Do you use countless Post-it notes to remember things throughout the day?
Walk into rooms and can’t remember why?
Forgetting important events, meetings, responsibilities?
There is hope!
Diet can play a major role in brain function! There are foods that can actually reduce brain function and potentially cause disease. See my article on AGEs posted yesterday.
In addition to a healthy plant-based diet, you can also improve brain function through exercise!
In a 2010 study published in the Archives of Neurology, researchers took a group of people with mild cognitive impairment—those who are starting to forget things, for example, or regularly repeating themselves—and had them engage in aerobic exercise for 45 to 60 minutes a day, 4 days a week, for 6 months. The control group was instructed to simply stretch for the same time period periods. (1)
Memory tests were performed before and after the study. Researchers found that in the control (stretching) group, cognitive function continued to decline. But the exercising group not only didn’t get worse, they got BETTER. The exercisers got more test answers correct after six months, indicating their memory had improved. (2)
Subsequent studies using MRI scans found that aerobic exercise can actually reverse age-related shrinkage in the memory centers of the brain. (3)
So, what are you waiting for? Did you forget already?!
Better get moving!!
Questions? Just ask!
Want to work with me 1:1 to create the perfect diet for you and/or your family? Contact me today at dana@thrivekin.com.
Sources:
1. Baker LD, Frank LL, Foster-Schubert K, et al. Effects of aerobic exercise on mild cognitive impairment: a controlled trial. Arch Neurol. 2010;67(1):71-9
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3. Erickson KI, Voss MW, Prakash RS, et al. Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2011;108(7):3017-22.