I've noticed that I I get older, I tend to be more forgetful. (Opening the pantry and then forgetting what I was looking for.)
Then I read an article that stated the older we become, the slower we get. Great… not what I wanted to hear.
But is this inevitable? Or is there in fact a way to slow down and prevent age-related cognitive decline?
Read on and let’s see what can be done to either prevent or slow down this process…
Use it or Lose It
Simply put, the best way to prevent your brain from deteriorating is to use it more. The more you challenge your brain, the more you will produce the necessary neurotransmitters that encourage plasticity and that keeps you learning and keeps you nimble.
One of the big problems as we get older, is that we tend to stop learning new things or subjecting ourselves to new experiences. This can actually lead to the brain becoming less flexible and adaptable – the connections that you no longer use will ‘shrivel’ and the ones that you do use will become strengthened, making it hard to ‘learn new tricks’. Just like an old dog!
The result is that you become less interested in new things, less motivated and generally your brain becomes weaker.
Move More
What’s also highly important is to move your body more.
The brain is actually designed primarily for moving the body and this is the primary way that it learns about its environment. The more you move around and the more you challenge yourself to learn more motor movements, the more your brain will grow and strengthen.
This has actually been demonstrated in studies – where it has been seen that people who move less as they get older will become more likely to see decreases in intelligence.
Make Healthy Food Choices
You knew this was coming – nutrition is also highly important if you hope to boost your brain power and keep it optimal as you age.
The role of good nutrition is to fuel your brain with all of the micronutrients it needs to perform at its best – that means amino acids to repair damage, saturated fats to help with communication through the brain and vitamins and minerals to help synthesize neurochemicals and enhance signals throughout the brain.
If you went for long periods of time without getting enough nutrients when you were young, this could end up causing cumulative damage that will affect you once you’re older. For these reasons, it’s absolutely essential to keep feeding your brain with the best nutrients and to avoid things like alcohol that you know are bad for it.
Also important is to eat foods that are high in antioxidants, which will help to protect the brain from damaging free-radicals that can form tumors.
Look after your brain now and it will take care of you when you’re older!