Top Three Ways to Keep Your Brain Healthy

The thought of developing dementia is daunting.  It's currently on par with how people felt about the C word ten to fifteen years ago.  Our perceptions of cancer have changed with the advent of treatment, but dementia is a whole different beast.  How do you deal with dementia?  It doesn't attack your body, at least not directly.  It affects your mind and memory.  How do we handle a disease that attacks an organ that makes up the very core of who we are?  I have often been anxiously asked, "what can I do to prevent dementia?".  In fact, I've been asked it enough times to dedicate a post to it.

Well, while the short answer is nothing in terms of definitely preventing the disease, like a heart attack, there are certainly lifestyle choices that can help reduce your risk of developing dementia. I decided to scrounge through the current medical literature to see what is being said.

Rule of thumb, what’s good for the heart is good for the brain.

It’s a simple and easy way to remember the sort of lifestyle choices that can make a difference.




1) DIET

The Mediterranean Diet. It’s been touted as the best thing by everyone from Oprah to your GP. The truth is, the Mediterranean diet (based on the countries bordering the Mediterranean, in particular Greece) is a combination of foods that were separately shown to potentially reduce the risk of dementia.

These are the usually suspects: Fish (high in omega-3), fruits, vegetables and whole grains as the base for every meal and well as cooking with healthy fats like olive oil or canola oil instead of animal fats like butter. Note extremely limited portions of red meat and sweets.

Of course it’s the photographic negative of the meat-and-potatoes American diet and while I am the first to enjoy a good steak or the delicious and heart-stopping French cuisine at the bistro down the street, a slow transition into the Mediterranean diet will have to outweigh the needs of my taste buds. It’s never too early.


Curcumin. A component of the spice turmeric which gives curry its distinctive yellow colour, there are several studies that have indicated that curcumin may be a useful therapeutic in targeting the degenerative cellular pathways in dementia. No clinical trials have been conducted just yet demonstrating the effectiveness of curcumin as part of a diet regime, but it certainly won’t do you any harm.






Red Wine. Who doesn’t enjoy a glass? Just remember, the key is moderation and red in particular. Similar to curcumin, studies haven’t conclusively shown that red wine reduces the risk of dementia. But of all the alcohols it’s red wine which contains the most flavonoids, compounds that have anti-oxidant properties, which studies have identified as being the potential ingredient that contributes to reduced risk of dementia. Besides, red wine is part of the Mediterranean diet and has been shown to be good for the heart, so pour yourself a glass.



2) EXERCISE

Physical Exercises. It’s intuitive, we all know that exercise is good for us, but it can sometimes be such a low priority on the daily to-do list. But physical exercise doesn’t require a full blown gym membership, even small changes can make a difference. Take the stairs, park a few blocks away and walk, carry the groceries to the car instead of pushing them there. If you can squeeze in a twenty minute power walk, you’re on a roll. As added incentive, regular exercise stimulates endorphins, hormones that give you a natural high, boosts energy and mental wellbeing. And if that isn’t enough to get you off the couch, regular exercise is necessary to control diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and depression, all of which increase your risk of dementia. The best part is, it’s never too late to start. Studies have shown positive effects that carry on for years even when exercise is started in late life.


Brain Exercises. It’s not just your body that needs exercising. It’s been noted in almost all studies on dementia that higher education has been associated with lower risk of dementia. Does that mean that not having attended college forty-years ago is going to come back to haunt you? Well no (though that psychedelic ‘candy’ may be a different story). People with higher education tend to pursue occupations that require them to exercise their brain more, but there’s no reason why you can’t do that in alternate ways. Start trying to do math in your head, remembering short grocery lists without writing them down, read instead of watching TV or give sudoku a try (fun, logic based puzzles. There are tons of free online ones!).


3) STRESS MANAGEMENT

We’ve all done it, left our keys in the freezer after a particularly frazzled week of deadlines and multi-tasking (well, I have at least). The stress of managing work and life has become a lot more complicated with instant contact available through cellphones, twitter and text messages. But long-term stress releases stress hormones, some of which have been shown to shrink parts of the brain and increase the risk of dementia. Stress is also linked to increased risk of several other chronic diseases. A recent study looked at the effects of yoga on physical and mental wellbeing. It found that yoga not only improved muscle strength, endurance, balance and blood pressure, it also improved the participants’ depression state. Yoga is a good way to manage stress while getting some exercise, but if you don’t have time for it or to do something else that helps you relax, that may just be your problem right there.