As you get older, all parts of your body are subjected to changes, and this includes your brain. Signs of normal age-related forgetfulness, like taking longer to learn new things, not remembering information as easily as before, and losing where small items are placed, for example, eyeglasses and keys, can just be signs of aging. These are not serious problems in memory and they may not indicate any health condition. These cannot be considered cognitive dysfunctions either, like Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. To differentiate further, simple forgetfulness does not have any affectation on your personality and physical abilities.
But simple forgetfulness can become more pronounced. This happens when nothing is done about it. Your forgetfulness can get worse because you are not doing something to arrest its progress. You can get absent-minded often and forgetting things become more frequent. When this happens, your activities of daily living can be affected resulting in lower quality of life. So to help you boost your memory as you age, here are 9 excellent ways to do it:
Walk the Distance
Aside from its benefits to your physical health, walking some distance daily is said to have excellent effects on your memory and mental functioning. Some studies show that physical activity stimulates the release of BDNF, a protein that promotes healthy nerve cells in the brain. This will surely boost your memory.
Besides that, walking can also help with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and stroke, all of which can aggravate memory loss.
Socialize Regularly
Socializing is also a way of staying mentally active. When you communicate with others, you have to choose your words correctly. You will not just also say what comes to your mind. This makes socializing important aside from helping you out of depression or stress which can both contribute to memory loss.
Sleep Well
Sleeplessness can make you irritable, confused, and may let you lose your focus. These are contributing factors to your loss of memory. With quality sleep, you are more relaxed, focused, and organized. This will help your brain to work more efficiently. As a senior, it is recommended that you should maintain 7-8 hours of sleep every day.
Challenge Your Mind
Stay mentally active by doing mind games, getting involved in family discussions, and involving yourself in some community projects. You can also enroll in an online course. All these will surely help you to use your mind and avoid absent-mindedness to set in.
Choose Veggies, Fruits, and Fish
More fruits, veggies, and fish in your diet is better for your brain, as it is for other organs of your body. They contain nutrients that are good for your overall health. You should also watch out for what you drink. Alcohol makes you incoherent and is not good for your memory, and so with drugs.
Get Organized
Making a list of what you will do the following day will challenge your mind to try to remember all your entries in your journal. You may start with a few things and add more entries each day. You can also add the time you should be doing the activity.
Reduce Sugar Intake
A sweet-toothed may not want to hear this but it’s true. In some studies, it is shown that too much sugar may cause lower brain volume, a phenomenon seen in Alzheimer’s disease patients. Avoid sweetened drinks and food with processed sugar. Instead, go for fresh naturally sweet fruits if your craving for sweets cannot be suppressed any longer.
Manage Your Stress Levels
Stress makes our body function differently, and that includes your memory. You may become incoherent when you are stressed. Learn how to relax. Yoga can help, and so does breathing exercises, reconnect with loved ones who you think can help you. If you can travel, go. You can also go to a health spa. All these can drive away your stress.
Quit Smoking
It was found out that smokers have a greater risk of brain volume than smokers. And with its notoriety of being a causative factor of many memory loss-inducing conditions, such as hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes, smoking can really contribute to memory loss. You should stop this vice as soon as possible.
As said, age-related memory loss may not be a serious condition. But surely, it is a serious impediment to a contented senior life. When we grow old, it may be the best time to reminisce those old happy days. How sad it can be if you only remember what happened yesterday.