7 Ways to Fight Brain Drain
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It’s a common belief that brain aging is inevitable, but the rate at which it ages depends partly on you. You can make several choices to invigorate your brain to make it younger than its years.
How Do I Make My Brain Stronger and Healthier?
The prescription for a healthier brain isn’t all that complicated. The basics for brain health include exercising body and mind, social engagement, treating vascular risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, not smoking, minimal alcohol, and getting enough rest.
Evidence is compelling that if we do all of these things, our brain is going to stay healthier. There are no guarantees in life, but you can hedge your bets in that direction.
Controlling blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar if you have diabetes all can make a difference for brain health.
Follow these seven steps to a healthier brain:
1. Exercise
The exercise recommended most is walking. Walk in a place you enjoy. Be mindful of the beauty of the environment. Get rid of stresses of the day. All of these are advantages of walking.
In addition, walking outdoors provides sunshine and vitamin D, helps strengthen your bones and muscles, and improves mood. Plus, walking offers a platform for socializing and improving circulation.
Researchers at two universities recently found that getting seniors who were sedentary to walk regularly increased the size of the hippocampus — the brain’s memory center — by 2 percent in one year.
2. Be Social
Pursue social activities that energize you and engage your mind. Make the effort to spend time with family or friends or get involved in a community project or volunteering.
There’s evidence that a social network is good for brain health, mood, and all aspects of health.
3. Control Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
Vascular problems with small areas of the brain can impair brain function. Controlling blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar if you have diabetes all can make a difference for brain health.
4. Eat Healthy
All those foods that are good for your heart are also good for your brain. Focus your eating on whole grains, fruits and vegetables, fish, lean meats, nuts, olive oil, and other healthy fats. Read more about a brain-healthy diet.
5. Learn Something New
If you want to spark new neural connections and energize your brain, challenge it by creating something, reading, learning a new skill or language, or thinking strategically.
Going to work each day keeps the brain engaged. If you’ve reached retirement, volunteering, mentoring, or serving on a board allows you to share the wisdom of decades of work and interaction. People need something to get up for.
6. Don’t Smoke; Limit Drinking 
Smoking damages the blood vessels that bring food and oxygen to your brain. The negative result can be a faster decline in brain function or more severe memory or thinking problems.
Drinking in moderation is not harmful to the brain but be cautious against excess consumption. The effects of alcohol are more dramatic as we get older. You may not want quite as good a pour of alcohol as you age.
7. Get Good Sleep
During sleep, the brain rids itself of certain toxins. Sleep problems such as sleep apnea (temporary stoppages in breathing while you sleep) and insomnia disrupt this cleansing process.
Sleep apnea is associated with changes in memory and thinking. Many people do much better if sleep apnea is treated.
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Source: Alzheimer’s Association; AARP
