5 Ways To Keep Your Brain Young
“The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.” ― Madeleine L'Engle
As we age our brain undergoes changes. Things that were once easy to recall become harder and harder to remember. Names disappear from our memory; recall is a little slower; and sometimes we just forget to do certain things.
This is the natural progression of age and an indicator that some neural connections are undergoing degradation. That’s ok though, because there are some things that can be done to ensure that we keep our brains young.
Through habits that have a positive net-value we can enhance some of these connections, and in some cases even create new ones.
Does that sound interesting? This is what you can do!
Mental Stimulation
Read, learn an instrument, build birdhouses, create art; any stimulation that requires mental and manual energy will help to develop your neuroplasticity. If that isn’t your thing, or you are not able to do those things, then work on crosswords, puzzles, math problems, or learn a language. All of these things will go a long way towards creating new neural pathways. Research suggests these activities create new connections between cells, and in some instances may even generate new brain cells.
Exercise
Research suggests that using your physical body helps with your mental health and brain activity. It is possible to create new nerve cells in the brain through exercise. By doing this our brains become more adaptive, malleable and more efficient. All of this means that if we exercise then we can perform better mentally and keep our brains young.
Eat Better
According to the Zutphen Elderly Study Published 2007, “fish consumers had significantly less 5-year subsequent cognitive decline than non-consumers.”
Science Daily reports from another study – “People who eat baked or broiled fish on a weekly basis may be improving their brain health and reducing their risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111130095257.htm
What this tells us is that all of our eating habits do matter and as such we need to look for more healthier alternatives, that includes, nuts, fruits, vegetables and lean meats, including fish.
Avoid Tobacco and Alcohol
Simple. Just don’t even consider it. If you must drink an alcoholic beverage just keep it to a drink or two per week. Alcohol destroys brain function as does nicotine. Additionally, alcohol has been shown to lead to an increase of risk for dementia.
Be Social
Having a group to attend or many family members around you does help with keeping your brain young. The reasons is that people that have social connections have lower instances of depression, anxiety and other antisocial behaviors. So, when your old friend from high school calls, go ahead and go out for that cup of coffee.
Keeping our brains young is not something that is hard, with a little diet, exercise and social skills we can ensure that we keep sharp for many, many years to come.
As we age our brain undergoes changes. Things that were once easy to recall become harder and harder to remember. Names disappear from our memory; recall is a little slower; and sometimes we just forget to do certain things.
This is the natural progression of age and an indicator that some neural connections are undergoing degradation. That’s ok though, because there are some things that can be done to ensure that we keep our brains young.
Through habits that have a positive net-value we can enhance some of these connections, and in some cases even create new ones.
Does that sound interesting? This is what you can do!
Mental Stimulation
Read, learn an instrument, build birdhouses, create art; any stimulation that requires mental and manual energy will help to develop your neuroplasticity. If that isn’t your thing, or you are not able to do those things, then work on crosswords, puzzles, math problems, or learn a language. All of these things will go a long way towards creating new neural pathways. Research suggests these activities create new connections between cells, and in some instances may even generate new brain cells.
Exercise
Research suggests that using your physical body helps with your mental health and brain activity. It is possible to create new nerve cells in the brain through exercise. By doing this our brains become more adaptive, malleable and more efficient. All of this means that if we exercise then we can perform better mentally and keep our brains young.
Eat Better
According to the Zutphen Elderly Study Published 2007, “fish consumers had significantly less 5-year subsequent cognitive decline than non-consumers.”
Science Daily reports from another study – “People who eat baked or broiled fish on a weekly basis may be improving their brain health and reducing their risk of developing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111130095257.htm
What this tells us is that all of our eating habits do matter and as such we need to look for more healthier alternatives, that includes, nuts, fruits, vegetables and lean meats, including fish.
Avoid Tobacco and Alcohol
Simple. Just don’t even consider it. If you must drink an alcoholic beverage just keep it to a drink or two per week. Alcohol destroys brain function as does nicotine. Additionally, alcohol has been shown to lead to an increase of risk for dementia.
Be Social
Having a group to attend or many family members around you does help with keeping your brain young. The reasons is that people that have social connections have lower instances of depression, anxiety and other antisocial behaviors. So, when your old friend from high school calls, go ahead and go out for that cup of coffee.
Keeping our brains young is not something that is hard, with a little diet, exercise and social skills we can ensure that we keep sharp for many, many years to come.