Memory Tips, November 2014 Back Issue

This is the November 2014 back issue of my Memory Tips email newsletter. To learn more about this free newsletter or to start receiving it in your email, please visit the Subscription Page. A list of back issues is available on the Back Issues page. I send out the newsletter once a month, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Welcome to the NOVEMBER 2014 issue of my free Memory Tips email newsletter. Below are powerful strategies for improving your memory. Ready to boost your brain power?

Below are powerful strategies for improving your memory. Plus I've included links to free online brain games that can strengthen your thinking skills.

In this issue:

Even a Short-Term Cardio Program Strengthens Brain Power
Cocoa Flavanols Boost Memory by Decades
Look, Snap & Connect to Remember
Low Vitamin D? You May Be at Increased Risk for Dementia
FREE Brain Games: Improve VERBAL FLUENCY

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My goal is to help you learn faster and remember more. That's why I created Memory-Improvement-Tips.com and this email newsletter.

The secret to a more powerful brain is two-fold: 1) improve your brain health, and 2) learn memory techniques. This can lead to more success and fulfillment in life!

Even a Short-Term Cardio Program Strengthens Brain Power

Not motivated to start an exercise program? What if I told you that walking on a treadmill for just one hour, three days a week could provide a noticeable boost for your brain - and that the benefits would appear sooner rather than later?

As reported in the November issue of Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, researchers have discovered that even a short-term, three month aerobic exercise program increases blood flow in areas of the brain responsible for cognition and improves performance on memory tests.

The study examined individuals between 57 and 75 years of age. Compared to the control group who didn't exercise, those who rode a stationary bike or walked on a treadmill for one hour three days a week enjoyed the following brain boosts:

Better scores on memory tests

Increased blood flow to the hippocampus and anterior cingulate in the brain. These two structures are important for thinking and memory.

Everyone knows aerobic exercise keeps the body strong and healthy. But now it's also clear the benefits accrue quickly, and a cardio program can be a fast and effective way to boost your brain power and memory.

Maybe it's time to begin that workout program after all.

Note: Be sure to consult your doctor before starting any exercise program.

Cocoa Flavanols Boost Memory by Decades

As reported in the latest issue of Nature Neuroscience, substances found naturally in cocoa powder called flavanols can reverse age-related memory decline.

This is a big deal. Participants with the memory of a 60 year old at the beginning of the study enjoyed, on average, the memory of a 30-40 year old by the end of the study!

Each day participants drank special, concentrated cocoa drinks containing 900mg of flavanols. The control group consumed a low-flavanol diet of 10mg per day.

Cocoa powder seems to contain an especially powerful combination of flavanols, including epicatechins. While the cocoa drink used in the study is not available to the general public (yet), cocao powder can be found at groceries everywhere.

Not wanting to miss out on this brain booster, I've started taking cocoa powder myself each day. One scoop provides 200mg of flavanols, including 55mg of epicatechins.

CAUTION. While researching cocoa powders, I learned some brands are known to be contaminated with heavy metals, including cadmium and lead. These toxic substances are absorbed by the cocoa plant from contaminated soil.

This is currently a big controversy in the cocoa world. Some cocoa powder manufacturers have even pulled their products temporarily while looking for new sources of cocoa beans.

Cocoa product testing by ConsumerLab found that of the many brands of cocoa powder they evaluated, only two were free of cadmium and lead contamination. CocoaWell was one, as well as CocoaVia, both of which were high in beneficial flavanols.

Besides baking, cocoa powder makes an excellent addition to smoothies. I typically blend one scoop of CocoaWell with milk, half a banana, and protein powder. This makes a seriously delicious and healthy brain-boosting drink.

Look, Snap & Connect to Remember

Here's a quick technique for remembering important details throughout your day, as described in UCLA's Healthy Years newsletter:

Formulated by UCLA's Gary Small, MD, this method involves making mental snapshots of what you want to remember, and combining, exaggerating, or distorting them in a meaningful way.

If you parked your car in space 3B, picture three enormous bees hovering over your car. If it is an odd or emotion-inducing image, you are more likely to remember it.

Dr. Small's method is called Look, Snap, and Connect. It's based on the well known phenomenon that many people can recall images better than abstract information, and that mental pictures can be used to aid memory retrieval.

Low Vitamin D? You May Be at Increased Risk for Dementia

Yet another study has been released implicating low levels of Vitamin D with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.

As reported in the Tufts Health & Nutrition newsletter,

There is mounting evidence demonstrating that Vitamin D is critical for the normal functioning of the nervous system and that vitamin D deficiency may contribute to age-related decrements in cognitive behavior.

The reason this may be important for you is that a lot of people are, in fact, Vitamin D deficient. For this reason, you may want to start taking a Vitamin D3 supplement and spending more time outdoors. (The body uses sunlight on the skin to make Vitamin D.)

In a recent study, the largest of its kind conducted so far, those deficient in Vitamin D were found to be 53% more likely to develop any type of dementia, with a 69% greater chance of developing Alzheimer's disease specifically.

If you can't get outside more, consider a daily Vitamin D supplement. According to the Institute of Medicine, 600IU per day is recommended for those under age 70. The recommended daily amount of Vitamin D for those over age 70 is 800IU.

To meet this requirement, I personally take one Nutrigold Vitamin D3 Gold capsule each day with a meal. It provides 5,000 IU (probably the upper limit of how much you'd want to take per day) of Vitamin D3, which is the highly bioavailable form of this vitamin.

Note: Be sure to consult with your health care provider before changing your diet and supplementation regimen.

FREE Brain Games: VERBAL FLUENCY

There are 252 free online brain games on my website, Memory-Improvement-Tips.com. You can play them online anytime. No restrictions, no logging in. Just pick a game, go to the game page, and start playing.

Below are links to three of the online games that train verbal fluency, a very important brain skill. Play them now to give your brain a boost.

Verbal fluency includes skills like vocabulary, spelling, and reading comprehension.

Scrabble Sprint. This Scrabble online free game is great practice for the real thing. Combine the letters into high-value words on a timer for the most points. To play, click or type a word with 2 or more letters. You score points for each letter, multiplied by the premium squares.

Alphabet Jungle. Think of as many word combinations as possible using the letters provided. Six random letters appear on the top board. Click the letters to move them to the lower board to form words. After forming a word, click the Submit button to move the word to the top of the game.

Spiderman Web of Words. Spell words and climb buildings to help Spiderman keep the city safe from Doc Ock! Spell words by typing or clicking on the letter tiles. When you have a word ready, click the SUBMIT button or press the ENTER key. This will send Spidey up the building.

That's all for now, and thanks for reading. For lots more tricks and strategies to improve your brain, visit the Get a Better Memory page on my website.

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