Our most prized possession is our memory; memories tell us who we are, our origins, and what’s important to us.

Without memories and adequate cognition, we cannot properly function in society or care for ourselves independently. Not only would they have lost their self-identity, but they’d also struggle with activities of daily living or communication.

In cases of diagnosed memory loss, usually, a loved one takes responsibility or makes arrangements with a memory care facility.

According to the Alzheimer Society, 40% of individuals over the age of 65 will experience some level of memory loss. While this memory loss should be mild enough to continue day-to-day activities, it can still be extremely frustrating and scary.

Even scarier than this, 5-8% of individuals over the age of 65 will develop dementia, which currently has no known cure and worsens with time.

While the threat of memory loss is frightening, it doesn’t warrant panic.

According to Harvard Medical, while genes can play a role in memory loss, personal choices are also a major factor in the strength of your memory.

1. Eat The Right Foods

Looking to give your memory a kick? Start in the kitchen.

This could come as a surprise to some, but your diet actually plays a vital role in the quality of your memory.

As a result of various trials and research, it was discovered that nutrients such as antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and B vitamins all directly correlate to improved brain health and function.

Vitamin C and E, which are two common antioxidants, actively protect your brain cells. They can be found in vegetables and fruits. Likewise, vitamin B, also an antioxidant, supports energy metabolism in the brain and improves memory. It can be found in foods such as dark leafy greens, nuts, and all those wonderful whole grains: quinoa; black, brown, and red rice; oatmeal; bread; pasta; and even certain cereals.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish such as tuna, salmon, or trout. You can also get them from nuts and seeds. These fatty acids contribute to improved cognitive function and help fight off cognitive decline.

Did you know that food can even impact the brain's ability to learn and adapt to new situations? It’s called neuroplasticity, and it can be improved by nutrients like choline. You can consume choline through foods such as liver, eggs, and soybeans.

The brain requires ample amounts of oxygen to stay healthy. Luckily, food can supply this needed oxygen to the brain. Tea, onions, apples, berries, citrus fruits, cherries, and soybeans all fall into the flavonoid food group, which increases blood flow to the regions of the brain that are responsible for memory formation.

2. Exercise Your Body

Cognitive neurologist, Sandra Black, explains how a healthy brain requires plenty of oxygen. Our brain receives this necessary oxygen through our blood vessels. If our blood vessels are critical in keeping our brain healthy and happy, it only makes sense that we need to protect our blood vessels if we want to ensure a strong memory.

The best way to take care of blood vessels is by getting the blood pumping. This can be done through any type of physical activity that raises our heart rate. Walking, running, swimming, or lifting weights are all examples of activities that can increase our heart rate.

Engage in daily physical activity and you’ll increase your heart rate. An increased heart rate will pump your blood. Pumping your blood allows for more oxygen to reach your brain. More oxygen reaching your brain leads to a healthy brain and boosted memory.

Black also goes on to explain that during physical activity, such as walking or running, your muscles actually release a signal called irisin. Irisin stimulates a part of the brain that learns things and stores information.

Simply put, moving your body daily is a great way to boost your memory.

3. Exercising Your Brain

Just like your body, your brain requires exercise to keep a sharp cognitive state. But brain exercise looks a little different than physical exercise.

Exercising your brain is a fancy way to say that you need to make your brain think.

Your brain is forced to think when it does stimulating tasks.

Some examples of stimulating tasks include:

• Socializing

• Playing word games

• Learning a new language

• Learning an instrument

This stimulation promotes neuroplasticity, that weird thing we said could be improved by eating nutrients like choline. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to learn and adapt, a vital skill when functioning in society.

Brain stimulation also expands certain areas of your brain, like the hippocampus—which is responsible for forming your memory. A study on juggling actually showed that the activity could drastically increase your hippocampus.

Everyone grab your juggling pins!

Exercising your brain doesn’t require a massive lifestyle change. What it does call for, however, is making a few better choices throughout the day. Instead of scrolling through mindless social media or binge-watching Netflix for hours—activities that don’t stimulate your brain properly—consider calling a friend and spending some time engaging your brain in socialization. Perhaps, grab a great book or play a game of Scrabble every day.

Choosing brain exercises such as these will boost your memory and keep your cognitive state in check for longer.

4. Prioritizing Your Sleep

Getting the right amount of quality sleep affects both our physical as well as our mental well-being.

Quality sleep is what allows the brain to consolidate memories properly. The various memories we make throughout our day need to be consolidated, and without the proper amount and quality of sleep, our brain won’t have the opportunity to do what it needs to do with said memories. During high-quality sleep, the brain can take these newly made short-term memories and turn them into long-term ones.

Likewise, sleep allows our brains to develop new skills like problem-solving or creativity. We’re able to achieve these newer insights and ideas when we experience good sleep, allowing our brains to turn those memories into new ways of thinking.

And of course, getting enough quality sleep allows us to pay attention properly during the day and learn new things. We can all likely remember a time when we failed to get proper sleep, and our cognitive function the next day seemed non-existent! This is because it has been proven that sleep deprivation drastically reduces the brain's ability to function properly.

According to Dr. Matthew Walker, a sleep scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, your ability to learn new things can drop by as much as 40% when you are running on little to no sleep.

Your brain has to learn things to make and maintain memories.

If you follow all these tips but neglect your sleep, your brain ability—especially your memory—might suffer as a result.

Here’s a simple but helpful tip for getting more sleep: set a bedtime alarm. We can often get distracted and caught up at night, and the next thing we know, it’s midnight. Setting an alarm for the same time each night can be a great way to remind yourself that it’s time to head to bed.

And turn off that phone!

Preserve Your Memory Today!

Regardless of your age, it’s always a good idea to start blessing your brain. This isn’t something that has to wait until you start feeling the memory loss kicking in. For some people, when the symptoms hit, unfortunately, it’s too late.

The sooner you start these memory-boosting activities, the greater your chances of keeping a longer and stronger cognitive state.

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