Healthy mind: Eight ways to enhance cognitive fitness

1. Maintain a healthy weight and eat a healthy diet
Being overweight is directly harmful to brain health and cognitive fitness, along with the fact that excess weight increases the risk of most chronic diseases.

In addition to maintaining a healthy weight, the type of food you eat can impact on your cognitive health. A plant based or Mediterranean diet high in fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains is known to enhance cognitive fitness.

Foods that are particularly good at boosting brain function include green leafy vegetables, fatty fish, olive oil, fruit and nuts. Foods that drain brain function and increase the risk of cognitive problems include red meat, butter, and sugary and processed foods.

2. Optimise your physical health by staying physically active
To have a healthy body, you need a healthy mind. The opposite is also true. To optimise your cognitive fitness, you have to optimise your physical health. Doctors frequently say that what’s good for the heart is good for the brain. Compared to no physical exercise, having three to five days per week and more than five days per week of physical exercise reduced the risk of dementia by 37% and 59%.

3. Sleep well
Sleep is vital to a host of physiological processes, including learning and memory. Older adults don’t need less sleep, but their sleep habits do tend to change over time. As the brain ages, neurons and circuits in the areas that regulate sleep slowly degrade. Maintain healthy sleeping habits by waking at a similar time each day, going outdoors and getting some sunshine and activity, and having a predictable pre bedtime routine to wind down from the day.

4. De-stress
While short term stress can sometimes be good and challenging for the brain, long term stress wreaks havoc on the body and the brain. Exercise, deep breathing, and meditation are good stress busting strategies. You can also combat stress levels by listening to some music or laughing with friends.

5. Stimulate your brain
You should aim to nurture your brain throughout life. Read and watch documentaries, and challenge yourself with cognitive workouts and puzzles. People who do crossword puzzles four times a week can reduce the risk of dementia by 47%. You can buy yourself a puzzle book, do the puzzles in newspapers and magazines or do some puzzles online.
Get together with friends or family to play cards or chess or a board game. Listen to your favourite music and go to concerts, movies, shows and sporting events that interest you. Explore other approaches that can prevent dementia, such as music and cognitive training or cognitive stimulation therapy.

6. Enjoy your life
Humans are social creatures and need to be part of a strong social network to live healthy and fulfilling lives. Maintaining and nurturing relationships, and enjoying your community are a vital part in keeping your mind healthy.

Since it is difficult to be socially connected during this time, there are other ways to stay connected with friends such as online video calls. Set up a reminder to have regular check-ins with family and friends. You can also join a club or group where you can meet people with similar hobbies, volunteer within your community, or try something different like a new online course or class such as cooking courses, art classes or music lessons.

7. Cut-out unhealthy behaviours
Avoid alcohol and tobacco, which may increase your risk of dementia and other chronic diseases.

8. Assess your overall health regularly
If you have any concerns about your cognitive fitness, speak to your doctor. It is also wise to frequently have your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels checked because high levels can increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. Checking your vision and hearing is also advised, as impairments in vision and hearing can aggravate cognitive decline.

References

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32441421/

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-04-rest-aged-people-older-quantity.html