Try new things every day
While you’re eating lots of vegetables and keeping an eye on your blood pressure, don’t forget that an important part of protecting your cognitive health is enjoying life and taxing your brain in pleasurable ways. Mixing up routines, taking on new challenges, and stepping outside your comfort zone provide stimulation that might help your brain maintain its resilience and build your cognitive reserves. The following suggestions come from the book Outsmarting Alzheimer’s: What You Can Do to Reduce Your Risk, by Kenneth S. Kosik, MD, and Alisa Bowman.
Talk to strangers
When we’re seated next to a stranger on a bus, plane, or train, most of us clam up and keep to ourselves. Yet research from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has found that many of us overestimate the difficulty of connecting with strangers and underestimate the rewards of doing so. Before engaging in the study, participants predicted that engaging with strangers would reduce their well-being. But when they went ahead and struck up a conversation with the person seated next to them, the opposite happened. They felt better than when they sat in solitude.
Choose the brightest of the bunch
The pigments that lend bright colors to many fruits and vegetables are especially powerful sources of antioxidants. Higher vegetable consumption was associated with slower rate of cognitive decline in 3,718 people ages 65 years and older who participated in the Chicago Health and Aging Project. All of the study participants scored lower on cognitive tests at the end of the study than they did at the beginning, but those who consumed more than four daily servings of vegetables experienced a 40 percent slower decline in their abilities than people who consumed less than one daily serving.
Check out a ‘laughter club’
It’s no joke. Laughter clubs exist all over the country. They’re run by ‘certified laughter leaders’—often psychologists, therapists, and psychiatrists—who are trained in the healing benefits of laughter. These workshops can help you connect with others as you get in a good laugh. Look at World Laughter Tourto find out if there’s a club near you. A good belly laugh produces a chemical reaction that elevates your mood; reduces pain, stress, and blood pressure; and boosts immunity. Humor therapy may be as effective as some prescription drugs at reducing agitation in people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Nursing home patients who were entertained by clowns for two hours once a week were significantly less aggressive and agitated. Even two weeks after the nursing home stopped bringing in the clowns, the patients remained less agitated.
Brew yourself some tea
Black and green tea are rich sources of antioxidants called catechins that may fend off oxidative damage throughout the body, including the brain. Green tea is also a rich source of epigallocatechin-3-gallate, which has been shown to reduce beta-amyloid plaque and tau tangles in mice. Tea has also been shown to drop blood pressure and cholesterol levels. But commercially available bottled teas have been shown to contain few, if any, of these protective substances.
Train in short bursts of vigorous activity
Rather than exercise in one long 30-minute session, consider breaking up your exercise into shorter seven- to ten-minute bursts, repeated several times a day. This kind of training may be ideal for people who have diabetes, a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, especially if you do these bursts about a half hour before each meal. Study participants with insulin resistance (a precursor to diabetes) were instructed to do six minutes of vigorous exercise (such as walking uphill on a treadmill or vigorous calisthenics) interspersed with six minutes of recovery exercise (such as slow walking) about a half hour before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other study participants just walked for 30 minutes before dinner. Those who did the six-minute vigorous intervals experienced better post-meal blood sugar levels than study participants who did the once-daily, moderate session.
Dance the night away
If brain-fitness awards were given to types of fitness pursuits, dance would earn the first-place trophy year after year after year. That’s because it combines several brain-health prescriptions into one. If you dance with a group or a partner, you are exercising social smarts. If you are learning new steps, you’re also boosting your intellectual fitness. Dance, by nature, is fun, which helps to reduce stress. Ballroom dancers have performed higher on tests of cognition than did nondancers, and competitive ballroom dancers have scored higher on many different measures of cognitive performance, including reaction time.
Take up a craft
In a study of 256 octogenarians by researchers at the Mayo Clinic, crafting activities—such as woodworking, pottery, ceramics, and quilting—reduced the likelihood of mild cognitive impairment by 55 percent. In a smaller study done in Germany, 60- and 70-year-olds who took art classes improved their scores on tests of psychological resilience over 14 weeks, indicating that their ability to cope with stress had grown. Also, fMRI (functional MRI) scans revealed that their brains had sprouted new connections in areas that tend to lose connections with increasing age. Try these other 15 memory exercises that keep your brain sharp.
Sprinkle on cinnamon
Just a quarter teaspoon of the spice twice a day has been shown to reduce fasting blood sugar up to 29 percent in people with type 2 diabetes. This is important because type 2 diabetes can raise your risk of dementia. The spice has also been found to reduce blood cholesterol and inflammation, both of which can further reduce your risk. Cinnamon can help you add some sweetness to foods without using sugar. Sprinkle it on oatmeal, fruit, pancakes, and coffee, and experiment by adding it to other main-course dishes like chili.
Imagine waterfalls
Research tells us that counting sheep doesn’t help us nod off any more quickly than lying in bed and letting our minds wander, but here’s a tactic that does seem to help: visualizing a relaxing scene, such as a waterfall. When Allison Harvey and Suzanna Payne of England’s Oxford University asked 50 insomniacs to try different distraction techniques on different nights, it was the waterfall visualizations that came out on top. Study participants who pictured waterfalls nodded off 20 minutes faster than others who counted sheep or did nothing in particular.
Go bowling
In one study, nursing home patients with dementia participated in daily, two-hour-long therapy sessions that included bowling or croquet, as well as gardening, brain games, and crafts. Patients who participated in these sessions were still able to perform the tasks of daily living, such as eating or using the bathroom, unassisted, after 12 months. Residents who did not participate in the sessions lost ground in their ability to perform these tasks without help.
Grow a garden
The physical act of pulling weeds and raking leaves raises the heart rate and strengthens muscles in your hands, arms, shoulders, back, and legs. Being outdoors and surrounded by beautiful flowers can relax the mind. Finally, gardening requires intellectual smarts to plant the right seeds in the right places at the right time of year, to prune plants when they need it, and to combat pests and other obstacles.
Snack on kiwifruit
One study found an improvement in sleep when study participants consumed two kiwis an hour before bed. Though it’s unclear why this fruit might help, one theory holds that it is high in serotonin.
Stand every half hour
When researchers asked overweight and obese office workers to use a standing workstation for 30 minutes out of every hour, the workers’ post-meal blood sugar response improved, thus reducing their risk for developing Alzheimer’s. Set a timer to buzz every half hour. Get up and stretch, do some light calisthenics, or go for a short walk for a minute or two before sitting back down. Stand when talking on the phone, while waiting for the bus or a plane, and while chatting at get-togethers.
Throw dinner parties
Deciding whom to invite, what to serve, and who is sitting next to whom forces your brain to contemplate complex social decisions. Is Sally likely to get along with George? Do any of your guests have food allergies? Cooking the dishes and ensuring that they’re all ready around the same time the guests arrive requires a great deal of strategic planning, which is a high-level intellectual skill. With each recipe, you follow step-by-step instructions. If you are doubling portions, then there’s also some math involved, and there’s plenty of measuring and estimating, too
Learn to meditate
Researchers from National University of Singapore found that people who performed Vajrayana meditation—a Tibetan style that involves connecting with and visualizing enlightened beings—experienced improved attention and performed better on cognitive tasks just after their meditation sessions, possibly because the meditation boosted blood flow to their brains.Try it now. Sit comfortably with your eyes closed. Focus on your breath. Notice how it feels as it comes in your nose and goes back out again. Don’t try to control it or change it. Just allow it to come in and out naturally. If you notice other sensations, such as an ache in your back or an urgent thought about something on your to-do list, just keep returning to the breath. Allow distractions to pass through your mind like clouds pass through a sky. Every time you notice yourself following your thinking, just redirect your mind where you want it to go. Every time you return to the breath, you are training your concentration and bringing yourself to the present moment. In addition to following the breath, you can try bringing your awareness to a word (such as one or peace) or a location in your body (such as your heart). You can also concentrate on an idea or belief, such as a feeling of gratitude, compassion, or love.
Eat fruit for dessert
Fruit is naturally sweet. Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top of berries for a simple, low-calorie brain booster. Or puree berries, watermelon, and other fruits, and freeze them
Relax with yoga nidra
Sometimes called ‘yogic sleep,’ yoga nidra is a guided visualization that deeply relaxes the body. In one study, college students who practiced yoga nidra for eight weeks experienced less stress, worry, and depression. Other research shows that yoga nidra may also help to keep blood sugar in check. This is an important finding because diabetes is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Find a class, or listen to a number of free sessions on the Internet. Psychologist Richard Miller, PhD, offers a free guided-imagery session available for download at the Integrative Restoration Institute.
Try alternate nostril breathing
It helps you to take deeper breaths and doubles as a breathing meditation. Use your thumb or index finger to close off the right nostril. Inhale long and slowly through the left. Then switch so that your finger closes the left nostril and breathe out through the right. Then inhale through the right and continue to switch back and forth. Not only will this and other deep-breathing exercises reduce your stress and tension, but they also offer a side benefit of strengthening your attention.
Shower at night
Our body temperature fluctuates throughout the day and the night, varying from one or two degrees below 98.6˚F to one or two degrees above. It generally starts to fall during the evening, reaching its lowest point during sleep, and this fall in temperature is one of the mechanisms that cause us to feel sleepy. You can enhance the sleepiness induced by the body-cooling effect by taking a warm shower or bath in the evening. The shower warms you by a degree or two. But then the warming effect wears off. As your body cools back down, sleepiness sets in. In one small study, women who took a long, warm bath in the midafternoon to early evening felt sleepier at bedtime and slept more deeply, too. Shower or bathe at least 90 minutes before bed to experience the best of the cooling effect. In addition to helping induce grogginess, this can be a great way to unwind and relax away stress.
Pray
Prayer and a variety of other religious rituals may allow you to let go of worries that may be preying on your mind, and gathering with a community of like-minded people helps you to feel less alone. In a study by Israeli and American researchers and funded by the National Institutes of Health, Islamic women who prayed daily had a reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment compared with women who did not pray. A different study by researchers at Arizona State University and the University of Utah found that people who considered themselves to be deeply religious or spiritual, prayed regularly, and attended religious services had lower cortisol responses and lower blood pressure than people who were less religious.
Grow rosemary
This herb contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds that may protect brain health. In one small study, 28 seniors who drank a tomato drink spiked with 750 milligrams of dried rosemary—somewhat more of the spice than you might typically ingest through normal culinary flavoring—performed better on a memory test given six hours later than seniors who did not ingest the spice. Although such small studies are never definitive, they do point the way toward larger studies. Even just smelling the herb may offer some benefit. Study participants who sat inside a cubicle that was infused with the scent of rosemary were able to solve a series of math problems more quickly than when they weren’t surrounded by the scent.It’s thought that rosemary may boost brain function by preventing the breakdown of a key neurotransmitter in the brain. Keep a potted rosemary plant in your kitchen, and use the herb to flavor everything from soups to roasted vegetables. Puree some with olive oil to create a pesto. You can also use the rosemary branch to skewer shrimp for grilling.
Single-task
Though many of us may believe we’re quite good at multitasking, we’re probably only fooling ourselves. Switching back and forth between tasks—such as checking email repeatedly as you complete a work project—actually wastes time and makes you less efficient and productive. Every time you take a break from what you are doing, you have to start the task at hand over mentally. This mental restart can take anywhere from a few seconds to many minutes. More than just ruining our efficiency, multitasking can cause us undue stress.
Volunteer
People who spent time helping others—by driving them to doctor’s appointments, running errands for them, providing child care and other tasks—were able to navigate and survive highly stressful life events over five years better than people who didn’t. Other research has found that people who volunteer their time have a greater sense of purpose and improved well-being. They also tend to have less trouble sleeping, less anxiety, and less loneliness. It may be that, by helping others, we get a boost in oxytocin or other brain chemicals, which seem to protect us from stress-induced health problems.
Learn to play an instrument
Learning and playing an instrument forces you to sharpen many different cognitive processes, including attention, memory, motor skills, auditory skills, and visual skills. It’s no wonder studies have found that playing a musical instrument delays the onset of cognitive decline. When researchers from Emory University tested the cognitive health of 70 older adults, they found that study participants with at least ten years of musical experience performed better on tests of nonverbal memory, naming, and many other cognitive processes than older adults with less training or no training at all.In addition to helping keep your brain sharp, music lessons may also allow you to maintain fine motor skills, especially if you learn an instrument that requires complex finger motions. When researchers offered piano lessons to older adults, the study participants were able to improve cognitive abilities—including attention, concentration, and planning—over just six months, compared with study participants who didn’t take lessons.
Breathe lavender while you sleep
Research shows that the scent of lavender serves as a mild sedative that can slow heart rate, drop blood pressure, and relax the body. In one study, people who sniffed lavender before bed slept more deeply and felt more refreshed in the morning. Sprinkle a few drops of pure lavender essential oil on a tissue to tuck under your pillow.