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Healthy Body – Healthy Brain

Most people would be thrilled to live eternally if they knew they would retain their health, vitality, strength, and abilities.

Jennings MD, Timothy R.. The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind (pp. 20-21). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

For our purposes, we are going to be talking about “functional aging—the slow decline in vitality and ability.”

Jennings MD, Timothy R.. The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind (p. 21). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Most people think of aging as something that just happens. We watch others age and see the decline, and think, “That will be me someday.” Chronological age is inevitable, but we make choices every day that influence “functional aging.” As stated in the first article, dementia is not curable. However, there are choices we can make and things we can do to slow or even avoid dementia. There are always exceptions, like brain trauma and certain diseases.

While time passes at a constant rate for every person, not every person ages at the same rate. Life experiences and the choices we make affect our passage through time and can slow or accelerate our aging—the gradual loss of vitality and ability.

Jennings MD, Timothy R.. The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind (p. 21). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

In this article, I want to look at how our physical health affects our brain health. There is a certain law or principle that we need to understand as we begin. It’s called “Design Law.” What is design law, and how does it affect our brain? Simply put, design law says that things are designed to work in a certain way.

Think about your car. Why don’t we use water to power our cars instead of gasoline? Water is a lot cheaper, so why not use it? We don’t use water because our cars are not designed to run on water. In fact, getting any water in the engine of a car can cause major damage to that engine. Intentionally putting water in our gas tanks would immediately void any warranty.

Design law says that our brains are designed to work in a certain way. This law holds true whether you believe in a Creator or not. Science tells us that our brains cannot be truly healthy if our bodies are not healthy. Why is that true? Our bodies are designed for the brain. Consider this: “brain? Because the primary purpose of every organ system of the body is to serve the brain: the lungs breathe and the heart beats in order to provide oxygen and nutrients to the brain. The legs move the brain from place to place while the arms allow the brain to interact with the world. The primary function of our eyes and ears is to provide data input to the brain.”

Jennings MD, Timothy R.. The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind (p. 22). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

It only makes sense that whatever undermines the body’s health will also undermine the brain’s health and function. It is true that we don’t have control over everything, but we do have choices that can influence the health of our bodies and, therefore, our brains.

• Good dental hygiene – research has found that those “with the fewest teeth had the highest risk of prevalence and incidence of dementia.”

Jennings MD, Timothy R.. The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind (p. 23). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

• Diet – Eating a big Thanksgiving meal once a year will not significantly affect our overall health, but a healthy meal once per year will not affect our overall health if our daily diet is made up of junk food.

• Stay away from tobacco, illegal drugs, and heavy alcohol use.

• Exercise your body and your brain – The law of exertion is simply this: if you want something to get stronger you must exercise it.

Jennings MD, Timothy R.. The Aging Brain: Proven Steps to Prevent Dementia and Sharpen Your Mind (p. 26). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Stop and ask yourself this question: “Am I currently involved in any activity that I know is unhealthy?” If so, why? What are you willing to do to improve the health of your body and your brain?

As you may have noticed, I have quoted several references from the book, The Aging Brain by Dr. Timothy R. Jennings. Though you may not accept everything Dr. Jennings talks about, I would highly recommend this book. I get nothing for promoting his book, but I would like to suggest books that I have found helpful in my journey to mental health.

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One of the first steps is recognizing that you are affected by the seasons. Winter seems to be the most common time for SAD, but I find that any time there are long periods of no sunshine can also be difficult. I think for me it’s about being outside.

I’m willing to give these ideas a try and I want to be more mindful about getting a good amount of time outdoors.

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Thank you Cara. This is a very good article and the activities seem like they would be fun. I know that I use land marks more than I use addresses.

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Great thought. Our relationship with God is number one in everything in life. All other relationships are influenced by our relationship with Him. But, the opposite is also true. Our relationships with others can influence our relationship with God. Perhaps a childhood with a far off, uncaring, or even abusing father can influence our thoughts and our relationship with The Father. If we can get our minds to place God in His rightful position (first) in our lives, we can deal with other relationships.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by  bopbop.

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A couple of things speak to me from this Psalm. Mostly, it causes questions about my walk with God. Do I really “thirst” for God? This question causes me to look at where I turn for help when the mental or physical struggles come my way. Do I turn to doctors, counselors, self-help books, etc? I’m not saying that using any of those things is wrong. What I am asking is where do I go first? Do I go to all the other places before I go to the Father?

The only place to find complete healing is in the Father. All the other things are blessing which the Father has supplied to bless us. In my journey, I’m learning to go to the Father first and depend on Him to lead to the things that can help me. As my thirst for Him moves to the place of being first, my mental and physical health move closer to His design.

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The little “c” and the Large “C” is a way that I came up with to help me think about our relationship with our Father. Mankind was created in the image of God; “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26. But after the fall of man, our relationship with our Father changed. That’s the little “c”. Jesus provided the way for us to be restored to the large “C” relationship with our Father.

The body and the mind work together to make us who we are. Without one, the other is not as whole or healthy. It’s the same with the horizontal and vertical. Both areas need to be healthy in order for us to be a whole and healthy person. At least part of the question has to do with where we spend the most time. A healthy body contributes to a healthier mind and a healthy mind contributes to a healthier body.