alzheimer’s disease

Do THIS to Improve Brain Health!

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Hello, friends! All the school-aged kids in my family are back in school again, and now it’s time for ME again! I get so busy taking care of everybody else in the fam that I forget to take care of myself, especially when the children are home for the summer. But, now they’re happily (HA!) engaged in learning, Jacqueline is enjoying her interior design job at Haverty’s (see her for all of your furniture needs :)), and I can focus on getting strong!

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Lifting weights is my FAVE way to workout these days. It’s super important for our bodies to lift weights as we age, especially since the aging process causes us to lose muscle mass, and weight training builds muscle mass. Weight lifting is great for the heart too. It really gets the heart pumping and strengthens the cardiovascular system.

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However, something that I thought was a really cool benefit to weight lifting is that it’s great for the brain. Weight lifting= healthy brain?!! It’s not immediately obvious, is it? But it’s absolutely true and I’m going to tell you all about it.

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Get your workout on!

Exercising improves our memory and cognition, and it also helps to prevent dementia as we age. Additionally, strength training has been shown to have a strong impact on brain function and memory, especially working leg muscles. Also, senior citizens who engage in medium to high intensity exercise can slow brain aging by as much as ten years.

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All this is possible because exercise promotes brain health by releasing hormones like brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) from the muscles, which encourage the growth of new brain cells. Neurogenesis is what this process is called. The memory center of the brain is very adaptable and capable of growing new cells throughout our entire lives, even into our 90’s, provided we live a healthy lifestyle.

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Weight training also increases and improves blood flow to the brain. It reduces damaging plaques in the brain, and alters the way these damaging proteins reside inside the brain, thereby slowing the development of Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, it increases production of nerve-protecting compounds, lowers levels of inflammatory cytokines associated with chronic inflammation and obesity, improves development and survival of neurons, and prevents brain shrinkage by preserving both gray and white matter in the frontal, temporal, and parietal cortexes.

Another really super advantage to weight training is that it helps eliminate depression, in many cases more effectively than antidepressants, and purges the body of stress chemicals associated with stress-related depression. Wow, that’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?!!

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So that’s what I have to tell you today, wonderful readers. Get out there and work those weights! It can help decrease depression, improve memory and cognition, slows the development of Alzheimer’s, helps prevent dementia, slows brain aging, and can actually increase our brain cells. That makes it worth my while to weight train! Try it, you’ll like it. It will help you live a life of vitality- with Valerie!

 

 

 

The BEST thing you can do for your brain!

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My FAVE pastime and it's sooo good for you!

My FAVE pastime and it’s sooo good for you!

It’s no surprise to anyone who knows me, or any students I taught, that my favorite thing to do is READ. I love to get lost in a good book and have spent many pleasurable hours snuggled up on the couch with a roaring fire, or by a pool or ocean, reading my Kindle. Also, I enjoyed reading to my daughters when they were young, and as a result they have become avid readers too.

My sentiments precisely!

My sentiments precisely!

That’s all well and good, but did you know that reading is one of the best things you can do for your brain?! Yes, it’s true, and when I started to research this topic I found out lots of things even I didn’t know about the benefits your brain receives from reading.

This is your brain, on books!

This is your brain, on books! 🙂

1. Reading requires several different regions of the brain to work together. Interestingly, we don’t use the same neural circuits to read as we grow from infants to adults so our brains are constantly changing throughout our lives. Reading improves the connectivity between the various brain circuits that are essential to understanding the written words. Best yet, reading a novel can keep that enhanced connectivity working for days, and possibly even longer, after we have finished the book.

2. Studies show that regular reading boosts brain power and memory function making you smarter.

3. Reading helps fight Alzheimer’s disease. A study by the National Academy of Sciences determined that those who read or participate in activities such as puzzles or chess may be 2.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

4. Reading involves 17 regions of the brain, but not all at the same time, according to scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine. As the brain ages some of those regions grow less active which suggests that activity in the brain isn’t constant. However, reading keeps those regions involved which helps to enhance brain activity, especially when you read as a child.

5.Other non-brain related advantages of reading- Reading helps you sleep. Reading at bedtime creates a ritual that signals to your body that it is time to go to sleep. It also reduces stress. A book that engages your mind allows your tensions to drain away and your mind to relax. Along with gaining knowledge, reading increases vocabulary. Most importantly (to me), reading aloud to kids can encourage them to become frequent readers. A Scholastic reading report found that more than 40% of children who love to read were read to by their parents on a regular basis. Encouraging kids to read also leads to gaining a better education. You’re welcome, Jacqueline and Danielle! 🙂

I read some sad facts the other day related to reading that urged me to write this post and share this information with you, my wonderful readers.

  • 33% of high school graduates and 42% of college graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
  • 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
  • 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
So true, my friends!

So true, my friends!

Now that I’ve shared the facts of how beneficial reading is to your brain, I would like to challenge you to read at least one book this summer. If you are parents to young children read at least one book to each of them, and if your children are of reading age encourage them to read at least one book this summer while they’re on vacation. Many libraries have summer reading programs for children and adults, and offer awesome incentives for reading and finishing books. When we lived in Hancock County, the library in Greenfield had a wonderful summer reading program which the girls and I participated in for many years. My girls are super competitive and enjoyed reaching their reading goals, and the prizes helped too!

My favorite book!

My favorite book!

I always told my students and my children to read something that interests you. If you’re into sports, dogs, cars, fashion, etc, there are many books out there that cover those topics. And those books you were made to read when in school; they can be enjoyable to reread once you no longer HAVE to read them. My favorite book is To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, which I read in my ninth grade English class. I have read it many times since then and love it more with each reading. In my favorite popular fiction novel, Watchers by Dean Koontz, one of the main characters is a Golden Retriever named Einstein. I love all of Dean Koontz’ novels but that one was special to me because of that very unique main character, and because I love dogs.

My favorite popular fiction novel!

My favorite popular fiction novel!

So please, take my “Read a book this summer challenge”, let me know if you do, and what book you read. It will be great for your brain, and your children will benefit as well (if you have them). Currently I am reading a book entitled, Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Maria Semple. It’s a super mystery novel, perfect for summer reading by the pool. I have over 100 books on my Kindle just waiting to be read though so I’ll quickly finish this one and be on to the next. I hope you take my challenge because reading will help you live a life of vitality- with Valerie!