How To Upgrade Your Brain!

It’s never too late to improve your mental capacity – here’s how you can!

- Sarah Marinos

Our brain is like a muscle – the more we stretch and use it, the stronger it becomes and the better it performs. “Our brain has the ability to change – we can always upgrade it,” says Dr Jenny Brockis, a medical practitioner and author of Future Brain. “When you service the engine of a car it drives so much better, and your brain is exactly the same.”

Here, Dr Brockis reveals some simple ways we can boost our brain efficiency to tackle our daily tasks.

FAT IS ACTUALLY GOOD FOR YOU

The brain is 60 per cent fat and needs healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids to keep its cell membranes flexible.

Studies show that a lack of omega-3s means poorer memory and problem solving skills. Eating poor quality fats, such as those in cakes and biscuits, causes cells to have a stiffer membrane, reducing their function.

Do this

Eat omega-3s in salmon, sardines and olive oil. Other good sources are flaxseeds, walnuts and avocados.

WORKING OUT MAKES BRAIN FERTILISER

Exercise raises your heart rate and increases blood flow to the brain, which provides it with oxygen and nutrients. Exercise also helps release brain-derived neurotrophic factor-brain ‘fertiliser’, stimulating the production of new cells.