Experts tend to agree that eating a lot of fresh, nourishing foods such as fruits and vegetables, protein, healthy fats, and healthy grains and beans — as well as drinking water — makes for good brain health.

Good brain health helps protect against dementia, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, and psychiatric conditions such as depression and bipolar disorder. And as a person ages, the amount of good brain health decreases by about 6 percent every year, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

The three habits to improve your brain health and protect it from dementia and Alzheimer’s are, according to the National Institute of Health:

  • Go outside
  • Participate in brain-friendly leisure activities
  • Eat more whole foods

Whole foods help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by helping to clear out the brain from harmful toxins, enhance cognition and reduce the risk of psychiatric diseases.

Vitamin B and antioxidant vitamins, such as vitamin C, antioxidant vitamins, and vitamin E are also shown to boost mental health and reduce the risk of mental illness.

The Alzheimer’s Association also advises people to get more sleep, exercise regularly, and engage in brain health-promoting practices, including meditation and self-care.

Good for your whole body

Good brain health is linked to healthy body weight, a healthy diet, physical activity, a healthy weight, and low levels of stress and depression.

Good mental health is related to lower blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. A healthy diet, exercise, and not smoking are also important for good mental health and preventing mental illness.

People with mental illness tend to have a lower level of physical fitness and may also have higher levels of depression and stress.

Conclusions

So what is good for your brain? Eating a healthy diet, getting exercise, engaging in brain health-promoting practices, and getting more sleep.

However, diet plays a major role in the health of the brain.

The body is designed to feed on carbohydrates and proteins from food. It is not designed to rely on other types of nutrients like phytochemicals and fatty acids, vitamins and minerals, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidant nutrients.

These other nutrients may be good for the brain. However, the brain cannot digest and absorb them.

The brain can only absorb phytochemicals and antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that it can absorb directly. It cannot digest and absorb vitamins and minerals that it cannot absorb directly.

Phytochemicals are known to help reduce the risk of some mental illnesses, while antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and fatty acids can improve mental health.

However, a balance is needed and it is impossible to do this alone.

Studies show that it takes a good diet and regular exercise to get the optimal benefits of brain health-promoting foods and nutrients.