Brain Health as You Age – You Can Make a Difference!
Current research indicates that aging well depends on three basic but important factors:
- Your genes
- The environment
- Your lifestyle
Researchers now believe that even as we age, we have greater control over our brain health than we’ve previously understood. The various lifestyle “choices” each of us make every day – what social activities we do, what we eat, whether we exercise our bodies and our brains, etc. – all contribute to our overall wellness, or conversely to a body and mind more prone to disease. Making positive lifestyle decisions every day (#3 above) may help offset some of the negative effects of our genes and the environment (#s 1 and 2 above).
Dr. Paul Nussbaum notes in his book Your Brain Health Lifestyle, that five major components in particular impact brain health:
- Nutrition
- Physical activity
- Socialization
- Mental stimulation
- Spirituality
In future blogs I will share with you specific suggestions about the positive health choices all of us can easily make every day to keep our brain functions humming along!
