9 minute read
2. Healthy Body, Happy Mind
Section 2
Healthy Body, Happy Mind
Mahatma Gandhi
It is essential that you have a healthy body and a happy mind if you are to learn effectively. Without these fundamentals in place, the rest can’t really work. In this section, you will get quick tips on how to:
• Feed Your Brain • Manage Stress and Anxiety • Find the Joy in Reading • Sleep, Glorious Sleep! • Manage Your Mobile
Feed Your Brain
It’s important to eat a healthy, balanced diet to feel happy and be healthy; after all, these are two fundamentals to learning well. To have a healthy, balanced diet, you should try to avoid piling your plate high with plain pasta at Norwood, but take a more sensible approach, ensuring you include the following on your plate in any given day:
• Potatoes, bread, rice or pasta.
• Five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables.
• Dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soya drinks).
• Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other protein.
• Unsaturated oils and spreads.
• Six to eight glasses of water a day.
Brain food
The most important strategy for feeding the brain is to follow a healthy dietary pattern that includes a lot of fruits, vegetables, pulses and whole grains. Try to get protein from plant sources and fish, and choose healthy fats, such as olive oil. The table below contains information about the sorts of food research has shown to have a positive impact on the brain.
Foods to avoid
• Research has shown that people who regularly consume lots of added sugar may have poorer memories and lower brain volumes than those who consume less sugar.
• Like added sugar, refined carbohydrates lead to a spike in blood sugar levels, which can damage your brain over time. Diets high in refined carbs have been associated with cognitive decline and reduced brain function.
Brain food
Green, leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and broccoli Fatty fish Reasons
Rich in brain-healthy nutrients like vitamin K, lutein, folate and beta carotene.
Sources of omega-3 fatty acids have been linked to brain functioning.
Berries
Nuts Flavonoids, the natural plant pigments that give berries their brilliant hues, also help improve memory.
Walnuts have been known to improve cognitive test scores because they are high in a type of omega-3 fatty acid called alpha-linolenic acid (ALA).
Tumeric and curcumin Linked to strengthening memory and helping new brain cells grow.
Pumpkin seeds Rich in many micronutrients that are important for brain functioning, including copper, iron, magnesium and zinc.
Dark chocolate and cocoa powder
Oranges
Eggs
Green tea They are packed with a few brain-boosting compounds including flavonoids and antioxidants. The flavonoids in chocolate gather in the areas of the brain that deal with learning and memory.
High in vitamin C, oranges can help defend your brain against damage from free radicals. According to one study, having higher levels of vitamin C in the blood is associated with improvements in tasks involving focus, memory, attention and decision speed. You can also get high amounts of vitamin C from other foods like bell peppers, guava, kiwi, tomatoes and strawberries.
Good source of several nutrients tied to brain health, including vitamins B6 and B12, folate and choline. Choline is an important micronutrient that the body uses to create acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood and memory and has been linked to improving both. Its antioxidants protect the brain.
Manage Stress and Anxiety
Both stress and anxiety involve mostly identical symptoms, including: trouble sleeping, digestive issues, headaches, increased heart rate, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, irritability or anger, increased sweating, feelings of being overwhelmed, restlessness and changes in appetite, a feeling of impending doom, tingling or numbness and brain fog.
Here are some general tips to avoid and manage stress and anxiety.
Take time out Practice yoga, listen to music, read, meditate or learn relaxation techniques.
Get enough sleep When stressed, your body needs additional sleep and rest.
Exercise daily to help you feel good and maintain your health
Breathe
Do your best 20 minutes of any kind of exercise will work.
Take deep breaths. Inhale and exhale slowly. Count to 10 slowly. Repeat, and count to 20 if necessary.
Instead of aiming for perfection, which isn’t possible, be proud of however close you get.
Welcome humour A good laugh goes a long way.
Maintain a positive attitude Make an effort to replace negative thoughts with positive ones.
Learn what triggers your stress and anxiety Is it work, family, wider school commitments, or something else you can identify? Write in a journal when you’re feeling stressed or anxious, and look for a pattern.
Talk to someone Tell a responsible adult, trusted friend or family member about how you are feeling. No concern is ever too small to speak up.
Find the Joy in Reading
Read for just 15 minutes before bedtime and experience the benefits.
Reading for pleasure:
• Increases a person’s understanding of their own identity
• Improves empathy and gives them an insight into the world view of others
• Improves relationships
• Reduces symptoms of depression
• Improves wellbeing throughout life
(The Reading Agency, 2015)
Reading before bed is good for you because it:
• Reduces stress by taking your mind off your current situation and puts you in the right headspace for a good night’s sleep
• Boosts your brain power
• Improves creativity
• Allows you to be still and not exposing yourself to blue LED light helps you to doze off
Becoming engaged in reading
• Read books that have been recommended to you
• Read books based on computer games or movies
• Choose a book you feel you will be able to finish and not be put off by the number of pages • Connect to your interests – the biography of your favourite sports person, fashion, cooking, travel, etc.
• Read magazines or news articles
• If you have lost interest in reading, try audiobooks to re-ignite your imagination which may encourage you to pick up a book again
Library
Mr Burton does an amazing job of promoting different books and constantly adds new and stimulating books to the shelves. He would be happy to offer you advice and help you find the right book for you. Check out Twitter @MCol_Library
The Everest Challenge
The Everest Challenge involves reading a set number of books in one academic year. It is divided into four groups:
• Base Camp – Lower School (fiction)
• The Summit – Upper School (fiction)
• North Face – Modern Language students
• The Expedition – Maths and Science students
Reading the required number of books will earn you a trip to Pizza Hut and Cineworld in Lower School.
Sleep, Glorious Sleep!
We spend about a third of our lives asleep. Sleep is essential – it is as important to our bodies as eating, drinking and breathing, and is vital for maintaining good mental and physical health. Sleeping helps us to recover from mental as well as physical exertion.
In teenagers, good quality sleep is especially important for physical health, emotional and mental development, and school performance. During the teenage years, sleep benefits brain development and function, which enhances attention span and improves memory and cognitive abilities. Adequate sleep also supports the physiological growth spurt during the teen years.
Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, leads to drowsiness and lack of attention, and affects academic performance. Inadequate sleep in teenagers has been linked to increased risk of depression and behavioural problems as well as an increased risk of developing diabetes and hypertension. It is also shown to have a negative impact on athletic performance.
Tips for good sleep hygiene
1. Ban electronics from the bedroom
2. Read before bed
3. Have a bedtime routine
4. Avoid afternoon naps
5. Limit caffeine
6. Don’t let work creep in
Manage Your Mobile
Whilst your mobile phone is likely your most used device, it is your worst enemy when it comes to studying and learning. The solution is to be disciplined in your use of it. Inner Drive (www.innerdrive.co.uk) have provided helpful advice for you to follow.
6 reasons to put your mobile phone away
1. It lowers concentration. Having your phone out while doing homework or revision has been shown to reduce performance by 20%.
2. It reduces memory. Instant messages are distracting which often leads to forgetfulness.
3. It increases FOMO (fear of missing out), leading to worse moods and anxiety.
4. It increases stress and anxiety.
5. It warps your view of reality. Nobody is as happy as they seem on Facebook or as wise as they appear on Twitter.
6. It makes your sleep worse. Prolonged use of mobile phones leads to poor sleep quality and duration. The backlight on your phone delays the release of melatonin, which is a hormone important for sleep.
5 ways to manage your mobile phone use
1. Set aside phone-free time each day. Have a pre-determined period of time, every day, where you agree not to use your phone. 2. Put your phone away. Sometimes, it can be as easy as keeping your phone out of sight when you need to focus. You could do this by giving it to a trusted adult who will look after it for a determined period time or until you have completed a specific task.
3. Limit notifications. Changing settings to choose what you are notified of and when is a great way for you to be less tempted to check your phone. This way, you can avoid being distracted by Twitter or Instagram notifications, without fearing you might miss an urgent call. Using this strategy is beneficial in the long term too, as this can help you get into the mindset that not all messages require immediate attention – if any at all.
4. Turn down the backlight or don’t look at the phone at all before bed. The light that phones emit stops you from feeling sleepy when the time to go to bed comes. Melatonin, the hormone that helps someone feel sleepy, gets released around 9pm. However, the bright, blue light from screens can interrupt its production. Research has shown that pupils who use their phone in the hour before bed are almost three times more likely to get less than five hours of sleep.
5. Tell your friends when you will be back online. This strategy can even get you to work together to reduce your phone use by agreeing not to contact each other for set periods of time. You can all focus on your work without receiving lots of notifications or having your friends worry about your lack of response.
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