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So you want to retain a sharp memory? Well you can!
Is your memory not what it used to be? Do you enter a room and forget what for?
Well, normal, cognitive changes as we age are completely normal. This may include mild cognitive impairment, which is quite common in humans after midlife.
Usually this “dulling of the mind” starts around middle age.
Since the average person lives to about 80 years old, this means that if you’re 40, you are middle aged.
Even if you are nowhere near 40 right now, this age comes sooner than you think. Time passes very fast while you’re living it.
Working on keeping your mind sharp as you age can and should start from a young age. The younger you start, the better.
However, even if you’re over middle age right now, and maybe you feel as if you have less mental dexterity than when you were younger, you can still implement what you will read here.
If you do, you may avoid suffering too much decline. You can keep your mind as sharp as possible and even improve it.
Keep Your Mind Sharp As You Age
It’s normal to experience changes in your brain throughout your life. As you go through middle age and beyond, your brain will slowly shrink.
This is all completely normal and while it sounds frightening, you don’t have to be scared. With the right plan, you can – if you work on it – actually grow your brain. Even if it’s already started shrinking.
Keep Your Independence Longer
If you can take care of yourself and remember to pay your bills, turn off the cooker, and that type of thing, you will be able to be independent a lot longer than if you can’t do those things.
Working on improving your memory and brain function now, even if you have no mental or cognitive decline at all, will ensure that you will put it off even longer.
No Dementia In Retaining A Sharp Memory
Even though a large percentage of people over 70 have some form of dementia, you can certainly lessen the effects by working on your mental and physical health.
Eating right, keeping your mind sharp by reading, doing new things, and living an active life is your best defense against any illness and costs less than medical intervention.
Improve And Retain A Sharp Memory!
Being able to remember to take your meds, or even remember what day it is, is an important factor in being able to live on your own.
If you cannot remember what day it is, it’s hard to remember to pay your light bill or buy the right amount of food to eat.
Don’t worry, though; even if you have a hard time remembering things now, you can learn methods to make it easier.
Experience Better Health In General
Taking care of your brain health will naturally rub off into creating a situation where your entire body is healthier.
The main reason is that the same thing that keeps your brain healthy will maintain your general health.
Eating right, drinking plenty of water, getting exercise, resting, and reducing stress are good for you all the way around.
Retain A Sharp Memory While Enjoying Retirement
When you can be independent, remember your scheduled evening out with friends, and remember to pay your bills, you will obviously enjoy your retirement more.
It’s more pleasurable if you’re healthy and your mind is sharp.
You’ll have a lot more fun because you will be free of other worries once you retire. You’re also likely to earn more money longer due to having a sharp mind.
Keeping your mind sharp pays off in more than one way. Being independent as long as humanly possible is also a massive benefit to the rest of your family.
The less your family worries about you, the more independent you can be, for longer.
It’s a lot less expensive for you to stay independent.
Eat Right And Keep Moving To Retain A Sharp Memory
So, let’s take a brief look at things you can do to make your life better and to keep your mind sharp as you age.
When it comes to your general health, there is not a much more effective plan than to eat right and to keep moving.
The eating component is a lot more important than doing any type of planned exercise but adding in daily walking or other types of exercise will make it all that much more effective.
Mind Your Diet
It sounds simple to eat right, but with all the fad diets and questionable plans out there, the best thing you can do is just to eat right for your needs.
No matter what type of diet you go on, eating fresh local produce is better for you than any other type of food.
Try making half your plate veggies and a quarter of it fruit, and you will automatically feel healthier. Your mind will become sharper too.
The reason is that your brain needs glucose to work best, and the easiest way to use glucose in a healthy way is from fresh produce like fruit and veggies.
Eat More Fruit – Some people are afraid of fruit but if you don’t have diabetes, you can and should eat fruit. Don’t drink fruit; eat it. Eating berries is especially very good for you.
Fruit is fantastic for brain health. The more colorful the fruit, the more you should eat of it. Dementia is marked by plaque build-up in the brain, but fruit can help reduce that.
Eat More Veggies – Just like fruit, veggies help reduce oxidative stress which is thought to be one of the causes or contributors to different forms of cognitive decline (including various forms of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease).
This makes veggies one of the most important things you should consume.
Drink Lots of Fresh Filtered Water – Most of us are walking around slightly dehydrated because we have learned to ignore our thirst cues.
In fact, your body wants water so much that sometimes it tells you that you are hungry in hopes you’ll eat something with moisture.
Your brain cells require a certain balance of compounds, including water, to work properly. If you are fully hydrated, you’ll be less likely to suffer cloudy thinking.
It doesn’t have to be plain water. Adding some lemon or a little salt gives added benefit of electrolytes.
Eat When You’re Hungry – You really don’t need to eat at prescribed times. Just because the clock says it’s time to eat, doesn’t mean you need to eat.
If you are not hungry, you don’t need to eat.
If you just eat when you have real stomach hunger, you usually can’t overeat.
If you need to be on top of your game brain-wise, it’s a great day for starting the day with a fruit smoothie bowl.
Fun Exercise For A Sharp Memory?
Do What You Love Doing – Don’t think that you must do any type of exercise you don’t like. You don’t.
You can find something that will work and that you like doing and can get through without too much discomfort.
Dancing is a good example. The important thing is to do something each day. Even if all you do is go for a twenty minute walk after dinner, that’s better than doing nothing.
Do It at Home – By all means join a group class if you’d like to. However, even if you don’t want to be around other people when you sweat, today you can do so much at home.
There are videos with any type of exercise class you want to join that you can watch right on your television anytime you want to.
It’s hard to overstress the importance of eating right and moving more. But, the really cool thing is that it doesn’t have to be super-strict to be effective.
Just focus on doing the right thing 80 percent of the time. You will be supersuccessful using diet and exercise to improve your mind and keep it sharp.
Rest and Relaxation For A Sharp Memory
It goes without saying that eliminating stress and anxiety is important. It can play a major role in mental decline.
One of the factors that contribute to dulling of your mind is not getting enough sleep, having your body in “fight or flight” mode 24/7, and having too much stress hormone (cortisol) in your bloodstream.
Find Ways to Eliminate Stressors – When you identify a stressor, if it’s possible to eliminate it or change something about it to make it work for you then make a plan to do that.
For example, if you have a lousy time at work, start applying for other jobs or join a training programme to help you get promoted.
Start a Journal – For some people, reducing stress by writing in a journal is helpful. The type of journal you use depends on your personality.
You may like to use a bullet journal, a gratitude journal, or something else entirely
such as a regular diary.
It’s up to you; if it helps you experience less stress, do it.
Activities to Sharpen The Mind
One way to keep your mind sharp is to participate in activities that help your mind work better.
Keeping your brain limber is a lot like keeping your entire body healthy and limber – you must use it.
As they said, when you were younger, “…if you don’t use it, you will lose it.” These are activities you can choose from that will help you improve your brain function.
Read Hard Things – At least once a day, read something for 20 to 30 minutes that makes you really think and challenges your ideas.
Maybe something that requires that you also look up a little information on the topic for full understanding.
Using parts of your brain that you don’t use as much now since graduating from school will help keep your mind limber.
Take Up a New Hobby – Again, learning something new is very stimulating to your brain. By making new connections, you improve the old connections.
Listen to Music and Dance – When you’re listening to music and dancing around your house, you’re improving your mood, your health, and reducing stress all in one.
Plus, by singing the songs while you listen and dance, you
will also stimulate another area of your brain, making it all work together better to improve your cognitive performance.
Take a Class – If you prefer not learning things on your own and need more structure to do it, take a class. You may, depending on your circumstances, qualify for free tuition or a reduced rate.
Do Puzzles – Doing a puzzle every day, whether a word, number or shape puzzle, can help you work out parts of your brain that you don’t normally work out daily. It helps keep your mind sharp and your memory intact.
Eat New Food – Doing things that heighten your senses is a great way to improve brain function. Eating is a fun thing to do that can also be good for you.
Instead of eating the same rice and veggies for dinner tonight, try cooking something (or going out) to eat. Something brand new and different from your normal food.
Learn a New Language – A really great way to stimulate your brain is to try to learn a new language. Learning a foreign language engages all parts of your brain as you picture what the words mean, pronounce them, and write them.
Try to Do Something New Monthly – We all get into our habits and that’s great, but it’s good to stretch yourself and find something new to learn or do every single month. You can often sign up for alerts for your local area for educational and fun events near you.
The more you expose yourself to new things and new ideas – while also systemizing the life you have so that you can focus on the new things you want to do and see and learn, the sharper your mind will become.
Remember To Retain A Sharp Memory!
So it boils down to just three things to remember to retain a sharp memory:
- Experiencing life to the fullest.
- Being Social.
- Umm… I forget the third one!
No, of course not! The third one is to never give up learning new things.
I would add as well to keep a good sense of humour!
Your brain does get smaller as you age, but that’s only if you do nothing to stop it.
Instead, keep growing your brain.
