anti-aging

If you think you don't have time in your day to do any mind stimulating exercises, think again. There are many things which you can just incorporate into your normal day to day that will just be a part of it rather than take away your time.

Attention to detail

There are many details in our day to day that are quickly erased from our memory as it is considered irrelevant to us. What you can do is set an alarm every few hours to remind you to ask some questions to yourself along the lines of what the people you interacted with during the last few hours were wearing, their hairstyle, eye colour, state of their nails, if they are left handed or right handed, etc.

By paying more attention to detail we will boost our memory and your girlfriend will be really pleased that you noticed the new earrings.

We can even take this step a little further as you can make up explanations for certain irregularities such as smudges, bruises or stains. This in turn will give your creativity a nice push.

Drive differently

Once you have spent a fair amount of hours driving a car, you will realize that many of the motions will have become automatic such as shifting gears (pun intended). In order to snap our brain out of its routine we can do several things.

1. If you drive a car with automatic transmission, learn to drive with a manual transmission.

2. Drive a different car. Every car is different in terms of turning radius, length, clutch range, etc.

3. When in a country where they drive on the other side of the road, have a go. Changing everything around (stick shift, blinker levers, rule of preference, and of course side of the road and overtaking on the other side, will not only improve your driving skills but also your brain power.

Renounce technology

Every year technology advances more and more in huge leaps. Each of these improvements is aimed at making our life more simple. However, it is also fact that we only progress through overcoming obstacles. Our muscles don't grow unless we use them and our brains will deteriorate if we don't make the effort to remember, solve or analyse. If we let our smart phones do all the work of reminding us or solving all the problems for us no matter how small they may be.

Next time you are faced with a situation in which you can't remember something or can't work out something right away, give it a moment. Take the time to solve it with the great machine you have in your head rather that impatiently asking Google for the answer.

Word of the Day

This exercise is aimed at getting your creativity juices flowing by trying to incorporate a specific word into a conversation during your day. I recommend heading over to a site such as dictionary.com and taking their word of the day and attempt to use it in a sentence with someone, (naturally it has to be a part of natural conversation rather than "hey, I learnt a new word today, it's... "If you aren't able to implement it in a conversation, try in written format such as a diary, a blog post or an email.

Dolph Larsson is a writer focusing on the prevention of mental deterioration such as Alzheimer and dementia. To see some of the latest publications you can visit How to Improve Brain Power where you can read up on articles such as How to Increase Brain Power, How to Increase Mind Power, etc.

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AVOID EXCESS SUGAR.

Studies show that Americans eat 150 pounds of sugar each year. We all know the health risks of that-obesity and diabetes, but did you know that too much sugar consumption can cause wrinkles? A dermatology study published in Britain found that a process called glycation causes sugar to attach to the proteins in collagen and elastin and thus make the skin look older especially after age 35. That makes it as much a culprit in causing wrinkles as smoking and too much sun exposure.

Women should not eat more than 25 grams or approximately 6-7 teaspoons of sugar a day. One way to cut down on sugar is to avoid processed food. Another is to check the sugar amount in fruit juices, many juices have more sugar than a piece of whole fruit. A helpful habit is to drink a glass of water (or seltzer) if you are craving sweets. If that doesn't help, have a small piece of dark chocolate or a few berries. And, If that doesn't help, think of the day someone learns you are 75 and says, "I would have guessed your age as much younger."

AVOID THE "AGEs "

Nutritionists tells us that advanced glycation end products (AGEs) form when sugar and fats react with a protein that causes a structure to change irreversibly, and attach to many things in the body which in turn causes damage. As mentioned above, we can create these AGEs when we eat sugar. We can consume AGEs when we eat foods that are processed and/or heated. We need to avoid AGEs because they can increase inflammation and oxidation which in turn causes aging and age-related diseases affecting the heart, brain, bones, kidneys, anemia and the skin. This attention-getting information came to us via research nutritionist, Michelle Davenport, of the New York School of Medicine, New York. Cooking methods, such as browning, grilling, roasting, broiling and frying create AGEs. Other culprits are highly processed foods and high fat dairy products such as cheese. To reduce AGEs, marinate food in an acid (lemon juice or vinegar) before cooking. Eating a variety of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory foods help reduce the oxidation and inflammation that AGEs cause.. Adding berries, sweet potatoes and leafy greens to our diet helps reduce the AGEs effect.

DON'T CUT OUT FATS

We need good, healthy, fatty acids like omega-3 to help keep skin supple, boost brain health, keep the heart strong and fight diabetes. The research to isolate the omega-3 is very new so in the meantime, nutritional literature recommends we eat a variety of whole foods, rich in vitamins B,C,D, E and omega-3s The literature says to avoid vegetable oils rich in omega-6 (corn, soy, sunflower, safflower) and limit the fats found in butter and cheese. We should consume more extra virgin olive oil, olives, avocados, almonds and fatty fish. We need 21/2 teaspoons of omega fatty acids a day which we can get from a purified fish oil supplement or a tablespoon of cod liver oil. Take either with food for better consumption.

No one has said aging well is easy. But forming good healthy eating habits when younger and maintaining them as you age, will enable you to look and feel younger as you enter those "golden years."

How we can be the best we can be in our latter years is a personal interest of mine because I am already living in them. I have websites dealing with what I refer to as those "golden years." One is http://www.healthyaginginthosegoldenyears.com/. I have found from my research that we should prepare and maintain our health with the same care we use to save and maintain our retirement funds. Both are needed if we are to live well in our "golden years."

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