taught us perhaps one of the most important lessons about ageing: teaching can save your brain. You’re far more likely to retain information if you have to explain it to somebody else. The degree to which you can effectively explain information indicates how well you’ve actually learned it. The lesson: take advantage of mentoring opportunities, whether it’s instructing a class in your favourite hobby at a community college or inviting the neighbourhood teens over to teach them how to change a tyre or make a soufflé. Teach the next generation, and you’ll power up your own generator.
YOU Tip: And Be a Lifelong Learner. Yeah, we know what your ideal picture of retirement looks like: one hammock, one baby-blue ocean, four naps a day. That’s great, but one of the best ways to insure that your mind doesn’t liquidate into the consistency of a piña colada is to continue to give it a reason to function. Work it. Challenge it. Teach it new things. Just take a look at a massive study done on a population of more than three thousand nuns. Researchers measured the daily mental and physical activities of living nuns and autopsied those who died during the study. They found that 37 percent of the nuns who died had confirmed Alzheimer’s disease – at least according to what was happening pathologically in their brains. The nuns who fared the best were the ones who were better educated. The nuns with Alzheimer’s were, as young adults, less mentally and physically active outside their jobs than those without the disease. That’s important because Alzheimer’s disease takes decades to develop. The amazing part was that even if the nuns showed pathological signs of Alzheimer’s, they had no clinical symptoms. The point: although these neurological tangles may be genetic, your ability to resist the effects of them is not.
When you increase your learning during life, you decrease the risk of developing memory-related problems. That means your brain has a fighting chance if you keep it active and engaged, if you keep challenging it with new lessons, if you learn a new game or new hobby or new vocation. You have to challenge your mind – even making it a little uncomfortable by pushing yourself to learn tasks that may not come naturally. Doing tough tasks reinforces the neural connections that are important to preserving memory. Like a top athlete, your mind has a way of rising to the occasion. Challenge it, and it will reward you.
YOU Tip: Stop and Think About Thinking. Like breathing, thinking is designed to be an automatic process. Don’t believe us? Then do this: don’t think of a bruised banana. Don’t picture it. Don’t let the image cross your mind. Ha! The only thing you can think of right now is that potassium-loaded phallic symbol. The other vantage point here is that you can’t do anything but think when you’re thinking. Thinking is an involuntary reflex; while you can often control what you think about, thinking is as natural as an ocean’s ecosystem – stuff just sort of floats around and goes where it wants to go.
Now, try this when you’re doing a simple activity, like waking up: instead of just rolling out of bed, splashing water on your face and dreading your eight o’clock meeting, think about your surroundings. Listen for birds, notice the drips of water beading down your leg in the shower, savour the sips from your orange juice, think about every tooth you’re brushing. It doesn’t take any more time; it just helps train your brain. We’re not trying to go all philosophical on you; thinking about the thought process is really about awareness and is one of the tools you can use to strengthen your neural connections.
YOU Tip: See If Your Genes Fit. If you have a family history of memory-related problems and are comfortable with genetic testing, you can have your level of Apo E4 protein checked. That will help you determine whether you’re more or less predisposed to clearing that gunky beta-amyloid from your neural wiring. You can find out more about the test on www.aruplab.com, www.athenadiagnostics.com or www.realage.com. No matter what your result, be aware that obesity and alcohol intake increase expression of the gene, while exercise decreases the amount of Apo E4 in the blood.
YOU Tip: Live in the Moment. We all know what life is like when the dog’s barking, the phone’s ringing, the baby’s crying, the television is on high volume, and your spouse is trying to explain why the toilet seat wound up in the up position again – and you’re worried about what you need to do tomorrow and haven’t done today. When it comes to your brain, stress acts as a massive amount of noise in your system – only it comes in the form of nagging tasks, job dissatisfaction, bills and fights about who’s going to which family’s house for the holidays. One of the keys to having a healthy mind is to live as much as you can in the moment; that is, thinking about what you’re doing right now, not worrying about the mistakes you made yesterday or the headaches that await you tomorrow. That actually helps reduce the noise in the system.
Evolutionarily, you can see how it works: when you’re aroused by stress (sabre-tooth bearing down fast), you have a very narrow functioning cognitive ability: run, fight or die. Good for survival, yes, but that acute function actually shortens the telomeres on your chromosomes (remember the first Major Ager?) and contributes to memory problems. In the modern age, more stress means the inability to concentrate, and that’s been shown to contribute to a shrinking of the prefrontal cortex. Is living in the moment hard to do? Of course it can be, but it’s a behaviour you can learn with practice, similar to our previous strategy of thinking about thinking. Example: when you’re playing with your kids and letting tomorrow’s workday weigh on you, force yourself to concentrate on the game, making it a great experience for your kids rather than a distant one for you. It takes some time and effort, but in the end, the act of living in the moment rewards not only you but the people around you.
YOU Tip: Feed on Brain Food. While physics would dictate that your food travels down after you eat it, a certain amount travels up to your brain (via arteries after it’s been through the digestive process, of course). Among the best nutrients to help keep your cerebral power lines strong are omega-3 fatty acids – the kinds of fat found in fish like salmon and mackerel. These healthy fats, which have been shown to slow cognitive decline in people who are at risk, not only help keep your arteries clear but improve the function of your message-sending neurotransmitters. Aim for 13 ounces of fish a week, or, if you prefer supplements, take 2 grams of fish oil a day (metabolically distilled), or DHA from algae (where fish get their omega-3s), or an ounce of walnuts a day. DHA is the omega-3 that seems best for the brain.
YOU Tip: Try Chi. Chi-gong, an activity that looks like slow-mo martial arts, can not only help improve your physical well-being but can serve as a mind-clearing exercise too. This slow, gentle series of movements can help reduce the noise and is especially great if you have aches and pains that hold you back from your normal routine. We offer a sample plan here.
YOU Tip: Load Up on Salad. The veggies, not the fat-laden dressing. It’s been shown that vegetables – any kind, any place – slow cognitive decline even more than fruits. Eating two or more servings a day (just two!) decreases the decline in thinking by 35 percent over six years. Pass the sprouts, please.
YOU Tip: Add a Dash of This and That. Several substances have been shown to help cognitive function. These are the ones we recommend:
