4 ways to keep your brain healthy

brainhealth.JPGEating healthy, exercising, keeping your brain active and getting adequate sleep can help keep your brain healthy, experts say.

By Samantha Quisgard
Contributing Writer

You may have committed to memory the advice about exercising and eating right to maintain health. What about preserving that organ where memories are stored?

This being National Brain Awareness Week, we've assembled some advice:

* Exercise your body.
Aerobic exercise improves oxygen consumption and blood flow to the brain, increasing overall brain function. Research shows that exercise also stimulates the growth of new brain cells, which improves memory and learning abilities.

Walking 30 minutes just three times a week could not only help your fitness level but also your brain. Physically fit people experienced less age-related brain tissue shrinkage than people who were less active, according to a study in the February 2003 Journal of Gerontology.

* Exercise your mind.
Mental workouts enhance blood and oxygen flow to the brain, promote cell growth and build stronger connections between neurons.

"Games can teach us strategies and keep us functioning well because we're optimizing the capacities we already have," says William J. Hoyer, who leads the department of psychology at Syracuse University.

Stimulate your brain with mind games such as crossword puzzles, memory games, Sudoku or any type of logic or mathematical game. Researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that people who spent time performing mentally stimulating activities such as reading, playing cards or doing puzzles had a 47 percent reduced risk of developing dementia.

Dr. Smita Kittur of Neurological Care of Central New York recommends spending less time watching TV and more time learning a new hobby. But she says if you do choose to watch TV, try brain-stimulating shows such as Jeopardy.

* Choose good nutrition.
Watch out for foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat, which increase the risk of cognitive decline.

Kittur suggests following what's known as a "Mediterranean diet" for the best brain health results from your food. This is an eating style that includes lots of fruits, vegetables and grains and seafood, with little red meat or sweets. She also touts Omega 3 fatty acids -- found in salmon, tuna, halibut, almonds and walnuts -- because they help maintain the connections between nerve cells in the brain.

Blueberries are another good choice since they contain high levels of antioxidants known as polyphenols, which aid in memory development and help brain cells stand up against stress. Kittur says just one cup a day can help your brain's health and memory.

Green tea is also a good choice, research shows, because it contains an antioxidant that helps decrease plaque buildup, which has been linked to severe memory loss and nerve damage in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

* Sleep.
As with any physical exercise routine, remember to take time to rest. Your brain needs time to rest and refuel.

Studies show that sleep deprivation can reduce the growth of new neurons in the hippocampus, the memory region of the brain. "Sleep is important because it gives the brain time to rest and to consolidate the information that we experience day in and day out, and our brains need a little time to digest that," says Hoyer.