September is World Alzheimer’s Month, which means you’ll be hearing a lot this month about dementia, its risk factors, symptoms, support services and more. You’ll also be hearing about how to “Build Brain-Healthy Habits,” a free educational program being offered this year by the Alzheimer’s Association and held in local communities across the country.
One of those communities is Kendal at Oberlin, which is hosting a public event on Monday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in Heiser Auditorium. Research shows there are everyday habits you can build today to help protect your memory and thinking in the future – even reduce your risk of cognitive decline and possible dementia. This program provides research-backed guidance on brain health and the importance of taking action to protect your brain at every age.
Healthy habits for your brain
The Alzheimer’s Association can up with 10 healthy habits. Here are 5 of them.
- Challenge your mind. Learn a new skill, whether functional or artistic, and be curious. Putting your brain to work by learning something new or hard has short and long-term benefits. One way many Kendal residents challenge their mind is by signing up for lifelong learning classes at Lorain County Community College and academic courses at Oberlin College.
- Get moving. Whether it’s an exercise class or a daily walk, engage in activities that raise your heart rate and increase blood flow to the brain and body.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Talk to your doctor about the weight that is healthy for you. And remember, being underweight increases your risk for fractures and falls and makes it harder to recover from infections and illnesses and being overweight strains the heart and joints and increases the risk of diabetes and stroke.
- Sleep well. Good quality sleep is continuous, restorative rest where you fall asleep easily, cycle through all necessary sleep stages, and wake up feeling refreshed. Your brain needs that.
- Eat right. Healthy foods include fruits and vegetables, lean meat, foods less processed and lower in fat.
More about healthy eating
“The human brain consumers roughly 20 percent of the body’s total energy daily – that’s about 400 to 500 calories a day. So, you can see why it’s important to make sure your diet includes food for the brain,” explains Paide Yoder, Consultant Registered Dietitian at Kendal at Oberlin.
Healthy brain foods that Paige recommends include foods with Omega-3 Fatty Acids (fatty fishes, flaxseed chia seed, walnuts, soybean, algae oil), foods with antioxidants and polyphenols (blueberries, strawberries, grapes, apples, carrots, coffee and green and white teas) and complex carbohydrates (whole grain breads like Dave’s Killer Bread, legumes, vegetables such as quinoa, brown rice, lentils, chickpeas, beans, starchy vegetables like sweet potato, butternut squash, peas and other vegetables.)
“The Mind Diet is a hybrid of two diets – the Mediterranean and DASH – that focuses on eating whole grains, beans, nuts, vegetables, fruit, lean protein foods, extra-virgin olive oil and low-fat or fat-free dairy products. Studies have found that even a moderate adherence to the diet shows cognitive benefits,” she says.
And more on moving
This month and next you’ll be hearing about Walk to End Alzheimer events in your community. Lorain County’s walk is Saturday, Oct. 3 at Lorain County Community College and Cleveland’s is Saturday, Oct. 17 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
This annual event is held in more than 600 communities nationwide to bring money and awareness to this prevalent disease. One in three older adults dies with Alzheimer’s or another dementia, and more than 7 million Americans are living with the disease.
