Do you want to postpone the brain’s aging process and even reverse it? According to CNN studies, walking or riding a bicycle at least 3 times a day improves cognitive functions of the brain. And if it’s combined with a healthy diet of the heart, you can keep your brain healthy for many years to come.
Bright Side fully supports a healthy lifestyle. Today, we want to share a study that says if you do something very simple now, you will have incredible improvements in the future.
How it works
160 adults aged 65 years on average took part in a 6-month long study. The participants had not been doing any physical activity prior to the research, had trouble making decisions and concentrating on things, and had signs of cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure. All of them went through cognitive testing.
Anyone diagnosed with dementia or who were unable to exercise for any reason was excluded. Researchers randomly divided participants into 4 groups.
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- The first group had to do the DASH diet. This diet is very healthy for the heart and blood vessels but it also has a positive effect on the entire body.
- The second group did a whole course of aerobic workouts 3 times a week: they warmed up for 10 minutes and then did 35 minutes of continuous walking or stationary cycling. The special thing about this group was that they didn’t have any food limitations at all.
- The third group had to do most of the work. The participants did workouts 3 times a week and followed the DASH diet.
- The fourth group had a 30-minute lecture on the risk of cardiovascular diseases. And the participants were not recommended to change their diets or habits.
Brain health improves along with heart health.
The best results during the second cognitive test were demonstrated by the group who both exercised and followed the diet. The participants of the 3rd group scored 47 on average compared to 42 for the 2nd group and 38 for the 4th.
At the beginning of the research, the group’s average executive functional score was 93 years, a whopping 28 years older than their average chronological age of 65. After 6 months of the experiment, their mental age was brought down to 84. So, the combination of the DASH diet and the workouts allowed the researchers to slow down brain-aging by 9 years.
The head of The Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic, Dr. Richard Isaacson, said that controlled workouts don’t only improve brain function but also do it very quickly.
The way to rejuvenate the brain has already been found, so the only thing we need to do is figure out how to rejuvenate the body.
The conductors of this research have taken one more step closer to raising the quality of life at any age. But the best thing about this experiment is that it can be repeated at home! Would you consider trying it yourself?
Preview photo credit ru.depositphotos.com
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