important decision you make to live strong and long. When it comes to the brain, seeing is believing. Brain
SPECT imaging is a technology that measures blood flow and activity in the brain and can help identify areas of the brain that could benefit from optimization.
3. Boost your prefrontal cortex.
Decreased activity in the
prefrontal cortexhas been associated with lack of forethought and poor judgment. When this important brain region doesn’t get enough blood flow, you don’t have good working brakes on your impulses. Low activity in the PFC is commonly seen on SPECT scans in people with
ADD/ADHD. Increasing activity in this area with brain-healthy habits, along with supplements, such as green tea and rhodiola, can help a person make better decisions, leading to a longer and happier life.
4. Check for any head injuries.
Mild traumatic brain injuries—even minor
concussions or repetitive sub-concussive blows to the head (think heading soccer balls, boxing, or playing tackle football)—can damage the brain and affect your emotions and behaviors years later. People often forget head injuries from the past and don’t connect them with mental health or cognitive issues they’re experiencing. Recognizing and rehabilitating these injuries will dramatically increase the quality of all your decisions.
5. Protect your brain’s pleasure centers.
Did you know you can wear out the brain’s pleasure centers by overexposure to addictive substances, such as alcohol, drugs, caffeine, and sugar? This can also occur due to engaging too often in highly stimulating activities, such as videogames, social media scrolling, sexting, internet pornography, and scary movies? Too much stimulation can increase the risk for
addictions to alcohol, drugs, nicotine, food, or sex. Take inventory of the adrenaline-producing activities in your life. Try to eliminate unhealthy ones or at least take breaks from activities that are becoming compulsive.
6. Avoid a “don’t worry, be happy” attitude.
An overly optimistic, worry-free attitude can lead people to underestimate risks and approach them in careless fashion, increasing the risk of injuries and illnesses and decreasing longevity. Some optimism is beneficial but be sure to balance this trait with a healthy level of anxiety and careful thinking.
7. Strengthen your social bonds.
Research shows that strong social ties enhance physical health, mental wellness, resilience, and sleep—all of which improve brain function. Make time to connect with the important people in your life. To stay in touch with friends, schedule a lunch, take a walk in nature, play a game, or take a class together.
8. Optimize your blood flow.
Healthy
blood flow to the brain is critical for cognitive function, emotional health, and good decision-making. To make better decisions, make sure to boost blood flow to your brain. To improve blood flow, maintain balanced blood sugar levels by eating small meals that include protein, exercise daily to get your heart pumping, and reduce or eliminate alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine.
Read the next set of tips here:
Making Brain-Healthy Decisions Part 2.
ADD/ADHD, addictions, and other mental health issues can’t wait. At Amen Clinics, we’re here for you. We offer in-clinic brain scanning and appointments, as well as mental telehealth, clinical evaluations, and therapy for adults, teens, children, and couples. Find out more by speaking to a specialist today at 888-288-9834 or visit our contact page here. 
