With millions of information processed ever since we’re born, it’s no doubt that half, if not most of them, will be left behind and forgotten. Our minds have two parts to determine which type of information we should store as long-term and short-term memory.
However, with the unhealthy lifestyle, we currently have, having so many hectic schedules, business meetings, appointments, as well as get-together activities, our brain become overworked than usual. And this so-called information overload becomes the main culprit why our brain’s health is becoming detrimental. Even much worse, we start to forget important things in our life. And if not prevented, it can lead to dreadful diseases like Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
How do we prevent this from happening? Here are our tips on how to improve your memory as you grow older.
1. Eat Healthy Foods.
Being healthy plays a vital part in our well-being. If you feed your body some healthy foods, your body will function properly and at its optimum state. The same goes for your brain too. In fact, your brain is the first organ to determine whether you’re eating the right foods or not.
It’s because it will be the one responsible for making important decisions, not just as the important decisions you make in your life but for the well-being of your body too. It manages the distribution of the nutrients in your body to keep you healthy. And can you imagine if it’s not receiving the proper nutrients it needs to function properly?
Yes. Your brain will be the first one to suffer this degradation. Your brain won’t be able to function properly and your nerves will cease to function, causing some memory loss. So we recommend you continue to eat healthy foods to make your brain memory sharp and healthy.
2. Challenge Your Brain
If you’re already feeding your brain with the healthy foods it needs, then congratulations, you’re ready to take the next step. Ever heard of the term
“practice makes perfect?”
In order for your brain to retain its sharpness and memory, you need to practice and challenge it. Otherwise, it will remain stagnant and your memories will begin to fade. Challenge your brain by solving puzzles, riddles, memory games, and a lot more.
This will help your brain exercise as you formulate new strategies, moves, and your analytical thinking and deduction will improve as you play this game. Not only will you’ll be helping your brain exercise, but it can also be a form of leisure to you as well. You can download tons of apps and games on play store. And what’s great about them is that most of them are free!
3. Exercise
Now that you already have some mental exercise, it’s important for you to be physically fit as well. That’s why you need to start working out too to have some physical exercise. Physical exercise can help pump your blood more oxygen as it travels to your brain. It will help improve your long-term memory further. Aside from that, exercising release some happy hormones, relieving you from all the stress you felt from work.
4. Taking Breaks
Remember that your brain is mostly overworked every day, so it’s important to give some time to break. Remember that your brain needs some rest too. Otherwise, it will cease to function when it becomes too tired to process new information. We recommend you take some 5 minutes break every 30 minutes to 1 hour when you work, no matter what you do.
This will help refresh your brain from having mental fatigue and digesting information from your work or study. Furthermore, it was revealed that when you take breaks, you are able to memorize more information than you originally needed.
5. Meditation
We firmly believe that like us humans, our brain can only function well when it’s digesting information one step at a time. So multi-tasking or divided attention just won’t do.
So if you want to have a thorough memory or exceptional output with what you’re doing, you need to learn how to focus. Meditation can help you do that. Not only will it allow your brain to have some efficient rest, but it can also help you to focus on doing things one at a time.