How to Boost Your Memory

Nourish Your Body

May 2

We are living longer than ever before in history. And as amazing as that is, it comes with some very real and scary concerns. Cognitive issues are definitely at the top of most people's concerns when you talk about aging. My father dealt with Alzheimer's for many years and I saw the toll it took on my mom as his caregiver. There are many things we can do to support our cognitive function, and a lot of these are natural and/or easy to add to our daily life.

This is far from an exhaustive list, but really more of the abridged list from much research I have done. I have tried to include approachable items that don't cost a lot and yet are easy to incorporate into your daily life. You don't have to do every single idea here, pick a few that speak to you and that you will do regularly as that will provide you with the strongest benefits.

How to Boost Your Memory:

Cook your meals at home, prepared foods are often full of toxins, chemicals that are inflammatory, hidden sugars, and poor quality fats
Reduce or eliminate simple sugars: beet and cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, refined carbohydrates from processed foods
Reduce processed foods in general, these are highly inflammatory (think most anything from a drive thru window, and most anything from a box, bag, or can)
Upgrade the oils you eat: use olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, lard
Eat more Omega 3: wild-caught salmon, trout, sardines, flaxseed, grass fed beef
Reduce or eliminate gluten, it causes inflammation in your brain
Measure your blood pressure and make dietary and lifestyle changes to manage it: quit smoking, reduce alcohol consumption, increase intake of fruits/vegetables, reduce caffeine, manage your stress, move more and move regularly
Manage your weight, if you are overweight even loosing a few pounds can have a dramatic positive impact on your brain health
Upgrade your salt to unrefined sea salt and don't overuse it
Try sweet potatoes in place of regular potatoes
Eat avocados a few times a week
Add fresh herbs to your meals
Drink green tea
My personal favorite: Eat dark chocolate (72% or more), about an ounce a day is good
Do some form of moderate exercise each day: walking, yoga, Tai Chi, biking
Do math in your head
Meditate each day, even 10 minutes can really help: I love the Calm app and the Insight Timer app
Hang out with friends, start a club or group activity
Take up a new hobby, gardening, paddle boarding, sewing, painting
Do crossword puzzles, puzzles, sudoku
Play card games
Play chess
Memorize things instead of relying on something written down, phone numbers, shopping lists
Sleep! Sleep is vital for brain health, try to get at least 7 hours a night