In an earlier article (July 10, 2022), we had mentioned that exercise keeps our brains young, and pointed out that regular exercise and sensible dietary choices are key elements in keeping your brain young, as is an aptitude for learning (mastering a new language, or musical instrument). Now, a study in the European Heart Journal by J M Blodgett et al. from the University College London points out that diseases of heart and circulation is the major cause of death in adults. And after analysing over 15,000 people across the world, they suggest that moderate to vigorous activity offers benefits. These involve simple activities such as running, brisk staircase climbing, and brisk exercising for about an hour. Many of us do a lot of sitting at our desks at work — all day, and then at home, watching TV or using our laptops. Thus, improving our heart and health will involve simple activities such as the ones cited above, plus sports or swimming. In addition, eating ‘functional food’, as we mentioned in our article ‘Health benefits of functional foods’ on November 12, 2023 is good for our heart and health.
Sleeping is good
Researchers at Columbia University, New York point out that even sleeping well is good for our hearts. Sleep helps maintain cognitive skills, such as attention, learning, and memory, such that poor sleep can make it much more difficult to cope with even relatively minor stressors and impact our ability to perceive the world accurately. And others at the University of Rochester point out that sleep drives metabolic clearance from the adult brain; in other words, it removes neurotoxic wastes (such as plaques called beta-amyloids which disturb communication between various brain cells) which accumulate during the active daytime work.
