Posted by 7 Things Seniors Can do to Keep their Minds Sharp
This article teaches you 7 things seniors can do to keep their minds sharp. The older you get, the more your brain begins to slow down. It’s something that’s to be expected as we age, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fight back against the process and keep our minds in tip-top shape.
With that in mind, here are seven things seniors can do to keep their minds sharp.
As we age, it’s more and more common to experience mental fog and slow thinking, an effect that can be severely detrimental to our quality of life. Luckily, there are a number of things seniors can do to keep their minds sharp and active into old age. Here are 7 things you can do to keep your mind working at its best as you get older.
1) Learn Something New
Once you’ve graduated from school, it can be easy to feel stuck in a rut—especially if you are feeling less productive now that you no longer have assignments and exams. But staying mentally engaged is important for everyone, especially seniors.
Take on a new hobby or learn something new; research has shown that learning something new helps keep your mind sharp and ready for life after work.
Maybe learn how to play an instrument, or take up painting or sign language; no matter what you choose, it will likely bring a whole new level of happiness into your life.
2) Meditate Regularly
Meditation is great for reducing stress and anxiety, but it also helps your brain stay young. A study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience found that seniors who practiced various forms of meditation for 8 weeks showed increased gray matter concentration.
Another study published in Cognitive Processing linked meditation with better processing speed, improved cognition, and a lower risk of cognitive decline. Meditation is especially important for seniors because it’s not about processing information — it’s about increasing your ability to focus on one thing at a time.
This may sound simple but keep in mind that multitasking has been shown to decrease productivity by as much as 40%. If you’re having trouble focusing after retirement don’t beat yourself up over it, it happens to everyone but do consider making mindfulness and meditation part of your daily routine.
3) Drink Tea
Not only is tea a healthy alternative to sugary sodas, but studies suggest that drinking it may keep your mind sharper for longer. In a 2013 study in Neurobiology of Aging, researchers studied nearly 1,000 people ages 52 and older who were already at risk for cognitive impairment due to diabetes.
The researchers found that those who drank green or black tea on a daily basis showed much smaller signs of age-related memory decline than those who did not drink tea regularly. Green and black teas contain antioxidants called catechins, which scientists believe can prevent age-related damage to brain cells by neutralizing free radicals in the body.
4) Have Fun
Regularly engaging in fun activities from games, hobbies, or sports to learning a new language can help keep your mind sharp. Socializing with others (or even animals) can be an enjoyable way to slow cognitive decline associated with aging.
Most importantly, don’t lose your sense of adventure! Try something you’ve never done before and get out there and explore your world. You might just discover that it’s not so bad being older after all.
5) Get Your 5-a-day
It’s a mantra we’ve all heard before: Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. If you’re over 50, experts say that’s even more important. The question is how?
Here are some tips on getting those five to seven servings into your diet every day. Add in two or three fruits and/or veggies at each meal; serve one as a side dish or salad topping. You can also snack on fruit (try grapes, apples or pears) instead of chips or sweets when hunger strikes.
When possible, opt for whole fruit instead of juice; it will give you more fiber, which helps keep blood sugar levels steady and also provide more vitamins than processed juice does. Snack on carrots and celery sticks with low-fat dip instead of chips; spread hummus onto celery sticks for an easy snack.
6) Exercise
You keep the mind sharp by exercising and by boosting blood flow to your brain. Get off that chair and join a gym or start doing yoga. You don’t have to break a sweat, but you do need move around.
Spending time outdoors also helps your mind stay sharp; there’s something about fresh air that makes our brains work better.
Research has shown that taking in natural light stimulates positive brain activity, which can actually make it easier for seniors with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) like memory loss, confusion and disorientation, and help prevent it from progressing into Alzheimer’s disease.
7) Eat the Rainbow
Your brain has a lot of small blood vessels that make it vulnerable to high levels of fat and cholesterol, which can lead to clogged arteries and memory loss. This is why experts at UCLA recommend eating a variety of fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet.
The various colors in fruits and veggies represent different phytochemicals (plant chemicals) that each have unique benefits. For example, blueberries help control blood sugar, while citrus fruits reduce inflammation; both are important for a healthy memory.
Eating plenty of colorful produce will not only keep your mind sharp but also lower your risk for heart disease, another leading cause of dementia.
How Do Seniors Stay Mentally Active?
The longer you live, it seems, the greater your chance of developing some form of age-related memory loss. It might begin with forgetting where you put your keys or what time your friend is coming over for dinner, but it could eventually lead to Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia.
Thankfully, there are ways that seniors can actively keep their minds sharp and prevent any decline in mental function.
Here are some tips on how older people can make sure they stay mentally active and healthy throughout life:
Be social: The brain thrives on social interaction, so be sure to surround yourself with friends and family members that encourage regular conversation about events going on in everyone’s lives.
Games To Keep Your Mind Sharp
Many people fear losing their memory or mental capacity as they age. While there’s no way to completely prevent cognitive decline, there are things you can do throughout your life that will help support a healthy brain.Playing brain games will help.
From reading and writing to exercising, learning new skills and taking up new hobbies, these seven simple things can improve your mind’s health and contribute greatly towards a long and happy life!
You don’t have to be old for dementia, everyone is susceptible to it. By getting active with your mind now (no matter what age), you can get ahead of it! Don’t just sit around watching TV – use every day as an opportunity for growth, knowledge and improvement!
Mind Sharp Foods
Instead of gorging on cupcakes, cookies and candy bars, mind-sharpers are more likely to snack on blueberries, nuts and other foods that contain flavonoids and other antioxidant vitamins that have been shown in studies to reduce cognitive decline.
So when your mom says she can’t remember where she put her keys, it may not be time for a new prescription, maybe it’s time for her to switch out those Oreo’s for some almonds instead. Exercise: Physical activity increases blood flow and oxygen throughout your body.
More oxygen means more brainpower and also a better mood! A recent study found that after 15 minutes of aerobic exercise, people scored higher on measures of mental acuity.
7 Things Seniors Can do to Keep their Minds Sharp Conclusion
These tips can help seniors keep their minds sharp. The health benefits of doing so are far-reaching and can make an enormous difference in day-to-day life. Whether you’re a senior looking for some help keeping your mind sharp or a family member looking for advice on how to care for your older relative, these seven steps can be extremely helpful.
However, there are still many ways that seniors can keep their minds sharp, from socializing with friends to staying active to even playing games like chess, so don’t stop here!
Hope you enjoyed my 7 Things Seniors Can do to Keep their Minds Sharp article. If you want more information about how to make sure that your mind stays as strong as it was when you were younger, talk with one of our counselors today!
