By leading a heart healthy lifestyle, keeping your body active, having a good diet and maintaining social connections, you are giving your brain a boost.  Maintaining your brain is the key to preventing Alzheimer’s disease.  “We have sufficient evidence that there are a good number of things people can do to promote normal brain health,” says Dr. Greg Jicha, neurologist at the University of Kentucky Alzheimer’s Center and the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.

The biopsychosocial model is a great way to approach prevention.  Biologically, researchers look at controlling medical issues.  “We have very good evidence that high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes are strong risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease,” says Jicha.  Psychologically, you should be learning new things that are enjoyable and engaging.  Mental exercises can be remarkably simple.  Hobbies and past times work out the mental muscle, even creative culinary explorations. “Cooking is wonderful so you could break out your recipe book for your Mediterranean diet or make a new salad you have not tried before” says Jicha.  “Instead of aerobics, neurobics are simple little things that are fun games in your day like eating dinner using your silverware in the opposite hand than you normally use or leaving a few minutes early and taking a different route to work than usual.”  You are only limited by your creativity.  Socially, you should have interpersonal interaction, or conversations, which is considered the most complex mental exercise.  “You never know what will come out of someone’s mouth,” says Jicha.  “You have to think on your feet, interpret what is said and respond in an appropriate way.”  It is like mental tennis.

It is often said that what is good for your heart is good for your head.  “You want to eat less fat and more antioxidant-rich foods like dark, leafy green vegetables and dark-skinned fruits like blackberries, strawberries, raisins and red grapes,” says Tanya Cox, vice president of mission and service at the Alzheimer’s Association.  The Mediterranean diet is often cited as a healthy diet template, which focuses on raw vegetables high in antioxidants like tomatoes and carrots with the limiting of high fat meats and an increase in fish consumption. 

The brain becomes oxidized as one ages so vitamin E helps to battle the brain rust.  Although Vitamins E is important, you should talk to your doctor about the risks of nutritional supplements.  “Vitamin E in high doses can increase risk of heart attack or stroke in patients with heart disease or active cancers,” says Jicha.  Omega-3 fatty acids are not only antioxidants, but also help the brain function the way it is supposed to.  “Fatty acids are part of the membrane or covering of nerve cells which need to be flexible so they can make new connections,” says Jicha. This flexibility of the fatty membrane of the brain allows the nerve cells to reform, making new connections, wherever there is brain damage, according to Jicha.  “This way we are able to think in new ways and adapt,” says Jicha. 

Get moving.  “When we exercise our body, we exercise our brain and it gets our blood flowing,” says Cox.  Even thirty minutes of physical activity a day can be helpful.  Brisk walking and any exercise that gets your heart rate and breathing up will be protective and buy you years in delaying the development of Alzheimer’s even if you are predisposed to get it.  The general rule of thumb is that you should be walking fast enough to get your breathing up but should still be able to hold a conversation.  “If you cannot talk at the speed you are walking, you are overdoing it for your cardiovascular system,” says Jicha.  “If you can sing and belt out your favorite song while you are walking, you are not walking fast enough.”

Understand the importance of giving your brain a boost.  “Brain health is not just for people in their sixties, seventies and eighties; it is never too soon to start,” says Jicha.  Brain health is for children and young adults too.  “If you have not developed a program or a plan to enhance your brain health by the time you are middle-aged, the clock is running out,” says Jicha.
    
Healthcare professionals are hopeful that individuals with and without Alzheimer’s disease will be able to do a better job of maintaining their brain in the future.  “I think that in the last ten years, we got to a place where we now can say for sure there will be a cure for Alzheimer’s disease,” says Cox.  “It is not a matter of if anymore; it is just a matter of when.”