To have a healthy life, your cognitive health is as important as your physical health, if not more, according to Dr. Amir-Homayoun Javadi from the university’s School of Psychology. Don’t forget to take care of your brain as well as your body. Dr Javadi shares five tips for maintaining a healthy brain:

1. Cognitive engagement

For cognitive engagement, the most important tip is to keep your brain active. To do this, you could do activities such as learning new things, planning your shopping list, or playing a diverse range of games. This will activate different parts of the brain. Neurons are just like muscles, if you don’t use them, you’ll lose them. By activating them you can help keep them healthy.

2. Social interaction

Social interaction is way more than ‘having a good time’. It comes with many things such as talking, remembering, or planning. While independent learning and activities are important, you can go only so far with them. Social interactions activate a lot of other brain areas that are rarely involved in other tasks.

3. Physical exercise

Exercise and physical activity improve cardiovascular fitness, increase blood circulation, strengthen the immune system, and most importantly, help with the generation of new neurons and repairment of the brain tissue. So, by doing physical activity, you’ll be helping your body as well as your brain!

4. Balanced diet

While our brain is only 2% of our body, it consumes 20% of the body’s calories. Not only that, but also the brain needs a lot of ingredients for proper functioning, such as omega-3 that is found in fish and nuts, antioxidants in berries, and different vitamins and minerals. A proper diet will ensure you’re providing the best nutrition for your brain.

5. Mental health

This is perhaps the most difficult one; stress and anxiety impair the brain health and function. As a student, it can be difficult managing your stress as you handle assignments, tests, and exams. There are a lot of methods such as meditation and mindfulness that can help to relax and benefit our mental health. Find what works best for you to limit your stress and keep your brain healthy.

Follow these five simple tips to ensure your brain is healthy.