Brain Health Tips

BRAIN HEALTH TIPS
The following recommendations have been found in numerous studies to be critical to maintaining brain health and substantially reducing the relative risk of brain disease.

• Increase your involvement in new and novel learning topic and situations. Don’t shy away from harder challenges. Stretch your brain to take on challenging tasks.
• Eat five daily servings of colorful fruits and veggies. Eat the rainbow.
• Take multivitamins: Vitamins E, C,B(6&12),folic acid and minerals (Se,Fe,Mg)
• Increase daily intake of Omega-3 fatty acids to 400mg/day (cold water fish/fish oil tabs)
• Exercise daily with weight bearing and cardio activity. 30 minutes minimum.
• Sleep well. If you have disrupted sleep get an evaluation.
• Maintain reasonable body weight & eat fewer refined carbs and saturated/trans fats
• Lower LDL to 100 or less, raise HDL to 50 or more with diet, exercise and statins if necessary
• Lower/maintain blood pressure at 120/80 with diet, exercise and anti-hypertensive drugs
• Manage psychological stress (exercise, meditation, yoga, relaxing, enjoyable activities)
• If you are depressed and/or anxious seek professional counseling
• Limit alcohol intake to 1 drink/day for woman and 2 drinks or less for men
• Maintain an active and positive social life
• Stop smoking. Avoid tobacco in all forms
• Maintain good oral hygiene. Brush teeth regularly, floss and get regular cleanings.