Whether you are sitting in your work office, your classroom or your bed, you are probably wondering why you are yawning so much even after all that sleep last night. The brain serves as a vital fuel of power for people of today’s society. To be competitive in this competitive world, we need to have readily activated brains to the fullest capacity because memorization, concentration, and fast judgment follows an active brain. However, the problem is that the brain also needs rest. After using your brain too much, your brain can basically run out of battery and eventually overload. If you are a hardworking student or a worker who has to activate your brain all the time, it is essential to examine the condition of your brain once in a while.
The main factor that disrupts your brain to function fully is stress. The more stressed out you are, the higher your brain temperature is. This is when the activity of the neurotransmitters in your brain decreases and lowers your brain activity. If you find yourself yawning or spacing out all the time, this is the signal your brain is sending to you claiming that it is tired and it needs some rest.
If the brain gets tired, your ability to memorize and focus will decrease. Moreover, you might experience symptoms such as indigestion, anxiety, and lack of drive that might impede with everyday activities. This may increase the possibility of obtaining illnesses in the later life such as dementia and cerebrovascular diseases.
Ways to alleviate brain stress is by giving the brain a break by sufficient rest and meditation. Going to a quiet place, listening to the birds chirping and the breeze on the leaves will help because sounds of nature will relieve brain stress. It is a common misconception that we can catch up on sleep debt if we sleep for countless hours during the weekends. However, research has proven that such activity will only increase the tiredness; also, it is comforting to the brain to fall asleep between 10pm to 2am and waking up after 7-8 hours of sleep.
There are also food sources that can help
brain fatigue. The essential amino acids are known to alleviate brain fatigue by synthesizing necessary neurotransmitters. Tryptophan is one of the essential amino acids that increase the brain’s activity. This is a component that makes serotonin, a neurotransmitter that contributes to feelings of well-being and happiness. Serotonin also induces sleep, but lacks production during the winter which makes it vital that we consume extra tryptophan during the winter. Tryptophan is bountiful in food sources such as milk, cheese, nut products, and chicken. 
Also, antioxidants factor such as vitamin A,C,E gets rid of the free radicals that are cause by stress. Food sources that defend against the free radicals include grapefruits, cranberries, green tea and tomatoes.
To comply with the demand of this competitive society, we need to prepare ourselves fully charged brains. In order to have those, we need proper rests and appropriate food consumption. It is important that we look after our brains to become better competitors and for our own health benefits.
Original Document Available from http://www.koreadaily.com/news/read.asp?page=3&branch=NEWS&source=LA&category=lifenleisure&art_id=4015600
Edited by Sooahn Ko
