6 Ways to Support Brain Health and Keep Your Thinking Sharp

Keeping your brain healthy is important at any age, but especially for adults. There are many different factors that impact how your brain functions as you get older, including age-related memory loss, brain fog, and less-than-ideal lifestyle habits.

If you’re finding that you’re constantly forgetting where you left your keys or parked your car (or even finding that more significant things are slipping your memory)…

Or if your focus has tanked and it takes everything within you to keep your mind on your work during the day…

Changing how you’re supporting your brain may make all the difference.

While dementia and Alzheimer’s will affect a portion of the population, virtually ALL of us will face some level of age-related cognitive decline that impacts our memory, attention, and processing speed. These changes make life harder by affecting our overall executive function, organization, and decision-making.

The Cleveland Clinic put out a great challenge to focus on just 6 key areas that can make a huge difference in the way your brain works. These pillars of brain health are not anything new for many of us, but now is a great time to really dial in and give your brain the support it needs to thrive so you can feel your best!

Here are 6 Checkpoints to Help You Support Your Brain Health:

Each of these categories is a great place to self-reflect and determine how you can do more to optimize your brain health for higher energy, clearer thinking, and better focus and memory.

#1: Choose Foods that Fuel Your Brain

Eating a diet rich in certain nutrients can protect your brain health, and potentially even ward off Alzheimer’s and dementia, according to research.

While there is no “magic food” that prevents these diseases, some key players that have shown promise for lasting brain health include:

• Leafy greens (daily consumption has been found to slow age-related cognitive decline)
• Berries
• Whole grains
• Fish (or fish oil if you’re not a seafood person—the omega 3’s are what’s important!)
• Beans
• Nuts
• Coffee and tea
• Wine (in moderation)
• Dark chocolate (in moderation)
• Spices like turmeric, cinnamon and ginger

Many of these foods make the list because of high antioxidant content. As we get older, there is often a buildup of waste in our cells due to stress, poor circulation, and inflammation. Consuming foods like these (and avoiding high-sugar foods and unhealthy fats) may help you support healthy cognition as you age!

#2: Move Your Body for Your Brain

According to the Cleveland Clinic, people who exercise regularly have a lower likelihood of developing age-related cognitive decline.

In fact, in a recent study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, researchers found that regular physical exercise directly impacts your hippocampus—the area of your brain that deals with long-term memories and is one of the first areas affected by Alzheimer’s.

When it comes to exercise, just doing SOMETHING is what really matters more than any one type.

In general, aerobic exercises like running, swimming, or biking are well-recognized to protect your brain (and your body). However, even more gentle forms of exercise like yoga, strength training, and walking also have protective benefits for your health.

#3: Sleep and Stress Management for Clearer Thinking

Getting enough quality sleep and reducing your stress throughout the day are critical parts of keeping your brain sharp and healthy.

We all know what it feels like to wake up in a fog after a restless night—but for many adults, this feeling just becomes “normal” and we compensate with coffee all day long. Quality sleep is one of the biggest benchmarks of a healthy brain as you get older, so doing everything you can to rest well is important.

During your waking hours, stress is unavoidable—but just as toxic for your body as a lack of sleep. Feeling stressed drives your brain into a fight-or-flight response that clouds your thinking, and if you stay in this state for any length of time, your decision-making, memory, and attention skills feel like they disappear.

Having moments of breathwork, meditation, journaling, positive affirmations, or breathwork throughout your day can really help keep your brain clear and sharp (and if you’re feeling less stressed, it’ll translate to better sleep in many cases, so it’s a win-win!)

#4: Manage Your Medical Risk Factors

Your brain is a part of your body, so if you have risk factors for other areas of your health, your brain is going to be impacted too.

In particular, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension can all contribute to faster cognitive decline.

Having regular checkups, keeping up with your medications or other therapies, staying active, and eating a healthy diet can help keep these things at bay—and do the double duty of protecting your brain’s health, too!

#5: Stay Connected Socially

Studies show that individuals with richer friendships or social interactions have the slowest rates of cognitive decline.

Keeping your brain stimulated with conversations, activities, and relationships with people of all ages benefits not only your brain’s health, but also your mood, memory, stress levels, and more.

Get out and volunteer, plug into your communities, invest in your friendships… your brain will thank you!

#6: Exercise Your Brain

Mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness, especially as you get older. Experts have found that you have something called “brain reserve”—your brain’s innate ability to change, adapt, and resist damage. This reserve begins building in childhood and continues through adulthood as long as you are exercising it.

Working out your brain and building its resilience through learning new things, playing games or puzzles, or, yes, brain training can keep your mind sharper for years ahead!

At LearningRx, we have worked with hundreds of older adults who were worried about their memory fading and their cognition weakening. Over the course of brain training, these adults experienced incredible gains across the board in all cognitive skills, enabling them to feel more in control, alert, and sharp:

(Read more about these results here.)

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you exercise your brain to keep it sharp, no matter your age!