We all want to prevent illness and diseases and that includes brain diseases like dementia. Thankfully, now we know two easy and effective ways to do just that!
Neurologist Dr. Jaydeep Bhatt recently shared what he has learned about brain health and brain disease about studying and comparing cultures around the world. In a post on the New York Post, he shared his top tips to prevent brain diseases including dementia.
The first tip is to eat a healthy diet that is good for your brain. He’s not talking about a fad diet or a crash diet with the goal of weight loss. The diet he recommends is called the Mediterranean DASH diet which is a diet that is “rich in fruits, whole grains, less saturated fats and low salt.”
Bhatt went on to explain that bigger is not better when it comes to portion sizes. He believes that portions at American restaurants are way too big. He explained that this large meals are “not meant for one person.”
He added that “brain health is linked to the quality of your diet, and this includes the size of how much you consume in one sitting.”
Bhatt’s other top tip for keeping your brain healthy and preventing dementia is to exercise. He explained, “No matter what neurological disease you may have heard of, the rate of that disease and the severity of that disease is lessoned by those who exercise regularly.”
He did not recommend a specific type of exercise. Instead, since focusing on regular exercise is key, it sounds like the best thing to do is to find an exercise that you will be able to stick with.
While diet and exercise are two ways to keep your brain healthy, that doesn’t mean that you can neglect visiting the doctor. Bhatt explained, “Patients should be screened for brain related conditions such as cognitive decline and stroke risk at least once yearly.”
Some good news that Bhatt shared is that “brain damage from poor cardiovascular health can absolutely be reversed and stalled. Again, this is done by switching to a high quality diet and incorporating exercise on a regular basis.
Bhatt also shared one risk factor of dementia to look for that often isn’t talked about, and that’s hearing loss. He explained, “If hearing loss is not detected in a timely fashion, this can lead to the improper funneling of information” to the language centers of your brain. “And this can increase your risk of memory loss and dementia.”
In summary, see your doctor, get checked for hearing loss, switch to a healthy diet, and exercise on a regular basis. Are you going to take these steps to keep your brain healthy?
