Healthy choices can prevent or delay some conditions that affect the brain, like stroke, heart disease and diabetes. Some researchers believe that similar choices can help delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s as well.

The bottom line? You can keep your mind sharp and healthy – and eating good food is a great first step:

• Follow Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
  
  
• Include whole grain products, vegetables and fruits, lean meats, fish, nuts, beans and low fat dairy products.
  
  
• Make sure you eat foods rich in B vitamins. Include whole grain cereals, breads, pastas, rice, dairy, beans, meats, vegetables and fruits to get lots of Bs.  
  
  
• Avoid extreme low carbohydrate diets. Eat a variety of foods. The carbohydrates found in whole grains, dairy, vegetables and fruits all provide energy for the brain.
  
  
• Try to eat fish at least once a week. The omega 3 fatty acids help keep the brain cell membranes healthy.
  
  
• Blood flow to the brain provides the energy and oxygen it needs for activity. Narrowing of the arteries – normally associated with problems such as heart disease – can restrict blood flow. So choose a heart healthy diet low in fats and high in vegetables and fruits.
  
  
• If you drink alcohol, use moderation.
  

• Include at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day. It keeps you fit and delivers an oxygen boost to the brain.
  
  
• Regular exercise can improve your memory, reasoning abilities and reaction times.
  
  
• Exercising in 10-minute blocks, 3 times a day, is enough to deliver significant health benefits.
  
  
• Regular exercise helps you maintain a healthy body weight, keeps bones and muscles strong and helps reduce your risk of diabetes and heart disease, which can affect brain function.
  
  
• A study done in Canada found that men and women over 65 could reduce the risk of mental decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s with regular exercise.  The more active they were, the greater the protection. Exercise was particularly good for women.
  
  
• Avoid smoking and drinking to excess.
  

Give your brain a regular workout!

• Memory loss can be improved by 30 - 50% simply by doing mental exercises.
  
  
• Keep up your social life and engage in plenty of stimulating conversations.
  
  
• Play thinking games like Scrabble, cards, Trivial Pursuit, chess, crossword puzzles and word games.
  
  
• Watch question and answer game shows and play along with the contestants.
  
  
• Read newspapers, magazines and books.
  
  
• Take a course on a subject that interests you. Learn a new language or take up a musical instrument.
  
  
• Cultivate a new hobby. Hobbies such as woodwork and sewing can improve the brain’s spatial awareness.
  
  
• Keep stress under control with meditation and regular relaxation. Excess stress hormones such as cortisol can be harmful to the brain.
  

Develop your recall skills. 

• Good recall is a learned skill.
  
  
• Make sure you’re paying attention to whatever it is you want to remember. For instance, if you’re busy thinking about something else you won’t notice where you’re putting the house keys.
  
  
• Use memory triggers, like association or visualization techniques. For example, link a name you want to remember to a mental picture.
  
  
• Practice using your memory.
  

Some illnesses and drugs can affect mental abilities. Check with your doctor or health practitioner to make sure any cognitive changes you may experience are not related to illness or drugs.