Puzzles and brain teasers, reading, playing games that require planning or strategy, studying or learning new material, and similar pastimes are all great ways to keep active and strong mentally and encourage continual flexibility and growth.

Whatever the focus of your mental workout, you will see improvement in related areas. For example, if you do crossword puzzles, you will be able to better remember people’s names and the exact word you want to describe a particular situation. Math teasers will help you remember basic facts and be able to quickly and accurately balance your checkbook.

New learning is one of the best tools to stave off the cognitive decline associated with aging. We all gradually lose neurons as we age; learning new things will develop more synapses and encourage denser branching and more connections between neurons to compensate.

Linguistics is a particularly promising area. Studies have found that people who learn a second language experience mental decline at least several years later than others who are otherwise similar to themselves.

The best strategy is to combine many different types of mental challenges on an ongoing basis. When they can be incorporated with some of our other methods of staying mentally fit, for example, taking a class and being able to socially interact with others in the process, the benefit is even richer.

There is a rich source of puzzles, learning, and more to be found online. Here are a few puzzle links to get you started:

PuzzleChoice

Jigzone Jigsaw Puzzles

Puzzles.com

The Grey Labyrinth

Being involved in relationships with others is an important factor to maintaining our mental sharpness, especially as we age. One of the sad aspects of aging is often isolation … with loss of friends or decreased mobility, many seniors get out of the house less often and find themselves alone too much of the time, often leading to depression. Conditions such as these can accelerate mental decline associated with aging.

Staying socially active helps combat these problems. Whether it’s getting together with friends for a chat, playing games at the community center, taking art classes with other seniors, or trading plant slips over the back fence, having connections with other people helps stimulate brain function.

Of great potential benefit to active seniors is ballroom dancing classes and groups. Dancing is a social interaction, and has the added benefit of keeping one physically active as well, providing an oxygen boost to the brain as described in our last post.

Volunteer work can help seniors know that they are still needed and useful. Pets help fulfill this need as well. Having a pet to interact with is just as good as a human companion in terms of the effects of mood on cognitive abilities, and taking care of a pet provides an ongoing occupation. Many pets are active, and require exercise as well, which will also benefit the owners that are able to join them in their romps.

Aerobic exercise is the best way to supply oxygen to the brain. In addition, aerobic exercise also neutralizes stress, which can be especially harmful to the brain. Stress reduces our mental abilities considerably while at the same time causing the body to divert resources away from the brain and into the rest of the body in preparation for either “fight or flight.” The cortisol released when we experience stress can remain in the body for up to 2-1/2 days, continuing to impair brain function. Exercise rids the body of cortisol.

Aerobic exercise also causes the release of neurotrophins, which help the brain to create new connections and keep everything functioning more smoothly.

Research also shows that regular exercise specifically increases blood flow to the areas of the brain involved with memory.

Many times it is difficult to achieve optimum results with diet alone. While diet is certainly important, and should always be improved as much as possible, supplements can do just that – supplement our diets.

Folic acid (800 mcg daily has been tested to be beneficial in this case) is one of the emerging nutrients important in preventing age-related decline in mental ability. Folic acid works with vitamins B6 and B12 to help neutralize homocysteine. High levels of homocysteine has been linked with poor reasoning ability, memory impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Antioxidants should be supplied in the diet, but supplementation is also helpful. Some of the more helpful antioxidants to prevent free-radical damage to mental processes are vitamin C, vitamin E, and glutathione. Selenium may be even more important for protecting mental ability.

Anti-inflammatory agents are also helpful. Herbs such as boswellia, ginger, turmeric, and echinacea as well as aloe are particularly helpful.

Other important supplements that help keep neurons strong and functional include phosphatidylserine and alpha lipoic acid.

Nutrition is the first line of defense. In general, try to limit the amount of meat (especially beef and pork) and refined sugar consumed. Even more important, avoid processed foods as much as possible. Additives and preservatives are not “real food.” Instead, strive to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, and up to a few servings of fish per week. Olive oil is preferable to vegetable/corn, and similar oils. Foods rich in Omega-3’s are helpful, such as flaxseed and flaxseed oil. A diet such as this will provide a rich source of antioxidants, which help prevent a number of complications associated with aging. It will also help lower “bad” cholesterol and raise “good” cholesterol, which can help prevent strokes and other threats to brain health. It also provides a more anti-inflammatory environment within the body. All of these things will help reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and provide optimum brain health.

A further benefit to a diet such as this is improved cardiovascular health, weight loss (if needed), and reduction of many age-related complications. Look for cookbooks on “The Mediterranean Diet” to find recipes that follow these guidelines. Also, a good way to add flax to your diet is to use the whole seeds or ground seeds mixed into any baking batter, or sprinkled on cereal or yogurt. Whole seeds can be added as a topping for muffins, etc. Flax oil can be used as a dressing for salads. While flax oil provides Omega-6 as well as Omega-9 fats (other essential fats), it is highest in Omega-3, and that is the ratio most of us need to balance these fats in our diets.

There are other strategies for maintaining optimum mental health. We will feature some of these in upcoming posts.