Memory Improvement Tips

Sleeping well, eating right and exercising are not just beneficial to your physical health, but are proving to be crucial to mental health as well.  Studies have found that a good all around balance of health, including rest and mental stimulation, is necessary and advantageous to excellent, lasting mental health.

Memory Improvement Tips: Sleeping

Getting a good amount of sleep is something most people fall short of, which is one of our best memory improvement tips.  Nearly 40% of all Americans get less than seven hours of sleep a night.  Giving your body and mind a chance to restore itself is highly beneficial in the long run.  Recent studies are showing that short naps may be advantageous to brain function as well as improving your mood and alertness.

A recent Harvard study indicated that people who took a cat nap recalled skills faster and more accurately than those who did not nap.  Even people who were given a quiet activity in place of the nap did not fare as well as those who slept.

The part of the brain known as the hippocampus is believed to be instrumental in this process by reassigning information while napping.  After a nap, thoughts and remembrance of the task or activity are clearer it becomes easier to focus on the assigned task.

The corporate world is wisely looking into recent nap research.  Raising proficiency, lowering absenteeism and offering the possibility of fewer mishaps on jobs are just a few of the reasons that many American companies are beginning to show interest in the benefits of napping.  Some places are encouraging employees to break up their day with a quick nap on their downtime by offering a quiet room with comfortable seating.

Memory Improvement Tips: Eating

What’s good for the body is proving to be good for the brain as well.  Basic physical health rules apply to mental health as well.  Eating less salt and more whole grains is positive for the brain.  Looking for low fat milk and cheese and eating protein such as meat or beans with each meal still weighs in as meaningful.  Old stand bys like drinking more water and starting your day with a good breakfast, as well as eating less red meat and more fruit and vegetables still apply.

Blueberries have been long heralded for their powerful antioxidants.  Recent studies show that they are also profitable in regard to improved memory.  Drinking 2-3 cups of blueberry juice a day can drastically increase learning and memory abilities within about two months.  That has to be one of the tastiest memory improvement tips.

Memory Improvement Games: Brain exercises

People that performed brain exercises at least four times a week lowered their risk for developing dementia by 50 percent. While mental stimulation is important in warding off Alzheimer’s disease, the elderly are not the only ones that can benefit.  Memory skills are profitable at any age.  Here are other ideas for memory exercises.

There are many tools available to stretch your mental muscles, rounding up the last of our memory improvement tips.  A few options are: crossword puzzles, sudoku puzzles, optical illusions, riddles, strategy games, and memory games, games for the brain.  Auditory skills are improved by listening to audio books or learning an instrument.  Learning another language is also a great mental stimulant. Jigsaw puzzles are excellent brain training and co-ordination improvement tools. They develop abilities to reason, analyze, sequence, and deduce.  Logical thought processes and problem solving skills are also enhanced. Hand-eye co-ordination and develop a good working sense of spatial arrangements are also advantages.  Even listening to music has mental health benefits as well as memory improvement tips.

These memory improvement tips will lead to improved attention span, intelligence, storage and retrieval of data, and ability to concentrate which are all benefits to improved mental health.  Gaining a superior memory will lead to enhanced vocabulary and reading skills. Reasoning skills will improve as well.  So sleep, eat, (THINK) and be merry and put these memory improvement tips to action today!