5 ways to keep your brain young and healthy

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Mary Schulz, Director of Education for Alzheimer's Society of Canada, gives advice on how to keep your brain toned for long.

Our brain tends to change over time, but you should not think that the older you get, the lower your mental activity. Recent studies have shown that there are quite a few ways to keep your mind sharp and clear for a long time.

Dementia is a disease associated with impaired memory. Symptoms include decreased mental alertness, forgetfulness, and difficulty acquiring new skills.

Research is finding more and more evidence that following certain rituals can significantly reduce the risk of developing and developing Alzheimer's disease or any other form of dementia.

Before scientists found evidence, people believed they were helpless in the face of illness, says Mary Schultz, director of education for the Alzheimer's Society of Canada.

She also names five changes that need to be implemented in the usual way of life in order to improve the state of the brain and reduce the risk of disease. They will also be useful in many ways for people who already suffer from dementia, as they will help to stop the development of the disease. Below we take a closer look at these five preventative measures.

1. Challenge yourself

Learn a new language, finally master chess, or even take a couple of piano lessons. Stimulating mental alertness revitalizes and maintains brain function.

When we learn something new, it is always a kind of shock for our brain. He wakes up, activates and gets excited. By gaining new experience, you teach the brain to adapt to changing circumstances, to be flexible, because you demand from it what it is not used to doing.

Mary Schultz Director of Education for the Alzheimer Society of Canada

Schultz isn't the only one convinced of the need for a new hobby. For example, foreign languages are a very useful hobby. that the ability to speak two languages helped delay the onset of as many as three types of dementia: vascular, frontotemporal, and mixed. In addition, it is known for certain that bilingual people were diagnosed with dementia 4.5 years later than those who spoke only one language.

When you challenge yourself, be sure to make sure you can handle it. If you hate Sudoku, then don't commit to doing 10 crosswords a day. Everything is good in moderation, but the choice of a hobby should be approached wisely.

2. Be socially active

Close contact with family, friends, and coworkers is a good way to keep the brain from early aging. You can spend more time with your relatives, join a discussion club, or simply go to the movies regularly with friends.

that a well-coordinated mix of physical, mental and social exercise has helped a large number of people stop the onset of dementia. Schultz is sure that during close communication with other people, neurons in the brain are activated and this has a positive effect on his work.

Maintaining friendships and family relationships is critical to maintaining your mental health. According to Schultz, it has not yet been scientifically proven whether depression causes dementia, or, conversely, dementia begins to develop due to being alone for too long. One way or another, these two diseases go hand in hand, often leaving sick people alone with their problem. as destructive to an old person as poor physical health. Because of it, the risk of premature death can increase by 14%.

3. Eat a healthy diet

Eating a balanced diet will not only help you control your weight, but it will also prevent many heart diseases. Plus, the food you eat feeds your brain too.

The brain is responsible for ensuring that the heart and all other organs do the work for which they are intended. That is why you need to try to eat foods that are useful for maintaining brain activity.

What should you eat? Pay attention to “colored” foods. They contain an increased amount of antioxidants, which are responsible for slowing down the aging process.

• Blue and purple fruits and vegetables (black currants, blueberries, eggplants, plums, red cabbage) contain the pigment anthocyanin, which makes it easier to cope with stress. Eating fruits and vegetables of these flowers also helps to improve vision and strengthen the immune system.
• Green vegetables and fruits (broccoli, avocado, spinach, pears, leafy greens, apples, kiwi) have a beneficial effect on brain activity, normalize the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
• It is worth paying attention to red fruits and vegetables (beets, raspberries, peppers, radishes, tomatoes, pomegranates). They help to strengthen the immune system, improve the absorption of food and increase vitality.

In addition to colorful foods, you should include in your diet more fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids. A lack of them can lead to early aging of the brain and a decrease in mental activity. Most of the omega-3 fatty acids are found in tuna, salmon and herring.

4. Be physically active

Nobody requires you to run marathons, but at least minimal physical activity is essential. Regular exercise is essential for keeping your brain in good shape.

Your heart rate increases during exercise, the intensity of blood flow increases, nutrients are actively supplied to the brain, and its cells are enriched with oxygen. Thus, the risk of developing a stroke is significantly reduced.

You don't even need to buy a gym membership. Instead, you can use alternative methods of stimulating physical activity: walking to grocery instead of driving, taking the stairs home instead of taking the elevator, and walking two stops away from where you want to go.

Our brain is exactly the same muscle as our heart, and both of them need regular training in order to stay in good shape.

5. Reduce your stress level

There is an explanation as to why coloring books and puzzles are so attractive for adults. They are great at relieving stress, and research has shown that this type of activity can be extremely beneficial for adults to relax and give the brain a break.

Chronic stress negatively affects mood and sleep patterns, and can increase blood pressure and cortisol levels. This drains the body and can lead to depression.

Constant stress can provoke chemical imbalances that are harmful to the brain and other cells in the body. One of the most effective ways to prevent stress is meditation.

Even if you are young, full of energy and the problems of senile dementia do not bother you very much, we still advise you to follow these five simple recommendations. Here's what you need to keep your brain healthy: exercise, regular communication, healthy eating, less stress, and some rewarding hobby.