Brain Health

1. Stay mentally active – Stimulating activities, try new things, challenging yourself daily makes new nerve cells.
    
2. Remain socially active – Enjoyable and forces you to talk to others using your brain cells more.
    
3. Stay physically active – Maintains good blood flow to the brain which also encourages new brain cells. It also reduces stress which makes matters worse.
    
4. Adopt a brain-healthy diet – Research shows high cholesterol contributes to strokes and brain cell damage. Growing evidence that a diet rich in dark vegetables and fruits contain antioxidants to protect brain cells.
    
5. Keep your lungs healthy - Good oxygen flow to the brain makes the cells healthier.
    
6. Hypertension and diabetes - Are contributing factors to loss of brain cells.
    
7. Get enough sleep – Since the invention of the light bulb we’ve become sleep deprived which is harmful to the brain, should get 7-9 hours of sleep daily.
    
8. Reduce stress – Stress hormones kill brain cells in the memory center and cause serious trouble for the entire body.
    
9. Avoid substances that stress the brain – The chief offenders in this category are caffeine (however there are varying reports on this), nicotine, drugs and alcohol. These substances decrease blood flow to the brain damaging brain cells.
    
10. Have a positive attitude – Depression causes cognitive problems and should be treated by an MD and get a daily dose of sunshine too!