Tips to Recharge Your Memory

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The best ways to beat absentmindedness are amazingly simple—and totally fun

Luckily, your brain doesn't ask for special treatment; many of the routines that keep your body healthy will keep your brain in good working order too. Here's a checklist:

For starters, see your doc. He can spot many reversible causes of memory problems--such as medication side effects or serious medical conditions. Be sure to get screened for vision and hearing problems, since these can seem like memory deficits if they're subtle.

Manage the Memory Stealers Some of the most common health hazards associated with aging--diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol--can have a negative impact on your memory if they aren't controlled by diet, exercise, and, if necessary, medication.

"All of these conditions contribute to a narrowing of the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the brain," explains Jay Lombard, MD, assistant clinical professor of neurology at Cornell University Medical Center in New York City, and author of The Brain Wellness Plan.

Order Brain Food If elephants never forget, it may be because of their plant-rich diet. Get plenty of the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E found in brightly colored fruits and green, leafy vegetables (aim for seven servings a day). Also, take a multivitamin to get at least the Daily Values for these nutrients. Their antioxidant action may protect brain cells much as they do other cells in the body.

Get Your Omegas Studies have linked consumption of foods rich in a class of unsaturated fats called omega-3 fatty acids to a lower incidence of depression and dementia (loss of intellectual function). One type of omega-3, called DHA, may help improve nerve cell function in the brain. Good sources include anchovies, tuna, herring, and salmon (but not the smoked varieties). Your goal: one or two servings a week.

Ease Your Mind Cortisol--the hormone your body releases when you're stressed--is toxic to the nervous system. "High levels of cortisol inhibit cells from using oxygen and glucose--so they literally end up starving," says Lombard. One way to keep stress from battering your memory bank is to give your brain some time off, says Cynthia Green, PhD, director of the Memory Enhancement Program at Mount Sinai's NYU Medical Center in New York City. "Give yourself periods of downtime during the day; intersperse periods of mental activity with periods of relative inactivity."

Train Your Brain When asked what people should do to keep their memory strong, every memory expert we talked to came out in favor of exercise. Mental exercise, that is. What works? Just about anything you enjoy doing, if you follow these guidelines:

Mix it up: Following the same logic, it takes different activities to exercise different types of memory. You can't rely on just one to do it.

Challenge yourself: "Read complicated novels or do crossword puzzles once in a while," suggests West. "If you keep the level of challenge up, you have a greater chance of maintaining your ability."

Fill your calendar: In addition to choosing activities that give you a memory workout, be sure to keep your mind engaged and stimulated. Read engrossing books, see interesting movies, go to exhibitions and lectures, join new groups, and talk to new people. Though a true cause-and-effect relationship has yet to be proven, many studies link an active life to a well-functioning memory.

Besides, now that your memory's working so well, don't you want some new experiences that are worth remembering?

Copyright© 2008 Rodale Inc. Portions of content copyright© 2005-2008. All rights reserved. Women's Health is a Registered Trademark of Rodale Inc. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Rodale Inc.

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