9 reasons why puzzles are good for you

Puzzling is an activity done by both young and old. It’s a fun pastime that makes most people feel relaxed, but many people don’t know that doing a puzzle is also good for you. So when a puzzle is so addictive to you, it doesn’t have to be a bad thing at all! What makes such a puzzle so good for your health? We explain all the reasons.

Healthy brain through puzzles

All types of puzzles such as sudoku, jigsaw puzzles and brain teasers are ideal for keeping your brain healthy. Constantly engaging in these types of thinking games and puzzles will keep your brain trained and will have a healthy consequence, for both young and old.

It is advisable to do activities that can increase in difficulty so that you always have a challenge to use your brain. Think of jigsaw puzzles with which you can always raise the level. If you choose a very easy level each time, your brain will end up taking less advantage of this. So you have to keep challenging your brain. But what exactly are the reasons that challenging puzzles have a positive effect on your brain?

1. Analytical skills are improved by puzzling

Puzzling improves your analytical skills. These are skills that you need for very many different things. For example, it is needed for work, for chores in the barn or for a conversation where you need to have a good analysis on it afterwards. While making jigsaw puzzles, these skills are practiced and improved. This is because your brain is constantly trying to find the right shapes and colors together.

2. Lowering stress levels through puzzling

When you are busy doing puzzles you are so focused on the left and right halves of your brain that you end up in what is called an Alpha state. During that state you will be very focused and sharp and you will have creativity that is below your awareness. When you are in the Alpha state, you will naturally notice this and it will give you a nice feeling. We are very focused during this state and therefore will process information well.

Solving puzzles, on the other hand, can also be very frustrating. You have this, for example, if you have been looking for a certain piece for a long time, but can’t find it again and again. Until you do find it, then there is no problem. At this time, dopamine is released causing an increase in happiness, self-confidence, concentration and better memory.

3. Improved memory through puzzles

While you are puzzling, you will remember certain shapes and images and figure out how you are going to connect them with other pieces. This is a very good example of a way in which you train your short-term memory, which in turn causes you to perform better in other areas of your life as well.

4. Puzzling encourages spatial intelligence

In making puzzles, you make sure to improve your spatial intelligence. In fact, while you are puzzling, you are constantly proposing puzzle pieces that fit together. Thus, the hippocampus part of your brain is stimulated.

5. Improving your state of mind through puzzling

Constructing a puzzle releases dopamine. This substance is released when, for example, you can finally put a missing puzzle piece in the right place. Dopamine is a substance that gives you happiness. That way you become happy and feel fulfilled. It is also involved in your motivation for various things.

6. Problem-solving ability improved by puzzling

A very important aspect in your life is the ability to solve problems. In fact, all your life you are solving problems in different ways. Through puzzling, you train your brain to look at a problem from different angles and see different solutions from them. In addition, you also learn that you can’t solve a problem right away within a short time, but sometimes you have to work on something longer to solve it.

7. You maintain a younger brain by doing puzzles

It is important to keep using your brain. In fact, you have certain brain connections that get cleared up by your brain when you stop using them. If you keep challenging your brain each time, it causes you to make new connections, keeping your entire brain healthier and younger.

8. Puzzles improve focus and concentration skills

A lot of concentration and focus is often required in your life. Sometimes you receive many different stimuli that cause you to not have this focus and therefore cannot concentrate well. By doing puzzles, you can improve these skills. In fact, this is an activity where you can easily concentrate by being a fun and effective activity. By putting a piece down each time, you will find that you are very focused on one task.

9. Puzzles improve your IQ

Learning and work performance are related to the level of a person’s IQ. Therefore, it is interesting to know that there is IQ increase when you spend a lot of time doing puzzles. This is because puzzles ensure that, among other things, your spatial awareness is improved. Crossword puzzles, for example, again improve vocabulary. So you can increase your IQ with puzzles every day!

Get to work on a puzzle yourself!

Are you planning to take advantage of these benefits yourself now by doing a lot of puzzling? At Speedcube.co.uk we offer all different fun and challenging puzzles. For example, there are different 3D puzzles, we offer jigsaw puzzles in all sizes and you have a wide choice of all kinds of different brands and categories. Plenty of choice! Choose your puzzle today and order it before 11:30pm! After all, then you can enjoy the benefits that a puzzle has for you as early as tomorrow!