Brain health is not built from one habit.
It is built through the systems that support how the brain works every day: how it is fueled, how it rests, how it adapts, how it receives circulation, and how it stays connected to the world around it.
On TODAY, Emma Heming Willis and Dr. Nicole Beurkens spoke about five foundational pillars of brain health: nutrition, sleep, mental stimulation, movement, and connection. These pillars are not about adding more pressure to your routine. They are about understanding what your brain needs in order to function well over time.
At Make Time Wellness, we believe women deserve brain health education that is clear, practical, and grounded in research. Brain fog, mental fatigue, and cognitive load are not things women should have to dismiss or push through. They are signals worth understanding.
1. Nutrition: The Brain Needs Steady Input
The brain is energy-demanding. It relies on consistent fuel, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to support daily cognitive function.
That does not mean brain health depends on a perfect diet. It means nutrition is one of the most direct ways we communicate with the brain every day.
Research on dietary patterns has shown that the way we eat over time may influence cognitive aging. The MIND diet, a dietary pattern designed around foods linked to brain health, has been associated with slower cognitive decline in aging adults. In one study, people with the highest MIND diet scores had cognitive decline rates that were slower than those with the lowest scores.
This matters because the brain does not respond only to isolated nutrients. It responds to patterns. Whole foods, healthy fats, plant compounds, and steady nourishment can influence inflammation, vascular health, oxidative stress, and energy metabolism.
Nutrition is not a quick fix. It is daily input.
2. Sleep: The Brain Has a Night Shift
Sleep is often treated like downtime, but the brain remains highly active while we rest.
During sleep, the brain supports memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and restoration. Research has also brought attention to the glymphatic system, a waste-clearance pathway in the brain that appears to be more active during sleep. A major function of sleep may be helping the brain clear byproducts that build up during waking hours.
That is why poor sleep can show up as more than tiredness. It can affect attention, mood, reaction time, and the ability to think clearly.
Sleep is brain care because it gives the brain time to reset. Not perfectly. Not every night. But consistently enough for the brain to recover from the demands of the day.
3. Mental Stimulation: The Brain Adapts to Use
Mental stimulation is not just about crossword puzzles.
It is about giving the brain meaningful work. Learning something new, solving problems, reading, creating, having thoughtful conversations, or engaging in a skill all ask the brain to stay flexible.
This connects to the concept of cognitive reserve. Cognitive reserve helps explain why some people maintain stronger cognitive function than others, even when they experience similar age-related brain changes or pathology. It is not a guarantee, but it suggests the brain may benefit from lifelong engagement, learning, and flexible thinking.
Mental stimulation helps keep the brain participating in life. It challenges memory, attention, language, decision-making, and creativity.
The goal is not to constantly train your brain. The goal is to keep using it in ways that feel meaningful.
4. Movement: Circulation Matters for Cognition
Movement supports the brain because the brain depends on the body.
Physical activity supports circulation, cardiovascular health, metabolic function, and stress regulation. These systems all influence how the brain receives oxygen, nutrients, and signals from the rest of the body.
A 2019 review of physical activity, cognition, and brain outcomes found strong evidence that greater physical activity is associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease. The review also noted that even acute bouts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity can have short-term benefits for cognition after exercise.
Movement does not have to look extreme to matter. Walking, strength work, stretching, dancing, or simply interrupting long sedentary stretches can all be ways of supporting the body systems that support the brain.
The brain benefits when the body keeps moving.
5. Connection: Social Health Is Brain Health
Connection is often talked about emotionally, but it is also cognitive.
Conversation asks the brain to listen, remember, respond, interpret tone, read facial cues, and stay present. Relationships can support stress regulation, emotional resilience, and a sense of purpose.
Research continues to show that social connection is deeply tied to brain health. A large analysis found that loneliness was associated with a 31% higher risk of dementia. Other research has linked social isolation and loneliness with reduced cognitive function in older adults.
Connection is not about having a full calendar. It is about meaningful interaction. Feeling seen, supported, and engaged matters for the brain.
Your brain was not designed to function in isolation.
Brain Health Is Built Daily
The five pillars are not about perfection. They are about giving the brain steady support through the systems that shape how it functions every day.
How you nourish your body. How you sleep. How you keep learning. How you move. How you stay connected.
Each one matters because the brain does not work alone.
For women, this education is especially important. Brain fog, mental fatigue, and cognitive load are too often dismissed as normal. But when women understand the brain, they are better equipped to support it.
Brain health is not something to wait for later in life.
It is something to make time for now.
Sources
- TODAY. Emma Heming Willis and Dr. Nicole Beurkens on the five pillars of brain health. 2026.
- Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, et al. MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging. Alzheimer’s & Dementia. 2015.
- Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, et al. MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s & Dementia. 2015.
- Jessen NA, Munk ASF, Lundgaard I, Nedergaard M. The glymphatic system: a beginner’s guide. Neurochemical Research. 2015.
- Reddy OC, van der Werf YD. The sleeping brain: harnessing the power of the glymphatic system through lifestyle choices. Brain Sciences. 2020.
- Pettigrew C, Soldan A. Defining cognitive reserve and implications for cognitive aging. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports. 2019.
- Erickson KI, Hillman CH, Stillman CM, et al. Physical activity, cognition, and brain outcomes: a review of the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2019.
- Luchetti M, Terracciano A, et al. A meta-analysis of loneliness and risk of dementia. Nature Mental Health. 2024.
- National Institute on Aging. Loneliness linked to dementia risk in large-scale analysis.
- Guarnera J, et al. The impact of loneliness and social isolation on cognitive aging. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2023.
