'Brains That Can - Secrets of Super Agers' explores our brain health. A topic close to my heart as I watch my Dad's brain health decline with dementia and how my incredible Mum handles that change with him.
Some of us will thrive and continue to stay sharp. Why is that? And more importantly, what can we do to maintain our brain function as we age?
Much of this edition of Beyond The Shop has been written by Wendy Coombes who also brought to us This Aging Face. Did you read that one recently?
"I recently found a good news story that I knew I had to share with you.
It's about our brains as we age and there are two parts to this story that give me hope and a sense of optimism.
1. Cognitive decline is not an inevitable result of aging.
2. One day, everyone who is physically able to reach 100 may also be able to remain mentally healthy.
The bearers of this welcome news are the researchers at Amsterdam's Vrije Universiteit (VU)
What I love is that instead of taking the approach of looking at what causes us to suffer ailments, they looked at why some people thrive and stay cognitively sharp well into very old age.
So they studied a group of centenarians.
The ultimate goal of this research is to develop treatments for diseases like Alzheimer's. Realistically however scientists still have another 10 or so years of research ahead of them before such treatments will be available.
In the meantime, there's a lot we can do to keep our brains in tip-top condition (even if reaching 100 is not your goal).
Lifestyle Choices That Can Help You Become a Cognitive Super-Ager
There's very little we can do about genetics but it's widely accepted that our healthy lifestyle choices can help us slow down cognitive decline.
Than Bolk (neuroscientist) is more than encouraging with the research he has done and discovered. Senility is not a normal part of aging, in fact, aspects of our brain's crystalised processing (what we process based on our knowledge and experiences - like doing the crosswords but much more) can actually improve as we get older.
AND...it keeps getting better. Our brains have the capacity to open up new neural pathways to compensate for or recover other pathways that may have shut down. How cool is that? "Think of it as TRANSFORMATION rather than DETERIORATION." I love that. Watch his talk to learn so much more about our amazing brains. The link is in the Read, Watch and Listen section below.
Exercise
You didn't expect me to not mention exercise, right?
Controlled trials have shown that exercise improves cognition. Exercise stimulates better blood flow to the brain and helps to thicken our cerebral cortex (including frontal lobes responsible for cognition) and increases brain volume.
Very good reasons right there to get off that couch.
Besides exercise, there's more you can do to enhance your chances of
- Maintaining good brain health well into advanced age.
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Not smoking (duh!)
- Doing things that are cognitively new and challenging to the brain (eg. dance!, learning a new language or a musical instrument)
- Consuming a Mediterranean-style diet​
- Socialising with other people
- Engaging in leisure activities
What we eat can play an important part in our brain health too (supporting the reference to the Mediterranean-style diet mentioned above). According to leading women's brain researcher, neuroscientist and nutritionist, Lisa Mosconi PhD, here's what will help:
1. Manage your carbs - eat 1-2 servings of leafy greens a day. Up your fibre intake ++
2. Get to know your phytoestrogens - soy, flaxseeds, sesame seeds and olive oil.
3. Protect your brain with Antioxidants - circles back to 1 and 2 above.
4. Choose the right fats - no processed foods (containing transfats) and go for Omega 3's
5. Feed your microbes - pre and pro-biotics. Fibre-rich foods (again)
6. Watch alcohol & coffee intake - replace it with 8 glasses of water a day for brain performance
7. Go organic - as much as you can. Particularly the foods you eat with the skin on.
8. Eat less - intermittent fasting can help.
These are the highlights.
Read & Watch:
Lisa Mosconi's talk about the XXBrain and what we should eat to help our brain health as we age to get the details. She's fabulous!
Here is her website where you should really check out her videos and info in the Press/Media section. Grab the book!
Where to from here?
If you're seeking to be a Cognitive Super-Ager then continue the conversation in our private, respectful and no-judgment Facebook group - Women 40+, Self Love, Body Love & Summer Confidence. You'll need to be a member to join in so hit the link above to do that before then.
See you there!
Anita xx
(Founder & Owner: Sequins and Sand)
