Have you ever turned on the defroster in your car and thought to yourself, “Sure would like to have a DEFOGGER for my brain today!”
Have you ever felt like your mental edge had gone to sleep. I know I have!
So here are 4 simple strategies you can use to boost your memory and say FOG be gone!
1. Get your vitamin B’s
Vitamin B is essential to clear thinking, but as you age your body has a harder time extracting if from foods like milk, meat and fish. You can take a daily B-complex supplement containing 1000 micrograms of B12. Make sure it has at least 400 mcg of the B vitamin folate, which can improve mental speed.
2. Get your Z’s
Low quality and low quantity sleep can seriously drain your mental clarity. The brain moves memories into long term storage during deep sleep. Anything that disrupts this process can interfere with the ability to retain this information.
Stick to one bedtime and keep your room quiet, dark and cool. Limit caffeine, night-lights, naps and alcohol, all of which can interfere with sleep.
3. Get your M’s
Get MOVING! Boosting your activity level can increase brain volume and enhance cognitive function. Exercise increases the flow of blood to the brain, and it controls insulin and other chemicals linked to cognitive problems. Even a little exercise is better than nothing. The idea is to do more than you’re doing now.
4. Check your medications.
A variety of medications can cloud your ability to concentrate. Particularly if your difficulties concentrating coincide with a new drug you’re taking, talk to your physician. It’s a smart move to be aware of mind and memory changes and look in some obvious places first, like your medications.
So here’s to kissing those foggy times goodbye!
shelli
