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Cynthia R. Green, Ph.D.

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Brain Health: 6 Things Everyone Should Know

Posted: 05/21/11 01:07 AM ET

Are you brain-healthy? Brain health is one of today's hottest health topics. There is a steady stream of information almost daily from research showing us ways we can remember better every day and even lower our risk for serious memory disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. But is it all really true? And what exactly are you supposed to do?

As an expert in brain health, I find that many of us aren't sure what we should do to boost our brain fitness. Some of the advice we hear may seem surprising, since the suggestions don't seem at all "brainy," like doing crossword puzzles. Other findings support old-fashioned medical advice on staying healthy that sometimes feels a bit mundane, but also turns out to be critical to long-term brain wellness. In fact, you may have already started on the path to better brain health without even knowing it.

Here are six brain-smart choices you can start making right now to begin revving up your daily recall and lowering your risk for serious memory problems. I love to share these with my clients, as they are all easy to make part of your daily life.

Take A Walk
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Many of us think about giving our brains a workout, but the kinds of exercise we think of rarely involve working up a sweat. Yet getting off the couch and on your feet is absolutely the best thing you can do for your brain. Studies have shown that regular aerobic exercise boosts our daily intellectual performance and lowers our risk for dementia (by up to 38 percent in some studies). How much exercise do you need? Even just walking at a vigorous pace at least 30 minutes a day, five or six days a week will do the trick.
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Better brain health is really the result of better habits across all dimensions of wellness, including our intellectual as well as physical and emotional well-being. These six simple steps are a great way to get started on the path to better brain fitness. Look to continue on that journey yourself by always looking for ways to stay healthy and engaged.

Cynthia R. Green, Ph.D. is a nationally recognized clinical psychologist and brain health/memory fitness expert, and the founder of Memory Arts. Dr. Green is also the author of several books, including "Total Memory Workout: 8 Easy Steps to Maximum Memory Fitness" (Bantam Books). Read more about her on her website, www.totalbrainhealth.com.

 

Follow Cynthia R. Green, Ph.D. on Twitter: www.twitter.com/thebrainbuzz

Are you brain-healthy? Brain health is one of today's hottest health topics. There is a steady stream of information almost daily from research showing us ways we can remember better every day and ev...
Are you brain-healthy? Brain health is one of today's hottest health topics. There is a steady stream of information almost daily from research showing us ways we can remember better every day and ev...
 
 
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12:48 PM on 05/23/2011
The ultimate brain health strategy would require stopping and reversing the aging process, and also developing advanced techniques of brain repair.
10:38 AM on 05/22/2011
The Article Reg. Brain health is wonderful to read . I wish My friends should go through this article and get benefited.

sundaram
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Saijanai
Micro bio? We don't need no stinkin' micro bio...
10:54 AM on 05/21/2011
You forgot the most important single thing: practicing TM every day, morning and evening.

Yes, I know that common wisdom says that all meditation techniques have the same effect, etc. There's plenty of published research to suggest otherwise, some of it very striking in a hard-to-evaluate way. The following studies don't say anything about TM's effects on health and longevity, but should give you pause when you start to reply that TM is just like any other technique because no researchers on any other technique have ever reported this in a peer-reviewed study:

http://www .ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pu bmed/90098 07
Autonomic patterns during respirator y suspension s: possible markers of Transcende ntal Consciousn ess.

http://www .ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pu bmed/63773 50
Electrophy siologic characteri stics of respirator y suspension periods occurring during the practice of the Transcende ntal Meditation Program.

http://www .ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pu bmed/70459 11
Breath suspension during the transcende ntal meditation technique.”
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Saijanai
Micro bio? We don't need no stinkin' micro bio...
10:58 AM on 05/21/2011
sigh. cut and paste issues with my webbrowser. The proper urls are:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9009807
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6377350
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7045911