Great memory at little to no cost....try it

Giving your memory a boost

It's amazing how a great memory can affect your business and the way you do business! Our memories declines as we get older.....but treating our body well can enhance our ability to process and recall information. The following are way we can slow our memory decline and boost our memory:

Cardiovascular exercise (as little as 15mins/ day):
Having a good memory relies on having a healthy brain and a healthy brain needs a good blood supply (oxygen). Increases oxygen to our brain reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss.

Better diet: a diet based on antioxidant fruits and vegetables, whole grains and omega-3 fats from fish and nuts can improve memory. Monounsaturated fat is also best for our heart and blood vessels, and this is essential when it comes to providing a steady supply of oxygen and nutrients to our brain cells. Also, monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats high in omega-3 fatty acids are essential for healthy cell membranes.

• Omega-3 (found within cold water fish like herring, salmon, tuna, halibut, trout, sardines and mackerel or non fish sources like walnuts, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, pumpkin seeds, and soybeans and fish oil supplements) protect the brain cells from damage and can even promote brain cell growth.
• Antioxidants (from superfood sources like colorful fruits like apricots, mangoes, cantaloupe, and watermelon and vegetables and leafy green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, romaine lettuce, Swiss chard and arugula) protect your brain cells from damage. Drink green tea which contains polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that protect against free radicals that can damage brain cells. Also, regular consumption of green tea may enhance memory and mental alertness and slow brain aging.
• Alcohol kills brain cells but in moderation (around 1 glass a day for women; 2 for men), it is said to actually improve memory and cognition. Red wine (which is rich in resveratrol, a flavonoid that boosts blood flow in the brain and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease) appears to be the best option. Other resveratrol-packed options include grape juice, cranberry juice, fresh grapes and berries, and peanuts.

Mental exercise:
With the right stimulation, our brain can form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, adapt and react in ever-changing ways (neuroplasticity) thereby increasing our cognitive abilities, enhancing our ability to learn new information and improve our memory. The more we work out our brain, the better we ’ll be at processing and remembering information.

Games such as Sudoku can improve memory health by encouraging the brain to think more strategically, learning a new language is one of the best ways to improve your memory, while listening to music can also help.
Teach your brain to remember -  focus your attention on an object or picture (any image) for about a minute, note as much detail as you can about the object or picture - try to note the colors, textures, smells, and tastes., link details to things to make them more memorable - connect information to something you already know, Look away and try to note or write down as much as possible - all you can remember, check to see how much you remembered and what you've missed out. Practice daily.

Reduce stress: chronic stress is not good for memory. It destroys brain cells and damages the hippocampus (the region of the brain involved in the formation of new memories and the retrieval of old ones).
        To reduce stress, try the following

• Try meditation as it can improve our focus, concentration, creativity, learning and reasoning skills. Meditation is said to increase the activity in the left prefrontal cortex (an area of the brain associated with feelings of joy and equanimity), increase the thickness of the cerebral cortex and encourage more connections between brain cells—all of which increases mental sharpness and memory ability.                                                                        
• Socializing stimulate our brains and reduces stress. Emotional responses that come from socialising engage specific areas of the brain. There are many ways to start taking advantage of this: volunteer, join a club, see friends more often, reach out over the phone....and if a human isn’t handy, don’t overlook the value of a pets like the highly social dog.                                                                                     
• Laughter engages multiple regions across the whole brain, activates areas of the brain vital to learning and creativity, ("help people think more broadly and associate more freely".....according to psychologist Daniel Goleman in his book Emotional Intelligence) and reduces stress........So listen to jokes, try working out punch lines, share your embarrassing moments and laugh at yourself, when you hear laughter, seek it out and ask, “What’s funny?”, Spend time with people who laugh easily both at themselves and at life’s absurdities and who routinely find the humor in everyday events as their playful point of view and laughter can be contagious, choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh.  

Sleeping: it's important to have a minimum of at least 8 hours sleep.
Sleep is necessary for memory consolidation, with the key memory-enhancing activity occurring during the deepest stages of sleep. Creativity, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking skills are compromised when you’re sleep deprived.


Source:
1. By Tamara Hinson, http://him.uk.msn.com/health-and-fitness/10-ways-to-give-your-memory-a-boost

2. By Melinda Smith, M.A., and Lawrence Robinson, http://www.helpguide.org/life/improving_memory.htm