Brain Training and Exercises

Regular exercise is good for your body and health. The same benefits can also be experienced by your brain by using the same philosophy with your brain exercises. What are the essential components to an effective brain training exercise? You can find out more details below.

Improving Neurogenesis and Neuroplasticity

These are two important capacities of the brain that is targeted by the performance of brain training exercises. Each contribute to ensuring that essential parts of the brain is functioning to their maximum ability.

The process of neurogenesis is responsible for promoting the production of neurons that help keep your brain sharp at all times. Meanwhile, neuroplasticity is the processing of building connections from one neuron to another to increase your brain's ability to store information.

Overview of Brain Training Exercises

Brain training exercises consist of a combination approach to ensure that you can address individual units in the brain to improve their corresponding function. A closer look into the various components of a brain training exercise will also reveal the several benefits it promises to bring. More details each component of the exercise below.

Physical Exercises

This is the most basic pillar to any brain training exercise. Therefore, it pays to become physically active because this is the most important prerequisite to any form of training and exercise. It is no wonder why health and fitness experts always recommend regular exercise to improve your overall health.

You can also perform deep breathing for at least 10 minutes twice daily to promote blood flow to your brain. But in order to promote faster and deeper breathing, you need to stay active all the time, such as walking, running, jogging, or doing some other physical activities.

Nutrition

Another vital component to brain training exercises is proper nutrition. Just like any organ in the body, your brain needs nourishment to ensure that it functions efficiently. Obviously, you need to eliminate processed food off your diet. As for the things recommended to be part of your diet, they include fruits, vegetables, fish, and other sources of omega 3 fatty acids. If you lack intake of fish on a regular basis, then you might want to intake supplements to meet your daily requirements for proper nutrition.

Stress Management

If you want to promote neurogenesis and neuroplasticity, then you need to eliminate stress in your life. This is easier said than done, though. Too much amount of stress hormones in the body can result to the death of your brain neurons and inhibit neuroplasticity for any of the remaining neurons in your brain.

Most people commit the mistake of neglecting to attend to stress although it is something that you should give more attention to. You can start by making sure you have enough sleep each day to allow your body and brain to replenish itself. Thus, when you wake up next day, your brain is clearer and functions more efficiently.

Novel Learning Experience

There are several techniques you can adapt for this component of your brain training exercise. It can be anything as long as it caters to a whole new approach to learning, such as playing a new instrument or learning a new language. It opens up your brain to new opportunities and therefore keep it fresh and active all the time.

Get better sleep to avoid cancer

Investigators who were a part of the field of study reexamined the information on Maryland women. In 1998, these adult females answered elaborate questions concerning their activity level and typical rest habits. Cancer statistics in the group were covered over the following 9 years. During this time period, 604 fresh cancer instances were described in the group.

In adult females between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five, those who slept at any rate 7 hours per night in addition to averaging approximately an hour per day of moderate physical exercise were forty-seven percent less likely to have cancer equated to adult females who averaged out less sleep at the equal activity level.
One doctor states, "What that indicates to us is amidst younger and middle-aged adult females, both physical activeness and sleep habits may play an crucial role in reducing cancer risk." the entire cancer prevention benefit comes from being active and acquiring enough rest, not just sleeping more without physical exertion. You see getting decent sleep has been long affiliated with health.

As a matter of fact, lack of rest has been linked to severe conditions like diabetes, stroke, heart conditions and depressive disorder. The fact that sleep might help to prevent cancer in active adult females is just a different reason to make an effort to capture those extra hours when you are able to.
You may want to consider your life-style in general. Consider multiple life-style behaviors in more of a holistic view. It is rare that one unique action may forestall all disease, but when you blend a lot of healthy lifestyle habits you have a great deal better chance of preserving good health.

Physical activity, a balanced diet of natural nutrients, and proper tension management are a few of the additional factors that have a potent influence on your health. Integrate these precepts with a beneficial night's sleep and you've presented your body a fighting chance against modernistic disease.

Lycopene helps to Battle and avoid cancer

 Lycopene helps to ward off the establishment of tumors. Living cancer cells covered with carotenoids slow down the growth of tumors. They further the growth of fit cells and it's suggested that a variety be eaten, as they're most effective when carotenoids operate as a group.
As well, Carotenoids forestall the formation of plaque-forming LDL cholesterin. By forestalling the oxidation or hardening of fat, carotenoids prevent hardening of the arterial blood vessels.
Anti-oxidants in carotenoids step-up the effectiveness of the immune system in fighting back disease and infection. Tests have demonstrated that a diet high in carotene step-ups production of mononuclear cells that are key in immune system bodily function. Coming after the addition of tomatoes to the diet, subjects in fields of study of carotenoids expanded production of interleukins, a by-product of white blood corpuscles that are crucial to the immune system.
Leutien and zeaxanthin are carotenoids that are found in the macular tissue of the eyeball. Validation of their presence is a yellow spot near the middle of the retina. They separate out the sun's adverse ultraviolet rays and prevent free radicals from injuring the retina. As we get on in years, and these things begin to diminish, we must consume foods rich in these pigments to avoid macular degeneration.
As well Lycopene is the functional carotenoid in tomato and took the public eye a lot of years ago for its shown ability to avoid prostatic adenocarcinoma. It was discovered that tomato sauce cooked in oil

expanded the body's ability to absorb lycopene, which diminished the incidence of prostatic adenocarcinoma.
Although lycopene hasn't been explicitly associated with cervical cancer prevention, the American Cancer Society reports that lycopene has been ascertained by some investigators to be an antioxidant that lowers risk of men's prostate cancers. Lycopene is affiliated with enhancing the body's power to battle infection, and thus it may be useful in clearing relentless HPV infections. While many veggies are more nourishing raw or whole, lycopene is found in greater concentrations in tomato sauce and tomato juice. Laying away small cans of tomato juice at work or in the auto can help avert the need to turn to unhealthy snacks while heightening cervical cancer prevention.

Quit Smoking

The most crucial tip I may give you is a thing I like to call the "Why ". Ask yourself, "Why am I moved to give up smoking?"
Now this may be, to be fitter, to provide a better environment for kids, to breathe well, to save income, and the list goes on. If your Why isn't firm you won't stand by it. For instance, have you ever determined a goal to do something and never adhered to it? I'm sure most individuals have, I know I have.
Why is it occasionally we adhere to our goal and other times we don't? It's because of the cause behind it. If the cause to give up smoking is potent and you truly believe it, you're much more probable to become a non smoker.
Put down your Why and keep it on you where your cigarettes commonly are. An illustration could be, "I'm going to become a non smoker for ........."
Your causes are very potent! Different individuals have different causes for stopping. Consequently it's crucial to write your private reasons.
When weighing your causes, ensure they're not based on force from loved ones/co-workers or acquaintances as this makes you less likely to adhere to your reasons. You have to prefer to give up smoking yourself, not based on others beliefs. 

If you carry cigarettes you're promoted to have one just because they're there. It's crucial to discard of your cigarettes and lighter to guarantee you don't let it sway you.
Set the money you'd commonly spend on cigarettes in a jar. This is a very potent technique; many smokers don't sit down and work out how much they're really spending on cigarettes annually. When you virtually see the income saved that you'd normally have spent on cigarettes, you're more likely to remain motivated.
Once you tell individuals that you've already quit its very potent. When individuals say "I'm trying to give up smoking" it isn't as potent. When individuals state they're trying to stop that gives them the reason to state, "Well it didn't work, but I attempted!"
When man accomplishes goals, we're proud even though we don't always acknowledge it. So when you acknowledge you've quit smoking because of your Why, make certain you're proud of it - honor yourself with the jar of money you've laid aside!
You may have a smoke when you awaken, or get in the car, or have a cup of java, after a meal or when you're strained. When you awaken in the morning, substitute the smoke with a glass of water. So when the itches are there alter your behavior, anything just as long as you're distracted from a smoke.

Avoid Toxins

No Toxins
Cautiously read the list of components on all labels of your household products to make certain you're not utilizing products that contains adverse toxins
Pick your seafood with wisdom in order to limit the measure of mercury that you absorb. Restrict the amount of canned tuna fish and avoid swordfish, shark, and bluefish and rather buy wild salmon, tilapia or Pacific cod. Prevent frying food and utilize grilling, broiling or roasting cooking techniques. If possible buy organic when selecting those fruits and veggies that otherwise have the highest pesticide levels.
Set up a water filter to prevent the consumption of heavy metals. You are able to review the performance rating of a lot of top brands of water filters by Googling water filter comparisons, where there are a lot of sites to choose from.
Attempt to minimize the utilization of Teflon or any additional pan that has a non-stick coating. The Environmental Working Group discovered that this cookware more rapidly reaches temperatures that bring about toxic particles and fumes. You might want to pick stainless steel or cast iron for your cookware.

Never microwave in plastic. Utilize packaging that's labeled "microwave safe" or utilize glass or ceramic containers. Although the literature is controversial, many health advocacy groups feel that dioxin is brought out in plastic when its micro waved.
Be conservative about utilizing antibacterial soaps. They may contain pesticides that may be absorbed through the skin and aren't healthy for the environment. Utilize a simple soap with water and scrub hands for twenty seconds.
Attempt to minimize the utilization of herbicides and insecticides. The toxic components can get into our system by skin contact and inhalation.
Take off your shoes before walking into the house. Pesticides from outdoor dust, lawns and invisible toxins on the ground may be easily tracked from outdoors back into your house and persist there for long periods.
Restrict your use of bleach and utilize lemon juice alternatively for whitening. Just because a few companies are getting great "green marketing gimmicks" don't trust the advertising. Read all components on your detergent bottles. Restrict the amount of chemicals mixing with your clothes by averting the addition of any softeners into your washer or dryer.
If you get any of your clothing cleaned from pro cleaners, let these clothing items remain outside for about eight hours to keep some of the chemicals and odors from returning into your house.

Forever vacuum with a filter or even more beneficial a HEPA filter. A HEPA filter snares very small particles that other vacuums might re-circulate back into the air of your house. Since there may be multiple allergens in your house, including dust mites, vacuum and dust on a regular basis.
Pick your personal products and cosmetics that are created by companies that don't have toxic elements. You are able to look up products on the web that you either are presently using or research data on products you're considering buying for known or suspected hazards. Although a product might be listed as low hazard on a site, there's no guarantee that it's safe. You likewise need to check on the safety of the products listed in the low hazard groups.

What causes PMS?

The first thing to say about the causes of PMS is that medical science does not really understand why some women suffer physical and/or psychological symptoms each and every month whilst others do not suffer at all. Hence, it is fair to suggest that there is still a reasonable degree of mystery about the exact reasons why some women suffer and others don't.
It is however believed that a primary cause of premenstrual syndrome is the natural change in the balance of female hormones that happens every month as an integral part of the cycle of menstruation. As a result of these natural hormonal changes, there is a reduction in the level of progesterone in the body, are falling off of levels of the hormone that prepares the uterus to receive a fertilized egg.
At the same time, there is also an increase in levels of salt and water retained by the body, hence the feelings of being bloated and retaining too much water.
This does not of course explain exactly why these hormonal changes affect some individuals far more than they affect others. Whilst some experts suggest that all women suffer some symptoms of PMS, in the main these symptoms are mild or extremely mild, so this does not really take us much closer to discovering the course of PMS.
One line of current thinking about the causes suggests that it may be something to do with neurotransmitters that are created by the central nervous system reacting with changing levels of sex hormones which would otherwise be within what are regarded as normal limits by the medical profession.
In particular, it is believed that serotonin levels in the body may have some connection with the severity (or otherwise) of PMS that is suffered by an individual female, although there is no conclusive proof of this as yet.
Preliminary studies carried out in the USA some 20 years ago suggested that of women who suffered PMS most severely, perhaps as many as four in every ten showed significantly decreased levels of beta endorphins in the blood at the time of their ‘attacks’.
Beta endorphins are naturally occurring opioid neurotransmitters, which is one of the reasons why a lack of them as shown by 40% of women who suffered severe PMS has been likened by many medical professionals to withdrawal symptoms associated with ‘coming off’ opiate-based drugs like heroin.
Another possible contributory factor is family history as it is generally believed that women who are from families where more severe PMS is relatively common are more likely to be sufferers themselves. This contention is backed up by the fact that the occurrence of PMS is twice as likely to appear in identical twins than it is in fraternal twins (see previous link for substantiation).
The bottom line is, medical science has still not really established the exact reasons why some women suffer serious psychological and/or physical problems as a result of premenstrual syndrome, whereas others hardly suffer at all.
One thing that is however clear is that there are contributory factors associated with lifestyle and that these factors may increase the risk of suffering severe PMS.
These potential contributory factors include:
• Increased levels of stress and anxiety;
• Pre-existing depression;
• High caffeine intake;
• High alcohol intake;
• Tobacco usage;
• Increasing age (although for most women, PMS is likely to start for the very first time during their 20s or 30s and will probably disappear after they stop menstruating as well);
• Allergies to nuts etc;
• Dietary factors such as a lack of certain vitamins and minerals.
From this list of contributory factors, you can probably see that certain lifestyle changes could help to reduce the severity or the likelihood of PMS being a problem.
We will return to these in detail later after considering how members of the medical profession diagnose premenstrual syndrome.

Remove the Trigger and Stop Headaches Permanently

There are many of us that suffer from headaches regularly and unfortunately, many of us never realize the fact that headaches are actually triggered, they don't just come out of the blue.  There are a number of different things that may be causing headaches in you as an individual but until you are able to discover exactly what is causing the headache and why it is causing it, you will not be able to take care of the problem naturally.  Fortunately, there are a few common triggers that can be identified and if it is difficult to identify, there are some methods that you can use.

Some of the most common triggers come in the form of allergies.  These can either be food allergies, even if you are not thinking that you are having food allergies at all but they may also be coming from allergies that are in the environment around us.  In order for you to overcome these problems, you must be able to identify the allergies that are triggering the headaches.  The easiest way for you to be a do this is to keep a diary of absolutely everything that you do and eat during a day's time, along with any headaches that happen to come up.  It will not take you very long to be able to figure out what needs to be removed in order to remove the triggers that are causing the headaches.

Some of the most common food allergies that you might be having a problem with include such things as sweeteners, artificial sweeteners, caffeine and preservatives.  The unfortunate thing is, these things tend to be in the world around us regularly and it can be very difficult for you to avoid them altogether.  One thing you might want to try is switching to an all-natural diet for a few days which only consists of raw fruits and vegetables.  It may take you about a week, but you should notice your headaches disappearing altogether.

Once you are headache free, you can begin adding things back into your diet gradually and you will be able to tell whenever something needs to be kept away from altogether.  As long as you are headache free, you are fine with the diet that you are eating but as soon as headaches start occurring, it's time to step back a little bit and reevaluate what you're putting into your mouth.

Are Airborne Allergies behind Your Headaches?

We live in a world that certainly is not friendly to the human body in many different ways.  As the environment around us continues to have problems as a result of pollution and other issues that go on because of mankind's misuse of it, many of us are also becoming more susceptible to allergies from the natural things in the environment around us.  In addition to that, the majority of us also have conditions that occur as a result of these allergies in some way or another.  For some individuals, it may be rather light but for others, these allergens can actually cause severe headaches that come, one right after the other.

Although it is impossible for you to move yourself out of the environment that is around you without considerable effort, there may be some things that can be done in order to reduce the effects of these airborne allergens on your internal system.  One of the things that you can do is to make sure that you are doing a nasal rinsing on a daily basis, perhaps several times throughout the day.  Many of us suffer because we have pollen that is stuck in the sinuses, along with other debris from the environment around us.  By flushing our sinuses through nasal rinsing, we are removing those allergens and the effects that they have on the body.

Something else that is very important is for you to make sure that you're sleeping environment is as free of these headache causing allergens as possible.  Run a high quality air filter in your room throughout the day and even while you are sleeping at night.  Many people notice a difference, soon after they start doing this.  Something else that may be necessary is for you to wash your hair immediately before going to bed, giving it enough time to dry, of course.  Our hair tends to act like a pollen collector and if we go to sleep with a pollen in our hair, it will get on the pillow and we will breathe it in throughout the night.

There are a number of other things that you can do, such as making sure that you drink plenty of water and eat a healthy diet, along with getting exercise.  By reducing the amount of contact that you have with the pollen, you have a much better opportunity of overcoming your headaches altogether.

Accupuncture for Headache Relief

They say that desperate times call for desperate measures and for those of us that suffer from chronic headaches, we realize exactly how desperate the situation he can be.  One of the things that many of us want to avoid are the medications that are typically given to us in order to cover over the pain we feel.  It would be a much better thing if we were able to get to the source of the pain and cure it naturally from there.  Instead of looking to modern-day advances to help us with the situation, it may be of assistance if we look far back into the past to a method that was used thousands of years ago.

What I am talking about is acupuncture, a part of ancient Chinese medicine that was developed in order to help the body to be able to heal itself through its own energy.  According to their studies, there was an energy that flowed through everything that existed, including the human body.  Whenever this energy had a free flow, everything was balanced and there were generally no problems that needed to be addressed.  It was only after the energy was blocked or rerouted in some way or another that problems occured.  Many times, this lack of energy in the body is behind the headaches that you are experiencing in some way or another.

What acupuncture does is to reroute the energy that is blocked and to allow it to flow freely to the parts of the body that may be lacking in it.  It helps to restore a balance to the body, not so that he can get rid of something specific but so that the body has the opportunity to use its own healing powers to take care of the problem at its source.  Many individuals have used acupuncture in recent years in order to overcome a number of different problems, including headaches and other pain.

More than likely, there is an acupuncturist in your area who can help you with this situation.  Make an appointment to speak with them and they will be able to tell where the energy is lacking and what needs to be done in order to provide you with the free flow of energy that you need in order to heal yourself.  Although it is thousands of years old in its origin, it is still something that has practical use today for those that suffer from headaches.