Memory Improvement Tips to Give Your Brain a Boost

It can be frustrating when you walk into a room and forget why you even left your seat. Perhaps you went to the store for three things and the third item completely slipped from your mind.  That’s why I wanted to help with some memory improvement tips.

Many people put a poor memory down to a natural result of growing older, but the deterioration does not have to happen as quickly as you think. A bad memory is not irreversible. Did you know there are things you can do to improve your memory?

Your Lifestyle Choices Affect your Brain Function

Your memory is determined by the health of your brain and its ability to function at its best. This is affected by lifestyle choices. You can make better choices in your everyday life and try simple mental exercises that can improve your memory.

Poor lifestyle choices can actually cause your cognitive function to deteriorate more rapidly than it would naturally. This is why it is so important to make the right choices and keep our bodies and brains healthy.

Not only do bad choices worsen our memory, but healthy lifestyle choices actually support the health of your brain and help it build new neurons to help with memory function. [1]

Here Are Our Top Memory Improvement Tips

Diet and Memory

You probably guessed it, but the food you eat plays a significant role in the health of your brain. Good choices for memory are fresh vegetables and healthy fats. Foods that are packed full of antioxidants, such as celery, cauliflower and walnuts are a sure way to protect your brain and encourage the growth of new cells. [1]

It is important to cut back on sugary, processed foods and excessive carbohydrate consumption as these are not helpful to the health of your brain.

Healthy fats such as coconut oil and omega 3 are vital for brain function. Omega 3 is found in high concentrations in oily fish, but is also found in kidney beans, broccoli and pumpkin seeds. [2]

Many people find it more convenient to supplement omega 3, as it is difficult to get enough for optimum brain function from diet alone. Saturated fats such as those found in red meat and dairy products have been found to increase risk of memory impairment and even dementia, so it is advisable to cut back on these foods. [2]

What you drink matters as much as what you eat. Not drinking enough water can lead to memory loss and confusion, and alcohol kills brain cells, so you may want to cut back on your alcohol intake if you are looking to improve your memory. [3] Green tea is a good choice as it contains a high number of antioxidants.

Keep your Sleep Cycle in Check

Many experts believe that this is the most effective of all memory improvement tips.[4] Sleep affects your brain’s abilities more than you may think. Just one night of poor sleep can affect your ability to think straight the following day.

95% of adults need 7.5 to 9 hours sleep a night in order to avoid the damage of sleep deprivation. [2] Not getting a good night’s sleep affects so many areas of your cognitive ability, including memory, problem solving skills and decision making.

While we sleep this is the time when our brains solidify connections between our neurons, and this aids our memory. [4] When we do not get enough sleep, on the other hand, our brains produce more beta amyloid, which is a toxic protein that can clog up our brains. [5]

It is important not to use alcohol to help you sleep. While it may help you nod off, it is likely to lead to poor sleep quality. Alcohol affects our ability to enter the deep sleep phase known as REM sleep. [5]

Exercise of all Kinds

Both physical and mental exercise is important to improve your memory. Physical exercise stimulates nerve cells and encourages them to multiply. Our nerve cells release proteins during exercise which promote brain health and this has a direct impact on improving our cognitive functions. [1]

Exercise also increases the levels of oxygen in our brains, reducing the risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular disease, among other conditions. [2]

Memory has been likened to a muscle, in that you need to use it in order for it to remain strong, and the less you use it the weaker it can become. [2] There are therefore plenty of benefits of mental exercise.

Playing brain games allows us to directly counteract memory deterioration and fight back against the degeneration of our brain functions. There are plenty of options when it comes to choosing brain games. Many of them are available online. You could also try learning a new skill, such as a musical instrument or language. It is advised that you spend around 20 minutes each day engaged in this kind of brain training activity. [1]

Stop Trying to Multitask

In today’s world, constant multitasking is seen as a necessity. However, when you are trying to do too many things at once, something is always going to fall through the cracks. When you try to do two things at the same time, your brain is not actually multitasking. Instead it is constantly flitting from one thing to the other. [4]

Studies have shown that your brain takes approximately 8 seconds to properly commit something to memory, so if you drop your keys somewhere while thinking about something else, the likelihood is that you will not remember where you put them. [1] Try to concentrate fully on the task at hand, saying things out loud to yourself if it helps.

Visit your Doctor if Necessary

While some poor memory symptoms are natural, they can be a sign of something more serious. If you find yourself forgetting faces and names of those close to you or feeling increasingly confused and overwhelmed in stations that used to come easily, this may be a cause for concern. [5] If you are worried about your memory function, visit your doctor.

References

[1] http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/04/24/memory-improvement-tricks.aspx

[2] http://www.helpguide.org/articles/memory/how-to-improve-your-memory.htm

[3] http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/healthy-aging/in-depth/memory-loss/art-20046518

[4] http://food.ndtv.com/health/how-to-improve-memory-power-10-tips-and-tricks-1229718

[5] http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/25-tips-improve-your-memory-1864549