7 Simple Tips for Caring for Your Nervous System

7 Simple Tips for Caring for Your Nervous System
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As your body continues to age, it’s critical to pay attention to the health and wellness of your nervous system. Your nerves are a critical component of your muscles and reflexes, pain receptors, and even the processes of thinking and recording memories. While it might seem daunting to look after the health of your nervous system, it often comes down to creating habits that prioritize your overall wellness. Everything from exercising to adding a nerve control supplement or vitamin to your mealtime routine can support this critical system and help you manage other more serious health concerns. 

The basic structure of the nervous system supports three major operations- sensory, integrative, and motor function. Sensory function refers to how we feel external changes, touches, or noises in the world around us. This includes pain receptors and affects the speed of your reaction time to various triggers. Integrative function refers to how the body responds to the external feelings brought in through our sensory functions. Motor function refers to the creation of memories related to our senses and the thinking and decision-making process we follow to respond to internal and external inputs. As you can see, the nervous system is critical for our daily lives.

In this article, we’ll cover some of the basic steps you can take in caring for your nervous system, regardless of your age. Many of these tips also support other systems in your body and promote overall wellness. You might be surprised at how basic some of these actionable steps are, though including them in your daily routine can sometimes present a challenge. It’s essential to make time for each of the steps below, regardless of your current health status.

Eat A Nutrient-Rich Diet

The food we eat plays a major part in our general health. Eating well keeps your system optimized, making it easier to naturally maintain a healthy weight, manufacture white blood cells, and avoid other health complications. However, creating and sticking to a healthy diet is often easier said than done. There are plenty of companies and trends out there selling the secret to maintaining your health through the right diet. Most of the time, you should avoid these diet fads and stick to the basics of eating well.

When choosing carbohydrates, you’ll want to stick with whole-grain and high-fiber options for approximately half of the starchy foods you consume. These include meal bases like bread, rice, pasta, and other grains. Next, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day, with as much color variation between these items as possible. Choosing differently colored fruits and vegetables throughout the day ensures you’re consuming various nutrients and essential minerals.

Stay away from red meat whenever possible and consider fish as a healthy alternative to eating meat. You’ll also want to avoid eating products with high amounts of artificial sugars and trans fat. The phrase “everything in moderation” is a solid approach to choosing the right foods for your nervous system and general health.

Exercise Regularly

To maintain a healthy nervous system, you’ll need to exercise regularly. Exercise keeps the blood flowing throughout the body, which is essential for nervous system health. It also supports muscle health and improves your range of mobility. When it comes to including more exercise in your daily routine, it’s OK to start small. While it might seem like a good idea to start with a 5K run every morning, you should instead begin with taking a 20 to 30-minute walk every day and work your way up to that 5K instead. This helps ensure you won’t get burnt out and makes it easier to keep as a part of your daily and weekly routines. 

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is in many ways tied to exercising and eating well. Individuals who are overweight or obese often struggle to maintain healthy blood flow levels, which endangers the nervous system and increases the risks of serious health complications like diabetes. While this might seem like an obvious piece of advice, it’s essential for keeping various systems within your body happy and healthy beyond your nerves.

Avoid Smoking and Reduce Alcohol Consumption

Both smoking and excessive alcohol consumption create many adverse effects on your nervous system health. Nicotine can also damage your lungs and ability to taste, while alcohol can increase blood pressure, risk of cancer, probability of heart disease, and decrease cognitive functioning. As with the consumption of unhealthy foods, you’ll want to follow the policy of “everything in moderation” when it comes to having an alcoholic drink. Smoking, by comparison, is significantly harder to drop. However, the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) has several tips for quitting smoking that can help you start this process today.      

Breathing and Meditation

If you can, find a few minutes each day to meditate and pay attention to your breathing and heart rate. Meditative exercises are important for taking a step back from the rush mentality of work, school, or other stressful situations. While it might seem silly at first, you’ll likely find it to be a valuable process in calming down and reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Rest and Sleep

Building in the time to sleep approximately seven to eight hours each night boosts your immune and nervous system health. Sleeping makes it easier to concentrate and maintain optimal brain functioning. In addition, it can be crucial for preventing or slowing memory loss and reducing the chances of developing conditions like Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Supplements and Vitamins

If your diet does not contain healthy levels of vitamin B12 and other naturally occurring minerals, you might want to consider a nerve control health supplement or multivitamin that supports the health of your nervous system. You’ll want to choose a supplement that’s made with all-natural ingredients and offers continued health benefits with superfoods rather than medications. The best nerve supplements make looking after your nervous system easy and help ensure you can maintain positive overall health as you age.

 


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I am a pop culture and social media expert. Aside from writing about the latest news health, I also enjoy pop culture and Yoga. I have BA in American Cultural Studies and currently enrolled in a Mass-Media MA program. I like to spend my spring breaks volunteering overseas.

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