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BITESIZE | How to Improve Your Brain Health as You Age | Dr Tommy Wood #390

Oct 5, 2023 15m 13s 12 insights
In the UK, one in 14 people over 65 will develop dementia, with that figure rising to one in six once we’re over 80. But there are plenty of simple, enjoyable things that we can all start doing right now to improve our brain health and stave off age-related dementia. Feel Better Live More Bitesize is my weekly podcast for your mind, body, and heart.  Each week I’ll be featuring inspirational stories and practical tips from some of my former guests.   Today’s clip is from episode 316 of the podcast with Dr Tommy Wood. In this clip, Tommy explains why cognitive decline in later life is not inevitable and the steps we can take now to keep our brain healthy at any age. Support the podcast and enjoy Ad-Free episodes. Try FREE for 7 days on Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/feelbetterlivemore. For other podcast platforms go to https://fblm.supercast.com. Show notes and the full podcast are available at drchatterjee.com/316 Follow me on instagram.com/drchatterjee Follow me on facebook.com/DrChatterjee Follow me on twitter.com/drchatterjeeuk
Actionable Insights

1. Embrace New Challenging Activities

Actively seek out and engage in new, challenging activities where you are initially unskilled, as the difficulty and learning process provide significant cognitive stimulus and benefit for brain function, similar to how amateur musicians show greater brain benefits than professionals.

2. Enjoyable, Difficult Tasks Regularly

A few times a week, spend 20 minutes doing something difficult that you also enjoy, as this combination ensures consistent engagement, continuous learning, and is considered the biggest change you can make for long-term brain health.

3. Continuously Challenge Your Brain

Actively seek out and engage in new challenges for your brain throughout life, as this stimulates new connections and adaptations, improving its function at any age, similar to how muscles grow with demand.

4. Prioritize Brain Rest & Recovery

Ensure adequate periods of rest and recovery, including sleep, as these are crucial for brain consolidation, plasticity, building new connections, and repair processes, just as muscles need rest to grow.

5. Combine Social, Music, Movement

Maximize brain benefits by engaging in activities that combine physical movement, music, and social interaction, as this provides a multi-dimensional stimulus that is more beneficial than doing any of those things individually.

6. Engage Coordinated Movement

Choose physical activities that involve a coordination component, such as Tai Chi, yoga, or dancing, as these provide greater cognitive benefits and can increase hippocampus size more than simple exertion.

7. Do Resistance Training

Incorporate resistance training into your routine, even if you’ve never done it before, as it improves the structure and function of certain areas of the brain.

8. Learn New Languages

Engage in learning new languages, even later in life, as this has been shown to improve cognitive function and offer protective benefits for specific brain areas.

9. Stimulate Brain for Repair

Actively stimulate your brain to upregulate its natural repair processes, such as autophagy, which helps protect against decline by breaking down damaged proteins and other cellular debris.

10. Challenge Cognitive Decline Mindset

Stop telling yourself the story that brain function must decline with age, as this belief can prevent you from introducing things to ask more of your brain and improve its function.

11. Replace Post-Retirement Brain Stimulus

If you retire, especially from a cognitively stimulating job, actively replace that mental stimulus with other challenging activities to prevent a faster decline in cognitive function.

12. Daily AG1 for Gut Health

Consider taking AG1 daily to support digestion and enrich your gut microbiome with five strains of beneficial bacteria, which have been shown to increase beneficial bacteria on average up to tenfold.