How Holiday Habits Impact Brain Health: What You Should Know

When the holiday is approaching, individuals tend to dream of rest insofar as they are entitled to it. Regardless of whether you enjoy reading a few favourite books or watching multiple festive films, the way that one spends leisure might critically affect brain health, especially featuring new research from the University of South Australia (UniSA).

Understanding the Effects of Sedentary Activities on Cognitive Function

When choosing between sitting down to watch television, read, or play puzzles, all options are not equal when it comes to maintaining cognitive health, according to a study of 397 adults, 60-years-old on average. Experts discovered that mentally or socially engaging tasks, including reading, praying, listening to music, crafting writing, playing musical instruments or/and stimulating conversations improves memory or/and brain functions.

On the other hand passive activities such as watching television or video movies was found to be associated with decreased cognitive functioning. This supports the understanding that something is better than nothing and that not only must we decrease sedentary time, but more importantly, increase time in physically, mentally and socially demanding pursuits.

Reducing Dementia Risks Through Lifestyle Choices

The authors found that the context of an activity affects how the activity impacts cognitive function. Any exercises that engage the brain or promote an interaction with others are healthy while any passive actions are seen to have negative impacts, According to Dr. Mellow.

Practical Brain Health Tips for the Holidays

This is especially true when planning for the holidays, which results in time-wasting games and various mind- stimulating activities . Dr. Mellow offers simple, actionable tips for enjoying downtime while prioritizing brain health:

Prioritize Movement: As enjoyable ways can be made to improve heart rate them help to improve brain and physical health as well.

Make Small Swaps: However, any break in activity- even brief ones like swapping five minutes of TV for reading or speaking to a family member – is beneficial in the long run.

Break Up Screen Time: If having an allowance to watch movies for the whole day during the holiday, it recommended to take short walks or perform any form of activity that will exercise the brain between the movies being watched.

“I think this saying ‘small changes yield big results’ is absolutely relevant for what Dr. Mellow says. “the authors found that it becomes easier to maintain a positive attitude in a relatively short amount of time and exchanging passive activities with active ones aids in creating better habits little by little.

READ ALSO: Evidence-Based Approaches to Holiday Weight Management

Scientific Insights from UniSA Research

The details of the experiment are specific in the title ‘Should We Work Smarter or Harder for Our Health? A Comparison of Intensity and Domain-Based Time-Use Compositions and Their Associations With Cognitive and Cardiometabolic Health”, was published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A.

The research group comprised Dr. Maddison Mellow and researchers from UniSA UniSA, the University of Leicester, and the University of Newcastle and sought to uncover changes in cognition and cardiometabolic features based on the time spent on different activities.

Key findings include:

ENGAGE intellectually stimulating forms of inactivity, or sedentary activities are good for, the brain.

Watching TV a passive sedentary activity has a negative influence.

Though modifiable lifestyle factors, physical activity remains a substrate in dementia risk reduction.

The study is sensitive to the aspect of rethinking how sedentary behaviors are categorized, advocating for a more nuanced approach to brain health during periods of relaxation.

The Takeaway: Balance and Flexibility for Long-Term Brain Health

While celebrating this year’s end, let’s take into account that leisure activities you choose determine your continued brain health. It is possible to make small, positive changes during the holiday season—the same activities combined with physically active and mentally stimulating tasks will improve brain health while still allowing for holiday enjoyment.

The message is clear: it has to be balanced and very flexible. Food may never call such a festive-hour for intake, but whether it is watching a seasonal movie or reading a new book, conscious decisions make this season of the year a time of happiness and health for mind and body.