In This ArticleView AllIn This ArticleThe #1 Habit to Start Now to Reduce Your Risk of DementiaHow to Fit in More Activity for Brain HealthOther Habits for a Healthy Brain
In This ArticleView All
View All
In This Article
The #1 Habit to Start Now to Reduce Your Risk of Dementia
How to Fit in More Activity for Brain Health
Other Habits for a Healthy Brain
While disease prevention often focuses on heart disease and cancer, brain health seems to be less talked about. Perhaps this is because heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S.—and cancer ranks second, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Taking seventh place, though, is Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia.
Dementia is a general term for declining memory, reasoning or other thinking skills, whereas Alzheimer’s disease is a specific brain disease that accounts for the majority of dementia cases, affecting nearly 7 million people in the U.S., says the Alzheimer’s Association.
As with any disease, your genes can influence your risk for Alzheimer’s, but a healthy lifestyle has been shown to decrease the risk of dementia, no matter your genetic makeup.
The earlier you start practicing healthy lifestyle habits the better. This is because the changes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer’s disease can begin at least 20 years before any symptoms show up.Known risk factors for dementia include not getting enough physical activity, cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol intake, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, depression and hearing loss.
That’s a long list of risk factors, so where can you begin? Keep reading for how you can make a difference in your brain health—starting today.
Getty Images / Paula Daniëlse
Exercise is the No. 1 habit to start now if you’re not already doing it regularly. There are so many benefits to moving your body, including strengthening your heart, lungs and muscles,improving your moodand reducing your risk of diseases like diabetes and cancer.
As far as your brain is concerned, exercise boosts blood flow to your brain, which may be one reason it reduces your risk of dementia, suggests one study.
The study looked at 70 men and women between the ages of 55 to 80 with diagnosed mild memory loss. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups for 12 months. One group completed regular stretching sessions and the other group performed four to five weekly exercise sessions (two of which were high-intensity), each lasting 30 to 40 minutes. (The exercise group progressed over the yearlong study period, starting with three weekly sessions for 25 to 30 minutes.)
After a year, those in the exercise group had less stiffness in the blood vessels in their necks and more blood flow to their brains. Those in the stretching-only group didn’t experience similar beneficial changes.
It’s too soon to say from this study if the increased blood flow might directly impact memory or other cognitive function, but an increase in blood flow could precede changes to cognition, the researchers say. This finding will help direct their future research.
“This is part of a growing body of evidence linking exercise with brain health,” says study leaderRong Zhang, Ph.D., a professor of neurology at UTSWMC. “We’ve shown for the first time in a randomized trial in these older adults that exercise gets more blood flowing to your brain.”
Other studies have also linked physical activity to a healthier brain. For example, a study review found that physical activity was associated with a 20% lower incidence of all-cause dementia and a 14% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease.And another review found a small but significant link between higher levels of physical activity and better cognition later in life.
Even a minimal amount of physical activity may help those who have a difficult time moving their bodies, as in the case of people with osteoarthritis, according to another study.Compared to people who were not physically active, those who walked for 15 to 30 minutes one or two times per week had a 52% reduced risk of dementia. Those who walked at least three times per week had a 81% lower risk.
While more research is needed, there are some clues as to why physical activity may improve cognition. For example, a study suggests that exercise may directly impact many of the brain changes involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.In other words, exercise may impact the brain on a cellular level.
If you’re not currently engaging in regular physical activity, today is a good day to begin. It can be as simple as a walk around the block. Just start where you’re at and, over time, progressively increase your time and intensity.
Try out new activities, such as pickleball, dance or yoga. Learning something new improves brain health too. While people who are already in the exercise groove will tell you that you’ll feel so much better after a workout, that feeling may not come for a while. But once you get into the habit—and youmove your body in ways that bring you joy—you may really come to like it.
Fire up your brainpower with these additional habits:
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SourcesEatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics.Leading causes of death.Alzheimer’s Association.2024 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures.Alzheimer’s Association.Dementia vs Alzheimer’s disease: what is the difference?Lourida I, Hannon E, Littlejohns T, et al.Association of lifestyle and genetic risk with incidence of dementia.Journal of the American Medical Association. 2019. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.9879Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Reducing Risk for Dementia.Tomoto T, Liu J, Tseng B, et al.One-year aerobic exercise reduced carotid arterial stiffness and increased cerebral blood flow in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2021. doi: 10.3233/JAD-201456Iso-Markku P, Kujala U, Knittle K, et al.Physical activity as a protective factor for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease: systematic review, meta-analysis and quality assessment of cohort and case–control studies.British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-104981Iso-Markku P, Aaltonen S, Kujala U, et al.Physical activity and cognitive decline among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open. 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.54285Chung Y, Wei C, Tzeng R, et al.Minimal amount of exercise prevents incident dementia in cognitively normal older adults with osteoarthritis: a retrospective longitudinal follow-up study.Nature Scientific Reports. 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42737-3López-Ortiz S, Pinto-Fraga J, Valenzuela P, et al.Physical exercise and Alzheimer’s disease: effects on pathophysiological molecular pathways of the disease.International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021. doi: 10.3390/ijms22062897
Sources
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics.Leading causes of death.Alzheimer’s Association.2024 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures.Alzheimer’s Association.Dementia vs Alzheimer’s disease: what is the difference?Lourida I, Hannon E, Littlejohns T, et al.Association of lifestyle and genetic risk with incidence of dementia.Journal of the American Medical Association. 2019. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.9879Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Reducing Risk for Dementia.Tomoto T, Liu J, Tseng B, et al.One-year aerobic exercise reduced carotid arterial stiffness and increased cerebral blood flow in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2021. doi: 10.3233/JAD-201456Iso-Markku P, Kujala U, Knittle K, et al.Physical activity as a protective factor for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease: systematic review, meta-analysis and quality assessment of cohort and case–control studies.British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-104981Iso-Markku P, Aaltonen S, Kujala U, et al.Physical activity and cognitive decline among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open. 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.54285Chung Y, Wei C, Tzeng R, et al.Minimal amount of exercise prevents incident dementia in cognitively normal older adults with osteoarthritis: a retrospective longitudinal follow-up study.Nature Scientific Reports. 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42737-3López-Ortiz S, Pinto-Fraga J, Valenzuela P, et al.Physical exercise and Alzheimer’s disease: effects on pathophysiological molecular pathways of the disease.International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021. doi: 10.3390/ijms22062897
EatingWell uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics.Leading causes of death.Alzheimer’s Association.2024 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures.Alzheimer’s Association.Dementia vs Alzheimer’s disease: what is the difference?Lourida I, Hannon E, Littlejohns T, et al.Association of lifestyle and genetic risk with incidence of dementia.Journal of the American Medical Association. 2019. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.9879Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Reducing Risk for Dementia.Tomoto T, Liu J, Tseng B, et al.One-year aerobic exercise reduced carotid arterial stiffness and increased cerebral blood flow in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2021. doi: 10.3233/JAD-201456Iso-Markku P, Kujala U, Knittle K, et al.Physical activity as a protective factor for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease: systematic review, meta-analysis and quality assessment of cohort and case–control studies.British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-104981Iso-Markku P, Aaltonen S, Kujala U, et al.Physical activity and cognitive decline among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open. 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.54285Chung Y, Wei C, Tzeng R, et al.Minimal amount of exercise prevents incident dementia in cognitively normal older adults with osteoarthritis: a retrospective longitudinal follow-up study.Nature Scientific Reports. 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42737-3López-Ortiz S, Pinto-Fraga J, Valenzuela P, et al.Physical exercise and Alzheimer’s disease: effects on pathophysiological molecular pathways of the disease.International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021. doi: 10.3390/ijms22062897
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics.Leading causes of death.
Alzheimer’s Association.2024 Alzheimer’s disease facts and figures.
Alzheimer’s Association.Dementia vs Alzheimer’s disease: what is the difference?
Lourida I, Hannon E, Littlejohns T, et al.Association of lifestyle and genetic risk with incidence of dementia.Journal of the American Medical Association. 2019. doi:10.1001/jama.2019.9879
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Reducing Risk for Dementia.
Tomoto T, Liu J, Tseng B, et al.One-year aerobic exercise reduced carotid arterial stiffness and increased cerebral blood flow in amnestic mild cognitive impairment.Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. 2021. doi: 10.3233/JAD-201456
Iso-Markku P, Kujala U, Knittle K, et al.Physical activity as a protective factor for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease: systematic review, meta-analysis and quality assessment of cohort and case–control studies.British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2022. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-104981
Iso-Markku P, Aaltonen S, Kujala U, et al.Physical activity and cognitive decline among older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open. 2024. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.54285
Chung Y, Wei C, Tzeng R, et al.Minimal amount of exercise prevents incident dementia in cognitively normal older adults with osteoarthritis: a retrospective longitudinal follow-up study.Nature Scientific Reports. 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-42737-3
López-Ortiz S, Pinto-Fraga J, Valenzuela P, et al.Physical exercise and Alzheimer’s disease: effects on pathophysiological molecular pathways of the disease.International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021. doi: 10.3390/ijms22062897
