Best Mental Health Routines To follow In 2022

• Lower Your Risk Of Depression By Having Mushrooms

According to Penn State College of Medicine research, mushrooms are affordable, quick and easy to cook, and have anti-cancer properties, but here’s another incentive to eat them: they can lessen your chance of getting depression.

This might be due to the presence of ergothioneine, an antioxidant that protects against cell and tissue damage. High amounts of this antioxidant, which also has anti-inflammatory properties, may minimize the danger of oxidative stress in the body, thereby alleviating depressive symptoms. Mushrooms are the best source of ergothioneine in the diet.

Eating two mushrooms every day reduces the risk of cancer by nearly half, according to research published on June 21, 2021. So every weekend order a yummy mushroom pizza for yourself! Just kidding. 

• Taking short naps

Although daytime napping is generally healthy, research revealed that sleeping for more than 60 minutes was related to a 30% increased risk of all-cause death and a 34% increased risk of cardiovascular disease compared to no napping. How crazy is that, just sleeping can also lead to so many problems in life. I always thought of it to be a quick remedy! 

Long naps were related to a greater risk of mortality only in persons who slept more than six hours each night when nocturnal sleep was considered. Long naps have this impact for unknown reasons. According to other research, they are associated with greater levels of inflammation, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Long naps can often make you feel tired. Napping calms and recharges the body and mind, but you should limit your naps to 20 minutes as anything longer puts you in that deep-sleep period, and you may wake up even more tired. So these power naps need to be short and sweet! 

• Go For Regular Health Screenings

Health screenings can improve your quality of life and avoid premature mortality by facilitating early identification and management of the disease. These health screenings may be tailored to your specific requirements, so your doctor will discuss your medical concerns with you and consider your age, gender, and lifestyle choices to decide the best tests for you.

Moreover, it is recommended to get blood work done once a year to monitor your liver and kidney function and cholesterol levels. For your knowledge, you should know that at a minimum, women over 40 should get yearly breast and pelvic scans and Pap screenings. At the same time, males under 40 should have annual testicular examinations, and for men over 50, prostate testings.

Checks on one’s mental health are just as crucial. Using evidence-based questionnaires, your doctor can professionally examine your mental wellness during a physical health check. Furthermore, the patients may arrive with physical symptoms that are just a physical expression of psychological concerns.

• Journaling and Meditation 

Journaling your thoughts down to paper has proven to be quite helpful if you often find yourself stressed and overthinking. There is no correct formula to journaling. Just pick up a notebook and a pen and watch your crazy thoughts untangle themselves right in front of your eyes with your own thoughts! There are ample types of journaling which you can explore on the Internet but the easiest and the most effectful in my opinion is just free hand journaling. 

Meditation is another such habit that you should adopt for a more structured and calmer way of living. Just ten minutes of observing your breath will help you increase focus, and be more relaxed in your day-to-day life. Journaling and meditation go hand in hand, one helps you process your feelings and the other helps you relax and clear your head! 

• Sleep Early For A Better Heart Health

Research from the United Kingdom discovered that sleeping between 10 and 11 PM is best for heart health. The study, published in the European Heart Journal, found that people who went to sleep between 11 pm and 11.59 pm had a 12% higher chance of having heart disease, while those who fell asleep at midnight or later had a 25% higher risk.

Meanwhile, falling asleep before 10 pm was related to a 24% increase in risk. Throughout the six-year study, the incidence of cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, and heart failure was found to be lowest among people who fell asleep between 10 pm and 10.59 pm – even when other risk factors such as age, gender, sleep duration, smoking status, and body mass index were considered.

Moreover, the results show that early or late bedtimes may be more prone to upset the body clock, with poor effects on cardiovascular health. Scratch the boring research, and try sleeping and waking up early just for a week, you will notice a significant change in your mood, your focus will increase and you will have more energy to go through the day! 

• Stay Hydrated To Lower The Risk Of Heart Failure

It was recently shown that being hydrated throughout your life reduces the chance of heart failure 25 years later. Staying hydrated can help to reduce or perhaps prevent changes within the heart that contribute to heart failure.

However, how much water do you need to drink? The recommended daily dosage varies from 2 to 3 litres. However, many people fall short of even the lowest end of these categories.

Moreover, according to the researchers, serum sodium is an accurate marker of hydration status: as people consume less fluid, serum sodium concentration rises. The body then tries to preserve water by activating systems that have been linked to the development of heart failure. And don’t forget the water weight! Once you start drinking more water, your body will give up all the emergency water it has been storing with the fear of scarcity and you will visibly notice a difference in the way you look. 

• Avoid Sitting At The Same Places For Longer Times

Most people’s lifestyles became more sedentary due to pandemic-related lockdowns and curfews. According to two American studies, language makes many of us more sad, worried, agitated, and lonely. The first research, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2020, discovered that individuals who undertook 2.5 to 5 hours of exercise per week before the pandemic reduced their activity by 32% during March 2020 lockdowns. The same participants stated that they were feeling more unhappy, worried, and lonely.

Following the completion of the lockdown, the researchers followed up with the subjects between April and June. During this time, individuals reported an improvement in their mental health.

Moreover, for people whose sitting durations remained high, their depression symptoms, on average, did not recover in the same way as everyone else’s. The results of the follow-up research were published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry in November 2021.

Thus, this is not to suggest that prolonged sitting produces depressed symptoms. Instead, even a tiny amount of physical activity can boost our mood and mental health.

So, these were some of the well researched and proven fitness mantras that should be on your priority list before we enter 2022. So now, dedicate yourself to de-stressing and to satisfy your creative tendencies, read a book, watch your favorite comic or adventure film, create a meal, tend to your plants, play with your pet, or tackle a crossword puzzle. Or keep everything that I just told you aside and take a few deep breaths! Wishing you have a kick-ass 2022! 

Also Read: Virtual Reality For Mental Health