Healthy Body, Healthy Memory

Your brain doesn’t operate in total isolation from your body. Taking regular exercise and avoiding getting overweight could help boost your memory as well as your physical health.

Today, with cheap transportation, abundant fatty and sugary foods and very few people doing physically demanding jobs, it’s easier than ever to become physically out of shape. But inactivity can be bad for your brain and, in particular, your memory. And this is especially true the older you are.

Here’s an idea for you…

Get hold of a pedometer. These are small devices which measure how many steps you’ve taken. Try wearing it each day, and whenever possible, try taking the stairs rather than the lift, and try walking rather than driving. Keep a daily or weekly record of how many steps you’ve taken, and aim to constantly improve it. You could even get competitive and ask a friend to wear one too.

Moderate cardiovascular exercise has been found to improve memory abilities, and ward off the development of dementia. The key is that the exercise session needs to be at least thirty minutes long, and you should do it several times a week, ideally every day. There is also growing evidence that obesity may itself impair memory abilities. A hormone called leptin, which help us regulate our appetite, does not reach the brain so well in many obese people. Lack of this hormone in the brains of mice impaired their long-term memory and ability to learn.

“Losing weight will improve how you regulate your glucose, and we have shown that improved glucose regulation is associated with better memory.”

Dr. Antonio Convit, New York University School of Medicine

However, we don’t currently have a complete understanding of the benefits of exercise on memory and more research needs to be done. So far the evidence suggests that its older people particularly older women, who gain the most benefit to their memory from exercising. But it’s possible that the effectiveness may indeed vary from person to person. Nevertheless, given the health benefits of exercise, what do you have to lose? Should you exercise regularly? It’s a no-brainer!

Sleep On It

Do you ever feel deprived of sleep? With busy modern lifestyles, many of us are getting less sleep than we used to. This could be harmful of your memory.

We spend up to a third of our lives asleep, yet scientists still don't quite understand why. What we've learned during the day could be sorted and stored during dreaming at night.

In people who've undergone during severe sleep deprivation, hallucinations are a common side effect. It's almost as thought the brain has to dream regularly in order to stay sane. 

Here's an idea for you...

Try the following to get a good night's sleep: 

1. Avoid caffeinated drinks for at least four hours before bedtime
2. Try to get some exercise during the day and much natural light during the day as you can
3. Don't work or watch TV in your bedroom
4. Dim the lights a short time before bed
5. Do something relaxing, such as taking a hot- bath or drinking a hot (non-caffeinated!) drink.
6. Avoid watching exciting TV shows or concentrating on anything demanding of your attention for an hour before bedtime.

Equally, younger people seem to need more sleep than older people, and the former have more information to lay down into memories. Nevertheless, sleep does seem to help us remember things we had forgotten during the day. It's almost as though, during sleep, our brain searches through the thoughts and memories of the day.

"Sleep is when all the unsorted stuff comes flying out as from a dustbin upset in a high wind."

William G. Golding

Many people find that if they go to sleep thinking about a problem, they can often wake up with a solution. If you don't get enough sleep, or sleep poorly. resist the temptation to lie in bed in the morning, and instead, if possible, have a fifteen-minute nap, mid-afternoon.