World Mental Health Day 2018: Three Power Drugs That Affect Your Mental And Brain Health: You Must Know These

Mental health has a great impact on your life. It affects your thinking capabilities, your decision-making power, the relationships you have, as well as how you deal with the stress and anxiety in life. Simple lifestyle changes tend to significantly affect your quality of life, especially for those dealing with mental health issues such as anxiety or depression. They also reduce the risk of developing risk factors that can cause hypertension, diabetes or heart disease which are common in people struggling with mental illness. What if we tell you a method of enhancing your brain's health and function would you make that system a part of your daily health regime? 

Health coach Luke Coutinho in his recent Instagram post suggested three power drugs that will affect your mental and brain health.

Let us look at the lifestyle changes that will affect your mental and brain health: 

1. Adequate sleep: Lack of adequate sleep can induce the symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. You should ensure that you follow a regular sleep routine. Ensure that you are going to sleep and waking up at consistent times. Also, avoid eating heavy meals before going to bed, and indulge yourself in regular physical exercise. You can also try avoiding activities that prevent you from sleeping, such as late night movie binges, social gatherings and many more.

2. Healthy fats: It has been proven in numerous studies that what we eat has a huge impact on how we feel. The food we eat affects our concentration, memory, alertness and mood. This is because different foods contain various nutrients that affect what hormones our bodies produce, as well as how they are released and synthesized into our systems. Good nutrition can also prevent, or at least slow down, the reduction of cognitive function associated with conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia. The brain has the largest level of fat in the body, so we should include unsaturated fat in our daily diet. This includes foods like healthy nuts and seeds, vegetable-based oils, whole grains, vitamin D, soya, fruits and vegetables, eggs and avocado.

3. Meditation: Meditation should be practiced by one and all especially by people dealing with  anxiety, pain, stress, depression, emotional problems and insomnia. Meditation is also the ultimate brain workout and one should practice it everyday. The key to meditation is practice and more practice. You should set a daily time for meditation and stick to it. Your brain will definitely benefit from the deep relaxation and stress reduction.​

Also read: Health Coach Luke Coutinho Suggests Some Ways By Which You Can Sail Through Menopause

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.