Bloggin Noggin

Brain function and the Mediterranean Diet: tackling depression, dementia and weight loss We’ve talked before about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet ( https://www.nogginbrain.co.uk/add-a-taste-of-the-mediterranean-to-your-plate/ ) and it’s worth noting the science behind the recommendations on what to eat as part of a diet designed for health and wellbeing.

Can we teach ourselves to have a more positive outlook?   Headlines last week gave us another possible clue into a risk factor for developing dementia.

"The more I practise, the luckier I get" Gary Player With summer here and lockdown restrictions being lifted in outdoor sports, now might be a good time to head to your local golf course and play a round. Golf is good not only for your physical health but your mental and brain health too. 

5 Ways To Eat Your Way To A More Positive State Of MindMore than 4 million people in England are on antidepressants  and a recent article in The Telegraph states there has been a 10-15% rise in antidepressant prescriptions.

Cucumbers: Not just for puffy eyes and sticking in a salad! Now the weather is warmer, we're finding ourselves eating a lot more salads as a side or main meal. In fact, we're munching our way through our greens at any and every opportunity. Salads are a fantastic source of fruit and vegetable and there is so much variety to choose from and boost your consumption of the 'rainbow' at every meal. 

The 13 essential vitamins are A, C, D, E K and the B vitamins: thiamine (B1 ), riboflavin (B2 ), niacin ( B3 ), pantothenic acid ( B5 ), pyridoxine ( B6 ), biotin ( B7 ), folate ( B9 ) and cobalin ( B12 ). You can obtain these through the food you choose to eat but you may benefit from supplementing some of them with vitamin and mineral products depending on your diet and health status.  Here’s a simple good to what you need and why.

Are you doing Tik Tok? The app phenomenon can be good for brain health, and for all ages, but in moderation, mind.TikTok has 800 million active users worldwide. And 41 percent of TikTok users are aged between 16 and 24. It has has been downloaded 467 million times in India alone – nearly one-third of its total downloads.

Are you spending hours on end going down a rabbit hole on Twitter or on tabloid news sites?This is understandable, given the impact of COVID-19 and the impact it has had on all of our lives.

Sleep is one of the most important things we can do to look after out brain health. Not only does regular quality sleep help us feel better in ourselves, it is also important for our memory and immune system. 

Times they are a changing- slightly- but it’s important to remember that supporting our immune system as we continue to chart our way through this covid-19 storm is still extremely important.

Why sugary foods can affect your mood “The sugar high’ is something we are all familiar with both in ourselves and in our children - a sudden burst of energy that comes after eating sweet treats.  But how does that sugar mood lift affect our brain cells?

“Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle” Plato We are talking a lot about Kindness at the moment and this is for good reason. Last year, I had the opportunity to be involved with prospective medical students who were practising university interview questions and I was fortunate to be given the topic of empathy to discuss with them.