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How lifestyle and diet reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s
Stephanie Guzowski (Psychology Today Online)

The elderly are a treasure trove of wise and witty anecdotes. Their lifetime’s worth of memories link us to the past and serve as a bridge to the future. Vivid recollections may even keep a person “young at heart.” So when dementia deprives older people of memory, language, and ultimately, personality, it’s not just devastating for them, it’s a horrible loss for their family and friends as well.

Alzheimer’s disease, caused by a steady accumulation of amyloid plaque proteins in the brain, is the most common source of dementia. About 4.5 million Americans have the disorder, and it is estimated that by the year 2050, that number could approach 20 million. There is no known cure. But recent research has uncovered a new gene—SORL1—that, when functioning normally, protects against and reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s. The finding is bound to help unravel some of dementia’s causes.

A family history of Alzheimer’s and increasing age are primary risk factors. But there is growing evidence that improving your lifestyle and diet can preserve your mental faculties and cut your risk of developing mind-robbing disorders.

• Stretch Your Mind. Don’t let your thinking gears get rusty. Mental activity strengthens brain cells and neural connections, and may even give rise to new nerve cells. Engaging in stimulating leisure activities throughout your life can reduce the risk of dementia by about half, according to Australian researchers. Reading, writing, completing crossword puzzles, or even visiting a museum produces positive changes in the hippocampus, part of the brain affected by dementia. Mastering a new language is also beneficial: Among bilinguals, the onset of dementia begins some four years later than it does for monolinguals.
  The brain’s malleability allows for neural connections to continue to form late in life. Researchers at UC Irvine discovered that short, repeated learning sessions slowed the buildup of a protein in the brain known to lead to plaques and tangles—symptoms of Alzheimer’s. The take-away for humans is that it’s never too late to begin exercising your mind. Even ordinary activities done in a novel way, such as brushing your teeth with the opposite hand or taking a different route to work can enrich brain cell connections.
• Keep in Touch. A strong network of family and friends can also lower your risk of dementia. Social activity lessens depression and reduces stress levels, which helps maintain connections among brain cells. Volunteering, joining a club, or traveling can add four years to one’s life, according to Harvard researchers. It’s no surprise then that lonely individuals, in their later years, may be twice as likely to develop the type of dementia linked to Alzheimer’s.
• Hit That Treadmill. One of the best ways to care for your mind is to keep your heart healthy. Aerobic exercise improves oxygen consumption, which benefits brain functioning. A brisk half hour walk, bicycling, swimming, or dancing each day promotes good blood flow to the brain and stimulates new brain-cell growth. Such activity lowers the risk of dementia and slows cognitive decline in those who already have dementia. Because of the connection between the brain and cardiovascular system, reducing risks of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes also protects against Alzheimer’s disease.
• Brain Food. Eating an apple a day could keep Alzheimer’s away. Apples and apple juice, along with a balanced diet, can protect against cell damage linked to age-related memory loss, according to research from Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts. Fresh apples contain high levels of the antioxidant quercetin; eating at least one a day can help protect brain cells against oxidative stress, a tissue-damaging process associated with Alzheimer’s.

Fresh veggies and fish are just as good for your brain as they are for your body. Eating foods rich in folate, along with the use of supplements, may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, suggests a report in Archives of Neurology. Folate can be found in spinach, dry beans, peas, fortified cereals, grain products, and some fruits and vegetables. And those who eat fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, trout, and albacore tuna) have higher levels of the fatty acid DHA in their blood, which significantly lowers the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s.

And as we grow older, each of us becomes more likely to experience intermittent bouts of forgetfulness. But taking action now could help ensure that you’ll remain sharp for years to come—with plenty of tales to tell.

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Understand how your body reacts to what you put in it
Be aware of how your body reacts to what you put in it/do to it. Although you may not feel it, each day each of the millions of cells in your body is assaulted by free radicals - a condition known as oxidative stress. Simple changes in your diet, lifestyle and supplement intake can combat oxidative stress.

Eat your colors
Consuing produce of various hues is essential to providing your body with the necessary nutrients and vitamins. For example, purples and blues (blueberries, eggplant) can assist with urinary tract health; while reds (apples, tomatoes) can benefit heart health and memory function.

Give your daily routine a make-over
Start by evaluating your daily routine. Key factors to look at are: sleep, exercise, stress and nutrition. Unbalance in any of these areas can lead to oxidative stress, which is linked to aging and more than 100 health conditions, as presented in more than 1,000 peer reviewed published scientific papers.

Protect your cells
Even though you can’t see or feel the cells inside your body, they play a huge role in your health and the way you age. Protect your cellular health with Protandim, which revs up your body’s own natural antioxidant defenses to protect your cells from degeneration.

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Get your head in gear and flex those brain muscles
Layla Merritt (Psyched for Success)

In our imaginations we fancy ourselves possessors of the wit and skill at repartee of a Robin Williams. Until we stand tongue-tied over cocktails. But it’s not entirely a flight of fancy. It’s entirely possible to think a little faster, a little smarter, a little wittier.

Think of it as cross-training your brain. It’s not all that difficult, insists Joel Saltzman, author of Shake That Brain. Conventional wisdom holds that we use a mere 10 percent of our brain cells. Why not put the rest of your head into gear?

Saltzman offers some fun, simple techniques that will help flex your brain muscles.

• Question your assumptions. Give conventional wisdom a nudge and re-think your environment. Consider an everyday product and list everything you know to be absolutely true about the product. Now go back and question every assumption. Tony Basche did just that when he stopped assuming locks had numbers and invented the Wordlock—he won $25,000 plus royalties in a Staples contest for his innovation.
• Laugh. Watching Comedy Central may give your creative thinking a boost. Studies show that people are better at solving exercises designed to measure creative thinking immediately after exposure to comedy. Subjects said they felt more alert, active, interested and excited after watching comedy. But there’s a caveat: Humor can be distracting and can decrease performance on non-creative tasks.
• Limit TV. When you watch television, your brain goes into neutral. In one study, people watching television had increased alpha brain waves—their brains were in a passive state, as if they were just sitting in the dark. No wonder TV watching has been tied to low achievement.
• Think beans for breakfast. Eating the right morning meal can have a big impact on brainpower. Kids who have fizzy drinks and sugary snacks for breakfast perform poorly on tests of memory and attention. You can get the biggest brain boost from—believe it or not—beans. High-protein beans up cognitive test scores by a wide margin.
• Exercise. Physical activity is as much a workout for your brain as for your body. Exercise actually stimulates growth in brain cells. Schoolchildren who exercise three or four times a week get higher than average exam scores. Senior citizens who walk regularly perform better on memory tests than their sedentary peers. In fact, as they age, walkers show far less cognitive decline than that of non-walkers.
• Master eloquence. Verbal charm is a powerful tool—it can get you that job you are seeking or that date you are after. Each day, prepare flashcards with a few new words and review them at least four times a day. Content yourself with fewer than eight new words per day; more than that could inhibit retention. At the end of the year, you will have increased your vocabulary by 2,000 words!
• Get your nutrients. Unlike muscles, the brain cannot store energy; it must be constantly replenished with nutrients. Studies show that a diet rich in antioxidants and vitamins boosts memory and cognition. The best way to meet needs is by eating a variety of foods. In fact, healthy individuals who eat a balanced diet rarely need supplements. So load up on foods like nuts, whole grains, vegetables, fruits and fish.
• Play with your brain. Learn a new language, master a new hobby or engage in friendly debate. Playing with your brain stimulates blood flow and strengthens the connections (synapses) between nerve cells in the brain. Read challenging books, do puzzles—and whatever you do, use your other hand to comb your hair or brush your teeth.

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