Well it is the beginning of a new year. New beginnings are a great time to think of a new start. Let’s focus today on starting strong so you can finish strong. I’m not talking just about finishing the year strong but finishing your life strong. Specifically about maintaining good brain health. Alzheimer’s is affecting more people every year and is projected to keep on increasing until we find a cure for it. Rather than just hoping we don’t get it let’s look at how we can be proactive in improving our cognitive fitness. 

Harvard medical school put out a guide to cognitive fitness. Allow me to summarize from them what this guide is about; 

Cognitive fitness goes far beyond memory. It embraces thinking, learning, recognition, communication, and sound decision making. Cognitive fitness is the bedrock of a rewarding and self-suf icient life. 

This is what we all want for a good quality of life. As we age we need to stay healthy physically as well as mentally. Both of these are necessary to enjoy life. Too many just assume that as they age they have to fall apart at both ends of this spectrum. This isn’t necessarily so. Again listen to what the Harvard doctors are saying. 

You can be brain healthy for life. This report will show you how to sidestep threats to your brain’s wellness. You can learn how to build a “cognitive reserve” to address your brain’s changes. Now this can sound like hype to sell a book but I believe the motive is healthy. People who work in this field of research generally want to help people. The field of medicine is gradually changing from a model of just treating disease to one of maintaining health so you don’t get sick. The body and mind are integrated, they affect each other. It is not a given that we have to decline mentally as we age. 

We all want to be able to live self-sufficiently for as long as possible. We want to still feel a sense of purpose for our life. What we do to optimize our brain health will have the same impact on our physical health. They have identified six steps to take to be pro-active in this area. They sound simple and common sense. But that is how life works. In any area whether sports, business, relationships, or spiritual matters it always goes back to executing on the basics. Here are the six steps they came up with to keep your brain healthy. 

Eat A Plant- Based, Clean diet 

They encouraged a plant based diet. They are referring to a lifestyle not a temporary diet. There are several views on what is the best kind of diet for “clean eating.” Some promote a Mediterranean style diet, including fish, chicken and grass-fed meat. But all would agree to move away from processed foods. Eat living whole foods raised organically to get away from the chemicals. Eliminate added sugar, any ingredients you can’t pronounce, simple carbs, and artificial colorings. Chose foods picked and prepared fresh, add more fiber and water to our diets. You don’t have to be a food fanatic. 

This will be a big change for most people. So start small and somewhere then gradually keep improving. You want consistency and sustainability. This is a current event we see being argued about in Congress

today. The goal is to take out of our food supply the chemicals, overuse of antibiotics and anything that isn’t good for our immune system. Education is key, learn to read labels. We want a healthy gut with good bacteria because it has a tremendous effect on our brain. Hippocrities (460-370 BC), a Greek physician and philosopher, and also considered to be the Father of Medicine, brought in the idea of food as being a part of health treatment. 

Exercise Regularly 

Right and consistent exercise protects the brain against detrimental effects. The brain uses 25% of our body’s energy. Sufficient blood and oxygen flow to the brain is necessary to get all the nutrients and ingredients it needs to stay alive and to function at optimum performance. Exercise increases our metabolism and blood flow throughout the body. There are brain foods that supply the brain with the necessary vitamins, minerals and micro nutrients it needs to function properly. 

We all know we need to exercise to stay healthy but pulling this off is another matter. My advice is to start small with something you know you can do. Put an easy win under your belt and build from there. Walking is great exercise. Can you walk to the end of your driveway and back? Do that until it is a habit and then make a small distance increase from them and keep repeating it. Find something you enjoy doing, make it fun. Take the steps instead of the elevator, park farther out in the store parking lot. Do physical labor around the house, include a friend or join a fitness class or group, find something you and your mate can do together. 

You just need to stay with it long enough to see or feel some of the benefits. You have more energy, you have lost five pounds or your clothes feel loose. These successes motivate you to get past the tipping point where the success feeds on itself. Eventually you will experience the benefits to the brain that take longer to be experienced. 

Get Enough Sleep 

Usually we need seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. It takes about an hour and a half to go through a full sleep cycle with the brains’ various wave patterns. So you go through about five cycles a night. This is when your brain cleanses itself from toxins, rearranges the memory storage so you have more working memory available for the next day’s tasks.The whole body repairs itself, this is why sleep helps us live longer. 

It helps us lose weight (how easy is that), and your energy level is higher. Your mind will be more refreshed and focused, you will concentrate better. You will have more emotional reserves to deal with life stressors. Sleep helps lower the risk of various kinds of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s because of those toxins that are removed. 

To help with sleep, develop good sleep hygiene. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day, even on your days off. Have your bedroom dark and cool. Have a nightly sleep ritual you go through getting ready for bed that works with your natural circadian rhythm. This helps to wind your body and mind down in preparation for sleep. Don’t do things that get your body or mind excited or cranked back up. Don’t watch the evening news, don’t watch or read from electronic screens because the blue light from the screens mimics daylight and confuses your cycadian rhythm.

Relax, read a book, drink warm milk or herbal tea. Try deep breathing, meditate on positive thoughts rather than everything you have to do the next day. Visualize shutting off your mind and remind yourself this is my time to sleep. I can’t do anything about anything else right now. Keep a note pad handy and you can write down thoughts of things to do for tomorrow, then don’t think about them. As you get drowsy just slip into bed. 

Don’t fall prey to the idea that getting by on little sleep is a badge of honor. That somehow being too busy to sleep makes me more important, it doesn’t. In the long run you will be more productive and a nicer person to be around; as well as having a healthier brain. 

Stay tuned for part two on this subject of brain health.