How to Slow Memory Loss

As you age, you may have more trouble with your memory. There are many factors that can affect your memory: loss of brain cells due to natural aging, degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease and dementia, traumatic brain injury and strokes. However, there are ways to help slow down natural memory loss---through mental practice, a good diet and keeping your brain healthy. Keep in mind that it takes a combination of good brain habits to keep your brain and memory working.

Things You'll Need

• Healthy food Mental activities, like sudoku

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Instructions

How to Slow Memory Loss

• 1

  Eat a brain-healthy diet. Just like your body needs nutrients and healthy foods to keep running, so does your brain. Leafy green vegetables, like kale, have plenty of vitamins. Antioxidants, whole grains, calcium-rich foods and soybeans also help keep your brain at its best. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish, help maintain brain function.

• 2

  Stay mentally active. This may seem like a no-brainer (pun intended), but memory loss happens at its quickest when you do not use your brain. Prevent this by doing mental games, like sudoku puzzles. Even something as simple as reading a book can engage your mind and help you remember.

• 3

  Use memory techniques. Use different techniques to help your memory and keep it going strong. One technique is chunking---this targets your working memory, which is the memory you use to store phone numbers and other information you will use immediately. Instead of remembering one number at a time, group them together in a meaningful way. The average working memory holds seven items, plus or minus two. But with chunking, you can increase that number well into double digits.

• 4

  Keep track of things. The largest complaint people have about memory loss is they cannot seem to remember something they needed to buy, somewhere they needed to be, and so on. Keep a list or a notebook handy. When there is something you have to remember or do, write it down. After a while, you will notice you are not forgetting as much as you used to.

• 5

  Learn to your advantage. Every person learns a different way. Someone might learn best with an auditory stimulus, while another person needs a visual stimulus. Think about the way you learn best. Once you figure out your learning style, use it to help your memory. If you are a visual learner, mentally picture every item you need to remember, then recall that picture later. If you learn best by listening, use a tape recorder.