Mental Gymnastics Keep Your Mind Nimble

It is normal to become more absent-minded as we age, and in fact, most people ov

er the age of 40 experience some memory loss. The most likely causes of a forget
ful memory include poor concentration due to brain-chemical imbalance, tiredness
, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders.
If you find you are more forgetful than usual, try these steps and see if there
isn't some improvement in your cognitive clarity:
Get an uninterrupted eight hours of sleep each night.
Do a half an hour of cardiovascular exercise every day, such as brisk walking, s
low jogging, biking, or swimming. This will improve circulation and increase blo
od flow to the brain.
Turn yourself upside down for a couple of minutes daily.
Mental fitness activities are imperative to prevent age-related cognitive declin
e. Read and learn new things, find new hobbies, do crossword puzzles, add up you
r bill in your head while shopping, memorize a set of phone numbers forward and
backwards; all these can stimulate brain cell activities and in some cases even
grow new brain pathways.
Work with your physician to find a supplemental regimen that helps improve your
cognitive capabilities. Memory-enhancing supplements and herbs include B-complex
vitamins, magnesium, CoQ10, alpha-lipoic acid, fish oil, flax seed oil, Chinese
club moss, ginkgo, and ginseng. A supplement that has been well-documented in E
urope for reversing age-related dementia and memory loss is phosphatidylserine (
PS), a compound made by the body from the amino acid serine. Taken in supplement
form, PS lowers stress response and promotes the release of neurotransmitters