How can you boost your memory and learning capabilities?

Memory is one of the most important cognitive functions of the nervous system; it gives taste our lives, connects us with our sweet memories, allows us to locate the time, the space and the people, brings information when needed and carry us through daily life.

While this can be a totally normal occurrence, having a poor performing memory can be so frustrating, especially when you are at the golden age and life opportunities are booming around you, a poor memory can limit you capacities and decay your future.

What you should know, genetics play an important role in the outcome of your nervous system and particularly in memory loss, especially in serious neurodegenerative conditions (conditions know for the important loss of neurons) like Alzheimer’s disease. Yet, researches have shown that several factors like diet and lifestyle have a major impact on memory too.

Without further do, Here are some simple  ways to improve your memory naturally.

 

Keep your weight healthy

 

Maintaining a healthy body weight is vital for well being and is one of the best indicators to maintain your body and mind in optimum condition.

Several studies have linked obesity with cardiovascular, glandular and respiratory diseases and identified as an important risk factor for cognitive decline.

Obesity leads to insulin resistance and chronic inflammation, both of which negatively impact the nervous system.

Interestingly obesity is also connected with a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that destroys continuously neuron cell bodies and decays memory and cognitive functions.

Her are some simple tips to keep your weight healthy.

 

Avoid eating added sugar and saturated fat

 

Excess in sugar and saturated fat consumption has been linked by several studies to many health issues and chronic diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and cognitive decline.

Researches had shown that fatty diets and sugar loaded diets are correlated with poor memory performance, less gray matter and a reduced brain volume, mainly in the area of the brain that stocks up short term memory.

So cutting back on refined sugar and fat does not only help your cardiovascular system but also boosts your memory and improves your overall health.

 

Avoid at all costs excessive refined carbs 

 

Ingesting large amounts of refined carbohydrates like cereal, cakes, cookies, white rice and white bread may be implicitly damaging to your nervous system.

These foods are known to have a high glycemic index, which means the digestive system  digests these carbohydrates rapidly, leading to a spike sugar release and thus a spike in blood sugar level.

 

Get sufficient sleep

 

Several studies linked the lack of proper sleep with reduced memory for quite some time.

According to neuropsychiatry, sleep has an important role in memory consolidation, a process in which short term memories are reinforced and transformed into long term memories.

Health experts worldwide recommend adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep each night for the most benefit.

All what you need about healthy sleeping routine with further explanations.

 

Meditate!

 

This practice can significantly affect your health in several ways, it is known for its relaxing and calming effect, and has been found to decrease anxiety, stress and pain; also it lowers blood pressure and even improve the sanity of your memory.

By meditating, you open a new world of ideas, thoughts for your brain and allow it to see the world with another perspective. In fact, meditation has been shown to increase gray matter in the brain.

As you age, gray matter (neuron cell bodies) declines slowly, this negatively affects your memory and cognition abilities.

 

Avoid drinking, or at least drink less Alcohol 

 

Consuming excessive amounts of alcoholic beverage can be harmful to your health in many ways and negatively impacts your cognitive capacities and memory.

Alcohol shows toxic effects on the brain. Knowing that alcohol deprives the nervous system from the vitamins, especially vit B1, causing the appearance of Korsakoff syndrome. Repetitive episodes of drinking lead to damages in the hippocampus, which is part of the brain that plays an essential role in memory.

 

Exercise more

 

As you may know, exercising is so important for your overall physical and psychological health.

Researchers have recognized that it is useful for the brain and may help boost memory in people of all ages, from children to elder people.

Many studies have shown exercise may increase the release of neuro protective proteins and progress the growth and development of neurons, causing an improvement in the brain health.

 

Work out your brain

 

Working out your cognitive skills by enjoying brain games is both a fun and an effective way to increase your memory capacities.

Crosswords, Tetris, Rubik’s cube, word-recall games and even mobile apps devoted to memory training are brilliant ways to fortify your memory.

Furthermore, brain-training games have been shown to reduce the risk of dementia in older adults.

Frequent exercise in midlife is correlated with a reduced risk of developing dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases in later in life.

So exercise carries several benefits for your whole system, including your nervous one. Even moderate but frequent exercise for short periods has been shown to develop cognitive performance, including memory.

 

Select Anti-oxidant and Anti-inflammatory diets

 

Adopting a diet rich in anti-oxidant foods will surely help boost your memory.

Antioxidants lower inflammation in the body by dropping oxidative stress caused by free radicals. You can take antioxidants in natural foods like fruits, vegetables and tea.

Some fruits are rich in antioxidants like berries, which are particularly high in antioxidants like anthocyanins and flavonoids. Consuming them may be an excellent way to improve your cognitive capabilities and prevent memory loss; at the end, you can’t go wrong by consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables.