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How to Sharpen Your Brain

  • October 04, 2016

A few quick ways to sharpen your brain include walking, mindfulness meditation, laughter, chocolate and sleep, according to BrainLoud, an online blog about brain-related topics. The chocolate might be a surprise, but most of these things are no-brainers when it comes to feeling sharper.

It’s no secret that your brain health is directly related to exercise, and ongoing research confirms this. Even non-exercise movement is critical for optimal health, as explained by former Director of Life Sciences at NASA Headquarters, Joan Vernikos. And if you hardly move at all, as in you sit too much, be aware: Sitting kills while moving heals, Vernikos says.

Non-movement also contributes to physical aging, causing your body to feel and perform older than it is. The good news is that you can prevent, and to a great degree delay, the damage associated with a large portion of biological aging, especially the most crippling, which is pain with movement and loss of flexibility that you had as a youth.

One of the most exciting aspects of Dr. Vernikos’s research is that it shows how dynamic and changeable the human body is. You can reverse damage already incurred, and it’s never too late to start. If you need an incentive, science has shown that exercise can make your brain a decade “younger” than your calendar age!

So, get on your feet and start moving. If you work at a desk all day, even marching in place for a couple minutes once an hour can help.