The brain is the most important part of your body, as without it you are unable to move, think, or feel. It is commonly referred to as the body’s control panel, so it is crucial that you take whatever steps you can to look after your brain. Many people are concerned about their cognitive decline as they get older, as dementia and cognitive impairment is increasing around the globe.

By the year 2050, it is predicted that there will be approximately 2 billion people aged 60 and over who will suffer from cognitive decline, making up 22 percent of the world’s population. With these worrying statistics, it is no surprise that people are seeking ways to protect their cognitive abilities. Here are five tips on how you can prevent cognitive decline.

Exercise

It is crucial for your overall mental and physical health that you regularly exercise, as it will not only help you to stay in shape, but it will also improve your mood as exercise releases endorphins. There are many different health benefits associated with regular exercise, such as helping to prevent heart disease, cancers, and type 2 diabetes. However, some studies have shown that engaging in regular exercise where you get your heart rate up may improve your cognitive function if you are already starting to have problems with your memory.

Maintain a Healthy Diet

Recent research has suggested that we can support our mental capacity and decrease our chances of cognitive decline through our diet. By eating the ‘superfoods’ that are often found in a Mediterranean style diet, such as nuts, fruits, and vegetables, you can increase your overall health while protecting yourself from cognitive decline. However, there are also neuroprotective supplements available, and there are measures you can take to protect your brain’s wellbeing.

Get Enough Rest

Your body needs enough rest in order to stay healthy and functioning as it should. Therefore, getting the recommended amount of sleep each night is something you should be aiming for if you want to protect yourself from cognitive decline. Not getting enough sleep can significantly impact our overall health and can make our brain not work as well as it should. You will likely notice that if you are tired then you become more forgetful – this is because your brain hasn’t had the rest it needs. Therefore, you should be aiming for the seven to eight hours a sleep a night that is recommended.

Social Interaction

Studies have shown that interacting socially with others can have significant effects on your health and longevity. Some studies go as far as to say that social activity may even be more important than physical forms of activity. By creating and engaging in strong social interactions with others, you are using many skills that keep your brain working.

To further this point, research has also found that loneliness and depression (where social interaction is limited), correlates with more rapid cognitive decline. Therefore, it is important that you seek out social activities and keep using the mental processes required.

Keep Your Mind Active

As we get older and enter our retirement years, we can find that we don’t use our brains like we once did. Therefore, you should consider other ways to stimulate your mind so that your brain doesn’t forget to do things. This can be simple as reading and writing or doing crossword puzzles. Research has found that those who take part in mental engagement were half as likely to suffer from cognitive decline.

Making small but significant changes to your lifestyle, such as those listed above, can help to protect and prevent cognitive decline.

Shift Frequency © 2019 – Tips for Preventing Cognitive Decline