How to Keep Your Brain Healthy and Sharp?
If you’ve ever forgotten a birthday, anniversary, or important deadline, you know how a poor memory can impact personal and professional relationships. On the other hand, a strong memory helps a person retain critical information and learn new skills — both important for building stronger relationships and improving work performance. Having a good memory can also help maintain healthy brain function throughout life, especially during the aging process.
Four key factors directly affect brain health: physical and mental exercise, mental well-being, sleep habits, and diet and nutrition. So, to improve memory and concentration, start by making changes in these areas.
Physical Exercise
Habitual exercise does more than strengthen the body; it helps maintain a healthy mind, too. Regular physical activity keeps the brain young as we age and aids the memory center in creating new neurons.
For a brain-boosting fitness regimen, set reasonable goals to reduce excess body weight (which is linked to accelerated aging of the brain). Aim for 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity workouts that consist of cardio and strength training. (Endurance activity and resistance exercise have a positive cognitive effect during development and in adulthood.)
Brain Exercise
Improving memory requires regularly exercising your body and your brain. So if you’ve ever wanted to learn Italian or how to play the guitar, now’s a great time to start — studies show a positive link between mentally stimulating activities and improved cognitive health.
To learn faster and boost your memory, use techniques that help you remember information, like repeating it aloud and creating associations (linking new learnings to things you already know). Play games that require logic, math, word skills, and visuospatial abilities — like crosswords and jigsaw puzzles — as these help improve processing speed and memory. And find opportunities to learn something new, whether it’s by reading, picking up a musical instrument, or learning a second language.
Mental Well-Being
Mental health is often neglected, due to busy schedules, the invisibility of mental illness, and societal stigma. However, the link between psychological health and brain health cannot be ignored. In the 2018 AARP Brain Health and Mental Well-Being Survey, people who scored higher on the scale of mental well-being reported better memory and thinking skills.
For optimum mental health, the 2018 Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH) recommends managing your stress levels, strengthening relationships with family and friends, avoiding “harmful rumination,” finding and developing a purpose in life, engaging in mood-lifting hobbies, and working with a mental health professional when anxious or depressed.
Healthy Sleep Habits
Most adults need seven to eight hours of sleep a night for optimal cognitive functioning. But the quality of your sleep is crucial for brain health. In one analysis of American adults’ sleep patterns, 46 percent of participants reported one hour or more of social jet lag (the discrepancy between the body’s internal clock and the schedule dictated by work or school obligations).
To prevent a sleep deficit, avoid drinking coffee in the afternoon and alcohol at night. Instead, unwind by taking a warm bath or practicing relaxation techniques before bedtime. Eliminate sleep disturbances by keeping smartphones and other electronic devices out of the bedroom. Address factors that may negatively impact your sleep patterns, such as limited exposure to daylight, changes in hormones, and disorders like insomnia or sleep apnea.
Brain-Friendly Nutrition
Just as the body needs appropriate nutrition for optimum functioning, so does the brain. For better cognitive health, eat a brain-friendly diet consisting of anti-inflammatory and whole plant foods — think fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains. Dehydration can have adverse effects on cognitive performance, so be sure to drink enough water, too. Avoid foods that weaken memory and focus: refined carbohydrates, added sugars, nitrates, processed oils and fats, chemical additives, and preservatives. And limit your intake of alcoholic beverages, as heavy drinking can damage short- and long-term memory.
Lastly, ensure you’re getting adequate quantities of brain-protecting nutrients in your diet or via supplements (i.e. omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins B, C, D, and E, and amino acids like beta-alanine).
Perfect Synergy® for Improved Memory and Concentration
Lifestyle changes can significantly improve cognitive health, and supplements like beta-alanine can help. Beta-alanine increases neurotrophins in the brain’s hippocampus, an area responsible for memory. When beta-alanine and histidine come together in the brain, they form carnosine, an antioxidant that helps improve attention, concentration, and task focus.
Perfect Synergy® is a patented sustained-release beta-alanine that has been clinically proven to maximize carnosine production. Its benefits include improved executive functioning, mental clarity, and task focus, as well as support for overall brain health, cognitive function, and memory. You can also trust that Perfect Synergy® is safe and effective — it has successfully obtained New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) status from the FDA and has achieved self-affirmed Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status.
With Perfect Synergy®, you can say goodbye to forgotten birthdays, anniversaries, and important deadlines — and experience the benefits of a boosted memory, increased mental clarity, and improved concentration. Life’s important memories are worth preserving, and Perfect Synergy® offers the complete memory support that gets results. Visit our website for product information and purchasing.
