Memory Boosting Tips

Keep your brain operating at maximum power.

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Add a Dash of This and That
Several substances have been shown to help cognitive functioning. These are the ones we recommend:

• Carotenoids and flavonoids, which are vitamin-like substances that can act as antioxidants. Not essential for life, they tend to give color to vegetables and fruits.
• Lycopene and quercetin. Good sources include pink grapefruit, watermelon, tomatoes, leafy green veggies, red apples, onions, blueberries and cranberries.
• Resveratrol is found in red wine. High doses might require too much alcohol (180 bottles!), so consider a high-dose purified product as a supplement.
• A variety of flavonoids found in dark chocolate made with at least 70 percent pure cocoa (just don’t overdue it).
• Curcumin and turmeric, spice found in curried and Indian foods. Mustard also contains turmeric and can reduce Apo E4 levels.

Go With the Flow
Your blood feeds your brain nutrients. One of you goals should be keeping your arteries clear and flowing. Reducing high blood pressure can improve cognitive function and substantially slow Alzheimer’s progression.

If you have a diastolic blood pressure over 90 (the bottom number), then you have a five times greater dementia risk two decades down the line (than if it’s below 90). If you have elevated blood pressure, it could be because your arteries are constricted from cholesterol plaques, limiting the amount of nutrients to reach a particular area. Not having sufficient blood supplied to that area between the two main arteries is what elevates stroke risk.

Consider Your Hormonal Options
Early menopause research showed that boosting estrogen delays Alzheimer’s. New research is less clear, so we don’t believe that’s reason enough to start taking estrogen. If you’re considering taking it for other reasons, this could be an additional positive factor.

Get into the Game
It’s no surprise that exercise is good for your heart (and modeling career), but it’s also an elixir for your mind. It seems that more intense exercise preserves neurocognitive function by decreasing the Apo-E4 gene expression, to help clear the beta-amyloid plaque that gunks your power lines. Exercise has been correlated with increased telomere length.

Here’s a brain-boosting workout: Once or twice weekly, choose an exercise that requires your mind and body to work, like a tennis game or Bikram yoga. The sports or exercises that engage you in the moment can help clear your mind at the same time. No need to overdo it. Just thirty minutes of walking per day plus your workout can help you burn 2,000 to 3,5000 calories per week—the amount shown to increase telomere length.