Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, has a higher chance of causing brain shrinkage and memory loss quicker than any other disease. Fortunately, there are some steps that can be followed to prevent developing Alzheimer’s disease. Some of them include:
Exercising
Physical exercise is beneficial to preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
Exercise has a direct impact on the brain as it easily increases the blood and oxygen flow while giving other cardiovascular benefits to the brain. For exercise to be sufficient enough to have an effect on your Alzheimer’s disease risk level, ensure that you get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week.
With regular exercising, you can reduce your risk level by 50%. Exercising also helps to slow the deterioration process in those already experiencing cognitive problems because it stimulates the brain’s activity to maintain new connections and develop new ones.
If you’re new to the exercising scene, ensure that you begin with walking and swimming, and with time you can advance to weight training from time to time.
Social Engagement
While we may all be different people with different levels of social skills, there’s a level of social engagement that’s expected of us to ensure that we stay active and our brains are active too.
Consciously maintaining social relations with people will lower our chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease and dementia as we grow older.
Social engagement doesn’t have to involve so much work. Things as simple as volunteering, taking part in work in your local community, going to the gym and exercising with others, visiting the museum or park, going to the movies, or simply attending classes with other people can be all the social activities that you need.
Healthy Diet
Most of us are aware of a link between our diet and how our bodies function. However, not everyone is aware of the direct link the nutrients we take in have with the neurons in our brains. To ensure that you reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s, follow the following practices:
Cut down on sugar – Food like cereals, packaged foods, pasta, white rice and flour contain sugar and have a way of spiking your blood sugar which can, in turn, inflame your brain. Instead, focus on foods that can reduce your risk of cognitive impairment. These include fish, beans, vegetables, whole grains and olive oil. Vegetables in particular help to maximize cell-protective antioxidants in your rain.
Cut down on trans-fat, increase omega-3 fats – Fast food, processed and fried foods and anything that includes “partially hydrogenated oil” are the best examples of trans-fat that can increase the inflammation of your brain.
Instead, your meals should have more salmon, tuna, mackerel and other cold-water fish because they are the best sources of omega-3 fats. These foods will help you fight against Alzheimer’s because of the DHA found in them.
Enjoy more home-cooked meals – Home-cooked meals would give you first-hand knowledge on the content of your meals and ensure that you take in brain-healthy nutrients to help your brain development and maintenance.
Mental Stimulation
Aside from staying active and interacting with others, one other important brain activity that can keep you away from developing Alzheimer’s disease is stimulating your brain with new activities, learning new things, taking on new challenges, and utilizing your brain. Not “using” your brain will cause it to wear out. And when it does, you can develop brain diseases.
Activities like memorization, games and puzzles, learning a new language or skill can help your brain develop tremendously.
Sleep Quality
Sleep has always been known to improve our moods, improve memory formation and help our learning process. There are 4 stages of sleep and the correlation between poor sleep quality and the development of Alzheimer’s disease is showing up.
Not getting quality sleep can cause your brain to produce beta-amyloid, a sticky brain-clogging protein that’ll continue to interfere with your sleeping process. When this happens, your mood and thinking process is slowed down. That way, you have a higher chance of developing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
To be able to steer clear of Alzheimer’s, it’s necessary to have at least 8 hours of sleep every night.
Stress Management
As much as we all are prone to stress, ensuring that we find ways of managing it helps to reduce our chances of developing Alzheimer’s. Lower your exposure to stress and manage your stress level as well as you can.
Use of memory-specific supplements
One very important step to take to prevent Alzheimer’s is to include a high potency multiple vitamin and mineral supplement in your meal plan. And not just any type of supplement, but one that contains folic acid and Vitamin C, because they help to reduce homocysteine levels and the risk of memory loss.
To be more specific, you should take a dose of 2,000 mg of vitamin C each day, and be sure to include memory-specific nutrients like Ginkgo biloba, Coenzyme Q10, Alpha-lipoic acid, and Acetyl-L-carnitine.
Your brain needs the proper fuel to function well, and consistently following the above-mentioned steps can help you prevent Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss.