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3 Tips to Protect Your Mental Vitality
The fast-paced modern lifestyle many subscribe to nowadays has lasting effects on our mental health — from broken sleep to chronic multitasking. A graduate student at the University of Arizona has ideas for protecting our brains from stress created by life’s hustle. Emily McDonald, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience who posts health advice as EmonTheBrain on TikTok, lists these three things to avoid. AVOID YOUR SMARTPHONE WHEN YOU WAKE UP. The brain is highly suggestible upon awakening, and “the content you consume … will have a greater impact on your mindset,” says McDonald, who is also a mental health coach on top of her doctoral work. Studies show that while waking up, the brain transitions from theta waves, a deeply relaxed, inward-focused state, to alpha waves, which promote alertness. Guard Your Mind, Ignite Your Life
Reaching for a smartphone to look for texts or other content often triggers a dopamine release in the brain, encouraging the user to repeat the activity. If this occurs first thing in the morning, it can disrupt your dopamine levels for the rest of the day, leading to a continuous need to check our phones. RESIST NEGATIVE SELF-TALK. Repetitive thoughts about ourselves get wired in over time, and “what gets wired in is what we manifest,” McDonald says. A 2021 study in Scientific Reports shows that brain scans of people who recite scripts expressing self-respect and self-confidence exhibit stronger connectivity in regions associated with motivation. However, it’s important to note that positive self-talk can also trigger overconfidence, leading to impulsivity and inaccurate responses on cognitive tests.
AVOID HIGHLY PROCESSED FOODS. “There is plenty of science to show that what we eat affects our brains,” McDonald says. An eight-year study of 10,775 people showed that the cognitive functioning of people who ate highly processed foods, including hot dogs, pizza, pastries, white bread, cakes, and instant noodles, declined 28% faster than that of people who ate more fresh and unprocessed foods. A diet of highly processed foods speeds the aging of the brain, which no one wants.
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