Are there secrets to living a long and healthy life? We can’t stop or reset our biological clocks but we can be proactive to keep our bodies healthy and fit. The brain is a good spot to start since this organ controls just about everything we do.
Feed Your Brain
A healthy foods lower blood sugar and improve cognition. Cognition is the ability to acquire knowledge by reasoning, intuition, or perception. Foods that are high in omega 3 fatty acids such as almonds, walnuts, salmon, and tuna are beneficial to brain health. The Mediterranean diet which emphasizes fruits, vegetables, olive oil, and whole grains offers many sources of omega 3 fatty acids. The website for the University of Maryland Medical Center states that omega 3 fatty acids are highly concentrated in the brain and appear to play a major role in memory and behavioral function.
By its very nature, the brain is particularly vulnerable to oxidative damage. Free radicals, which are molecules that react easily, cause oxidative damage to neurons and a loss of function. Research conducted at the Harvard Medical School found people who eat green leafy vegetables and cruciferous vegetable, both high in antioxidants, experienced a slower rate of decline in cognitive function.
Exercise Your Brain
Use it or lose it. Most age-related memory loss results from inactivity, lack of mental exercise and stimulation.
To keep young and fit, you need to exercise your brain as well as your body. Brain teasers offered on video or computer games are a good way to boost the formation of new neuron connections and improve response time and memory. Once you have mastered the brain teaser, no new neuron connections form. So, move on to new challenges, such as word or number puzzles. The AARP website suggests an exercise to stimulate the neural and spatial centers of the brain, which normally atrophy with age. Stare straight ahead and without moving your eyes, see how much you can visualize what is in the periphery.
Stimulate your brain by continuing to learn something new everyday, if possible. Take a class, attend a seminar, or join a book club. Keep abreast with current events. This not only will activate the part of the brain involved with memory but also gives you something to talk about in social settings.
Exercise Your Body to Sharpen Brain Function
Research points to the benefit of aerobic exercise to protect the brain from age-related damage and mental decline. The brain loses an estimated 15 % to 25% of its tissue between the ages of 30 and 90years. Most of the loss is in areas associated with memory and learning. One study conducted by S. Colcombe and colleagues found that brain volume increased in subjects who engaged in aerobic exercises. The increased volume occurred in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.Low to moderate forms of aerobic exercise are recommended to keep the brain and body fit. Ease into an exercise regime if you have been physically inactive. Thirty minutes of walking, swimming, or aerobics two to three times a week is a good way to keep the brain young and fit.
Protect Your Brain Against Injury
It is important to protect your brain by wearing a well constructed and properly fitted helmet when engaging in certain sports and activities. Head trauma causes brain injuries which range from concussions to permanent loss of brain function. Always wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, moped or bicycle. Protect yourself when skiing, snow-boarding, skate-boarding, and bungee jumping.