Are You Sabotaging Your Memory?

I recently attended a webinar given by SimpleSmartScience on natural ways to boost your memory.   This was a lecture given by Julia Lundstrom, neuroscience and brain health educator.  I learned quite a few things that I didn’t know.

Here are some of the topics that were covered:

Get enough good quality sleep
Here are some suggestions to achieve this  – bedtime routines:

Ideally, you should wake up at the same time every day.  That proves a good quality of sleep.

Avoid:  blue light of television, cell phone, computer.

Hide your phone or alarm so you won’t worry about time slipping by without sleep.

Cool your room to 60 to 67 degrees.

Lack of sleep is linked with Alzheimer’s disease

Keep a sleep journal.

Don’t lie in bed worrying.

Put your face in a bucket of cold water.

Don’t drink liquids within 2 hour of bedtime.

Take a hot bath.

Read.

Meditation
Schedule a time to meditate, daily.

Meditation creates biological changes in the brain.  It changes our brain wave states, from gamma and beta (stress),  to alpha (ideal), to theta and finally to delta (sleep).

Yoga – rhythmic breathing
Do rhythmic breathing:  take in air  (6 counts), let it out (6 counts).

Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself
Read “Breaking the habit of being yourself – How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One”, a recommended book by Dr. Joe Dispenza

Brain boosting foods (you are what you eat)
Introduce MindBoost (by SimpleSmartScience), the most powerful fuel for your brain
Learn what substances are good for the brain, i.e., Bacopa, B12, DHA, Rhodiola Rosea, Gingko Biloba.
The right substances in the right dosage

Excerpts from SimpleSmartScience’s  “Live Long Well” Newsletter:

The damage that stress does to your memory:  It eats away at your brain and memory, producing inflammation. 

Stress is something in your external or internal environment causing your body to release chemicals.  These chemicals increase your heart rate and blood pressure, preparing you for a “fight or flight”  emergency.

This short-term stress (the good kind) served its purpose when we had to get away from a lion in the jungle.  However, we have now replaced it with long-term stress (the bad kind).  Long-term stress is where it gets tricky for us humans.  First, we are rarely if ever in eminent danger.  It seems that we have adapted this “stress” reflex to pretty much everything we do in life.

A chemical called “Cortisol” gets released when we perceive a real (or imagined) threat.  Cortisol keeps your blood pressure and blood sugar up to help you escape from the danger.  A lifetime of stress takes its toll on your brain and your memory!

Memory and Stress
Your brain creates and stores memories in a section of your brain called the hyppocampus. This area of the brain also makes a chemical that counteracts the cortisol. This is to get you back in balance.  However, excess cortisol eats away at the hyppocampus, making it less able to produce the chemicals to break down the cortisol.

Don’t forget:  the hippocampus is the same area of the brain that produces and stores memories.

That’s the bad news.  Now the good news:

You can  create and grow new brain cells in the hippocampus and improve your memory.

Grow a bigger brain with learning
Learn something new.  Everyday.  Without fail.   Studies have shown that, if you challenge yourself, if you learn Something new, you grow brain cells to take in this information.  So, get out there and learn to play an instrument, learn a new language, learn to write music or calligraphy – anything to use a different part of your brain.

Top 10 foods for top memory and brain
Fatty fish, blueberries, avocados, dark chocolate (75%+ cacao), Vitamin B12 found in chicken, fish and eggs, pumpkin seeds, bone broth, coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, turmeric.

Reduce your risks of getting Alzheimer’s Disease
Here are the top 7 scientifically proven ways to reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease:

Increase folate intake;
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) Ibuprofen, DHA, Turmeric;
Statins;
Mediterranean Diet;
increased social activity;
sleep quality,
DHA supplementation

I hope you’ve enjoyed this blog on “Are You Sabotaging Your Memory?”, and that, like me, you’ve learned a few new things about your brain health and memory.

Other brain games can be found under the heading “See Our Blogs”, by clicking any of the published blogs on the pages for the following categories:

“Brain Games For Children”

“Brain Games For Adults”

“Brain Games For Seniors”

“Advanced Brain Training”

“Optimal Brain Health”