World Alzheimer’s Day is celebrated on September 21 each year. Today, we are going to talk about 4 things you can do this weekend to improve memory.
FOOD
Let’s talk about food first. When I talk about food that helps our memory, I like to pick seafood, veggies, and fruits. Reason why. Seafood, especially oil-rich fish like salmon, trout, and mackerel. These are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. These have been shown to improve memory when eaten one to two times per week.
Shellfish such as oysters, mussels, clams, shrimp, and lobster, are good sources of VB12, a nutrient involved in preventing memory loss.
Dark leafy greens and colorful fruits are rich in antioxidants that can protect the brain from oxidative stress. Antioxidants can also help to reduce age-related memory loss.
SLEEP
The next category is sleep. Many studies have shown that sufficient sleep improves memory better. Some studies say 7 to 8 hours of sleep is the best. Nap also helps our memory. Dr. Andrew Huberman from Stanford University says a 10–90 minute nap that doesn’t affect our night sleep and it can help our memory. If you usually don’t take a nap, how about taking one this weekend? Try something new for our memory.
Exercise
Exercise brings incredible benefits to your whole body, including your brain. Mayo Clinic says exercise increases blood flow to the whole body including the brain. It might help keep memory sharp. Exercise doesn’t need to be super hard. Walking 10 to 20 minutes every day can be good exercise. If you walk in the morning, sunlight helps produce melatonin which is a sleep hormone.
Meditation
The practice of meditation is known to increase gray matter in the brain. As you age, gray matter declines, which negatively impacts memory and cognition. If you feel difficulty meditating by yourself, you can get support from YouTube videos, and guided meditation. You can search for things like” 10 minutes meditation” “meditation for anxiety” or something like that. You can find many guided meditation videos out there. We know stress impacts our brains. It is important to take care of it intentionally.
These are the four categories that we can do this weekend to improve memory.
Lastly, let me talk about R’s KOSO. R’s KOSO contains over 100 different fruits, vegetables, and plant-based ingredients like seaweed and mushrooms. All ingredients are fermented and aged for one year. It provides balanced nutrition. It is a source of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, and polyphenols. It might be difficult to intake all of these daily, but R’s Koso makes it easy.
A functional medicine nutritionist
Manami Toda
