Some of the lifestyle choices you make as a young adult during your development years can either contribute to or minimize the risk of cognitive decline.
What you undertake in your early adult years can have serious consequences on the health of your brain. Developing suitable lifestyle decisions early on can defend against your cognitive abilities receding as you age. Staying away from drugs, alcohol and smoking can spell a world of difference if you want to minimize the risk of cognitive decline.
While regretfully, there’s yet no remedy for Alzheimer’s, there are a number of ways to slow down, possibly even countermand, its symptoms by partaking in healthy functions that provide protection to the brain and incites brain cells to become more engaged and alert.
1. Stay Socially Involved
There’s no denying how fun it is doing undertakings with your friends, or perhaps even going to new places and getting to know new people. We are sociable fellows. When you associate with other people, even through a simple smile or handshake, your brain releases the happy hormone known as oxytocin. This boosts your mood, reduces stress and enhances cognitive functions.
2. Move Outside Your Comfort Zone
As we age, we become trapped in a particular routine. Adults don’t like attempting new things, in general, which can be a reason why our brains begin shrinking as we age. As children, we always relished undertaking new projects and doing things we’ve not ever done in the past. But as we grow older, having a go at new things makes us more uneasy and we fear being rejected and awkwardness which reduces brain activation and increases cognitive decline.
3. Exercise Regularly, Eat Healthily, Sleep Properly
Exercise: Getting frequent workouts comes with a bundle of perks including physical, emotional and equally important, mental. It can boost mental operating performance, memory while decreasing, even fixing, cognitive impairment.
And exercising doesn’t always denote high-intensity, hours-on-end, extensive exercises. It can be a simple 30-minute walk, going for a swim, gardening, or working on yoga. The thing is to help keep your muscles engaged and your blood pumping for no less than half an hour.
Eating: Manage a well-balanced dietary plan of fruits, vegetables, protein, whole wheat and omega-3 fatty acids. Aim to keep away from foods high in sugar, carbohydrates and trans fats. Research studies determined that there are foods that shape up brain health such as avocados, olive oil, spices such as turmeric, curry, ginger, nuts and berries because they’re rich in phytochemicals which are packed with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.
They boost good health and can help minimize the risk of cognitive decline by assisting the metabolic process of glucose in the brain. It also increases cognitive signals. Drinking 2 and a half cups of blueberry juice or concord grape juice daily for 12 weeks consecutively has been demonstrated to help prevent, even undo, cognitive problems and neuronal functioning.
Zumba Exercise ClassSleeping: We all should be receiving, on average, 8 hours of quality sleep each night. If you get less than 7 hours of sleep at night, that could expand your risk of cognitive decline in the long run. What you do in your early adulthood years can have a serious effect on your brain health as you age – it’s all linked.
A review of observational studies carried out in 2014 states that “healthy sleep appears to play a vital role in maintaining brain health with age, and may play a key role in Alzheimer’s disease prevention.”
4. Tune In To Music.
Music interacts with the right side of the brain, enabling you to concentrate more on what you’re working on rather than permitting your head to wander. It also decreases stress and anxiety. What’s even appealing is that setting words to music enhances memory and concentration skills. It also enhances brain processes and can even reverse Alzheimer’s symptoms.
5. Play Games
Your brain requires exercise to stay young and fit. Mental endeavors slow down cognitive impairment and increase focus and concentration. And now there’s a limitless array of mental puzzles to choose from. You can shop for them at book shops, enjoy them on your phone or tablet. Even adding up your food bill in your head is a terrific way to keep your brain pumped and vigilant.
Reading, mastering a new language or playing a musical instrument are marvelous illustrations of ventures that keep your brain running at its best. Another great way to develop brand new brain pathways is to attempt something new, like taking a different route to work or write with your non-dominant hand. Your brain really wants to be challenged, so why not grant it what it wants. These things all help minimize the risks that enhance cognitive decline.
A Closing Note
Although it’s a usual part of life to experience a slight decrease in our mental capacities as we age, we have the capacity to slow it down. It’s not ever too early to begin, no matter where you are in life. You can manage to keep your brain healthy, so you can age gracefully and savor every minute of it.
