Your nervous system deserves your full attention and utmost self-care at all times. You could call it a 24/7 proposition as making sure you have a proper night's sleep every night is crucial to the proper care of your nervous system. Maintaining your nervous system's strength is paramount because it is the most important and yet complex system in your body, responsible for proper response to all internal and external stimuli related to various actions and emotions. A lot of ground to cover there.
What Does an Unhealthy Nervous System Entail?
The answer is, not a whole lot of good. You don't want to go there. A consistently healthy diet and regular exercise are the foundation for a healthy nervous system; otherwise you are looking at a variety of potential health issues. These can range from poor blood circulation and problems with regulating your body temperature to digestive and emotional issues, as well as side effects when exposed to toxins, nerve dysfunction, inhibited memory, and breathing problems, per vkool.com. Your quality of life is at stake here, and that might even be the least of your concerns when you really dig in and examine what your nervous system means to you, your longevity, and your satisfaction with life in general.What Exactly Are We Talking about Here?
You are dependent on your nervous system's functionality at almost any given moment. Picture this: You are seated at your computer seemingly not doing much, except moving your eyes across your computer screen while occasionally typing something or moving your cursor around. Perfectly routine, right? Not exactly. Your nervous system is at work the entire time, with your brain constantly generating signals and sending them down to your spinal cord, per drbenkim.com. Those signals then go off in different directions, wherever the brain has programmed them to go via nerves that begin in the spinal cord and extend out to the body parts needed to carry out the functions. That, in a nutshell, is how your nervous system works.Promoting and Maintaining a Healthy Nervous System
Now that we have your attention, here are some things you can do or foods and supplements you can ingest as part of a renewed daily regimen to optimize your nervous system's health:- Exercise. We're not just talking physical, cardio-type exercise here, such as walking, swimming, or biking, all of which is good for your whole health, nervous system included, but also exercising your nervous system. One action step suggested at drbenkim.com to keep your nervous system fine-tuned is to spend at least 15 minutes a day writing, in cursive, on a piece of paper as neatly as you can. Writing with pen on paper is much more effective in exercising your nervous system than pecking away at a computer keyboard because of the fine motor skills involved.
- Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3's are found in abundance in foods such as salmon, cauliflower, spinach, flaxseeds, and sardines. These fatty acids are instrumental for the proper functionality of neurons and for enhancing nerve transmissions, per vkool.com.
- Oatmeal. This is a popular type of cereal as a breakfast staple, and it can be splashed with milk and/or topped with such tasty garnishments as blueberries or cinnamon. Oatmeal can improve mental performance as well as be a source of relaxation and energy.
- Baker's yeast. This food item is loaded with B vitamins, making it a good candidate to help you deal with depression, anxiety, stress, apathy, or loss of appetite. It might not taste that great, but who cares considering its potential benefits.
- Vitamin D. A 2003 study referenced at vkool.com found that a vitamin D deficiency can lead to a heightened risk of nervous system-related diseases such as schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis.
- Magnesium. A magnesium deficiency has been linked to such conditions as hyperactivity, insomnia, or panic attacks, per steptohealth.com.
- Bee pollen. Some experts have called this a superfood, and it doesn't even have a sting to it. What it can do is regulate the nervous system function thanks to the presence of B vitamins.
- Medicinal plants. Several that have been pegged as healthful for your nervous system are basil, lavender, passionflower, and gingko biloba. Some of these can be taken as tea, others as nutritional supplements, per steptohealth.com.