Last March 23, I attended a webinar by Herbalife Philippines about healthy aging. It specifically addressed brain fitness. The guest speaker was Gary Small, M.D. He’s not only a doctor but also a professor of psychiatry and director of the UCLA Longevity. He spoke about mind health and how we can keep our brain fit as we get older. I find this relevant to our current situation since we’ve been in community quarantine for over a year. It’s more challenging for some to keep busy and sane.
According to Dr. Small, these are the key components of mind health:
- Strong Memory
- Steady Mood
- Focused Attention
- Ability to Think and Reason
- Agreeable Personality
- Brain Health
The brain has a part called the hippocampus. This is responsible for our ability to think and remember. In order to prevent Alzheimer’s disease when we age, we need to grow the hippocampus. To do this, we need aerobic exercise. Exercise is the best way to generate new hippocampal neurons, which in turn lowers our risk for Alzheimer’s disease. One study showed that walking one mile a day lowers Alzheimer’s risk by 48%.
So apart from exercise, there are several other ways we can keep our brain fit and healthy:
- Technology – Did you know that playing video games improve visual attention and reaction time? Surgeons who actually play video games make fewer surgical errors.
- Relaxation – Get enough sleep and take breaks when working or performing tasks.
- Social Relationships – Talking with an emphatic friend lowers stress and protects brain cells. Stimulating conversations increase memory performance and mental speed.
- Physical Fitness – Keeping yourself fit is important since obese people have increased risk for mental disorders like dementia. Being overweight worsens memory while weight loss improves it.
- Healthy Eating – Consume Omega-3 rich foods like fatty fish, nuts, etc.
Remember, prevention is always better than cure — especially where mental disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia are concerned. Let’s take care of what we have while we can.
Herbalife Nutrition has a wide selection of products which can help maintain overall health and well-being. For more information, visit https://iamherbalifenutrition.com/.
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Very effective information for me. Thanks for sharing.