Scientists are now talking about “brain fitness” the way they’ve
long talked about cardiovascular fitness. Let me explain. We’ve
known for decades that there are many things that you can do to
keep your heart and blood vessels healthy. Controlling blood pressure
and cholesterol, not smoking, eating a diet that’s low in saturated
fats and trans fatty acids, and exercising regularly are
proven ways to reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. It
turns out that essentially every single lifestyle factor that benefits
cardiovascular health also benefits brain health. This is no surprise
because the brain is highly dependent upon nutrition and energy
derived from what we eat and that are delivered through the vascular
system. Now researchers are identifying other ways to keep
your brain agile and strong so that you can reduce or even reverse
the types of memory lapses that are common with age.
While it’s true that the quality of your memory is determined,
in part, by your genes (choosing your parents wisely could really
help!), preservation of optimal brain condition and function
depends on numerous factors, many of which are within your
direct control. Optimizing these factors amounts to establishing
good habits early in life and sticking with them for the long term.
- Prevent or control hypertension and hyperlipidemia.
- Engage in regular cardiovascular, or aerobic, exercisethirty to forty-five minutes per day, at least four daysper week
- Go easy on alcohol.
- Get a good night’s sleep
- Manage stress
- Consider taking vitamins.
- Minimize your use of benzodiazepines and other prescription medications that have known adverse effects on brain function
- Take care in using over-the-counter medicines, too
- Keep learning new things
- Minimize passive activities, such as watching TV.
- Maintain a sense of psychological engagement in life.
