How to improve your memory has become a very common problem nowadays, because people forget many things with their busy lifestyle. It is not the problem of a specific region or nation. It happens with anyone and forgetting things means that something causes bad effects on your memory. It can be frustrating to have a poor memory. There is an important role of genetic in memory loss, especially in serious neurological conditions. Your lifestyle has a great impact on declining and enhancing your memory and your health as well. However, there are still some very effective ways to improve your memory.
The following are the ways that help you to improve memory and also health. These ways help you to have an effortless focus by increasing your mental strength.
1. Avoid Taking Too Much Sugar
It is not good for your health to eat too much sugar as this can cause many health issues and chronic diseases, such as declining cognitive health. If you consume too much sugar, then it can become a reason for poor memory and reduced brain volume. It reduces brain volume, specifically in the area of the brain where it stores short-term memory.
In one study, there was an observation according to which people who take higher intake of sugary beverages like soda have lower total brain volumes and poorer memories as compared to the people who have less consumption of sugar. It can be a great thing to improve your memory and overall health if you decrease the intake of sugar. The research shows that people with less intake of sugar may have good memories as compared to people with more intakes.
2. Try a Fish Oil Supplement For Memory Improvement
The three types of fatty acids in fish oils are Omega-3 fatty acids, Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA), and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Fatal acids help in improving overall health as well as reduce the risk of heart disease, inflammation, stress, and anxiety.
The study shows that the consumption of fish and fish oil supplements helps you to improve your memory. After one study, the results emerged that 36 older adults were found to have good short-term working memory when they took concentrated fish oil supplements for 12 months.
There were many other studies whose results were amazing. The study shows that when adults with mild symptoms of memory loss took supplements that were rich in DHA and EPA, such as fish oil, the result came out to be improved episodic memory. Fatty acids, such as DHA and EPA, are very important for the health and functioning of the brain. They also help in reducing inflammation in the body, which has a link to the decline of cognitive health. These fatty acids improve short-term, working, and episodic memory, especially in older people.
3. Designate Some Time For Meditation and Yoga
Meditation and yoga help in many ways to improve your memory, such as it creates a positive effect on your health in many ways. The practice of meditation also helps in giving relaxation and soothing, which reduces stress and pain, lowers blood pressure, and even improves memory. The study shows that meditation increases gray matter in the brain, which contains neuron cell bodies. With age, the gray matter starts reducing, which can have a negative impact on memory and cognition. The practice of meditation and relaxation techniques improves short-term memory in people of all ages.
In one study on Taiwanese college students, the observation shows that students who do meditation practices like mindfulness have significantly better spatial working memory than students who do not practice meditation. Spatial working memory is the ability that holds and processes information about the positions of objects in space in your mind. The practice of meditation is good for the body as well as for your brain. It helps in increasing gray matter in the brain and improves spatial working memory.
4. Maintain Your Weight And Body Mass Index
There is another way that helps you in keeping your body and mind in top condition which is to maintain healthy body weight. Obesity can produce many risks in your body, such as cognitive decline. It also produces negative effects on your body and causes changes to memory-associated genes in the brain. You can also get insulin resistance and inflammation because of obesity, which harms the brain.
The results of the study showed that it could cause significantly worse mental performance on memory tests, and most people between the ages of 18 and 35 have obesity. There is a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease because of obesity. This disease is risky and can destroy memory and cognitive function. You can reduce or avoid health issues because of obesity by maintaining a body mass index within the normal range and on the other hand, it will help you to improve your memory.
5. Get Enough Sleep To Improve Your Memory
If you do not get proper sleep, it can result in poor memory for quite some time. Proper nights of sleep play an important role as it helps in strengthening and transforming the short term
memories into long term memories. If you do not get proper sleep or you have a habit of getting less sleep, then it can be really bad for your health and your memory.
The study observed 40 children between the ages of 10 and 14. In this test, there were two groups in which one group had a night sleep between the training and memory test while the other group did not get the sleep time between training and testing on the same day. The study showed that the first group who get time for sleep between the training and memory test give 20% better performance on the memory test than the other group.
There was another study in which the observation was on nurses. In this study, the result was comparable as above the nurses that worked in the night shift made more mathematical errors, and the other group who worked in the day shift scored 68% higher on memory tests. Health experts recommend that one should get 7-9 hours of sleep each night for optimal health. Studies show that one should get sufficient sleep so that one can get better memory performance. If you sleep well, then you would be able to perform better on memory tests.
6. Focus On Your Present Situation By Practicing Mindfulness
The person who practices mindfulness can focus on the present situation. It is a mental state that also helps in maintaining awareness of your surroundings and feelings. Mindfulness is a kind of meditation, but they are not the same. Compared to meditation, which is more formal practice, mindfulness is a mental habit that you can use in any situation. Mindfulness is important as it helps you in lowering stress and improving concentration and memory.
The study shows that those students have good recognition-memory performance in recalling objects that practice mindfulness training as compared to students who did not receive such
training. It is effective as it has a link with a lower risk of age-related cognitive decline. You can get an overall improvement in psychological well-being by practicing mindfulness. It helps
people in paying more attention to your present situation, and it also helps to concentrate on your breathing and gently resetting your attention. You can increase your memory performance by practicing mindfulness techniques.
7. Stop Consuming Alcohol To Memorize Well
Drinking alcohol can damage your health badly, and it also has a negative impact on your memory. So, you should avoid the consumption of too many alcoholic beverages. Drinking alcohol can alter the brain and result in memory deficits as it raises your blood alcohol levels to 0.08 grams per ml or above. In one study, the observation was that students with higher consumption of drinks within a short period, either weekly or monthly, performed badly on delayed memory-recall tests as they found it difficult to do as compared to students who never drank.
There are neurotoxic effects on the brain because of alcohol consumption. If you drink alcohol repeatedly, then it can damage the hippocampus. Hippocampus is a part of the brain that plays a vital role in memory. You should avoid the consumption of excessive alcohol as it will help you in protecting your memory. The effects of alcohol consumption can reduce memory performance.
8. Train and Boost Your Brain With Memory Apps/Games
There is an amazing way, such as exercising your cognitive skills by playing brain games by which you can boost brain nutrition. Games that can help boost your memory include
crosswords, word-recall games, Tetris, and even mobile apps dedicated to memory training. There was a study in which there were 42 adults. This study shows that the people that play
games on a brain-training app for eight hours over four weeks have better memory compared to those who do not.
In another study, people played for 15 minutes of an online brain-training program at least five days a week. This helped them in making their short term memory, concentration, and
problem-solving better as compared to the others. These brain-training games help in reducing the risk of dementia in older adults and also help you to strengthen your memory.
9. Test Your Vitamin D Levels and Proceed Accordingly
There is an important role of vitamin D in the body, as low levels of vitamin D can cause health issues such as a reduction in cognitive function. In one study of 318 older adults over five years, the researchers found that those with fewer levels of vitamin D in the blood were less likely to lose their memory and other cognitive abilities faster compared to those with normal vitamin D levels.
It can also cause a greater risk of developing dementia. People who live in colder climates and those with darker skin are more likely to have less Vitamin-D in their blood. You should take the blood test so that you can decide whether you need a vitamin D supplement or not. Vitamin-D deficiency causes age-related cognitive decline and dementia.
10. Do Regular Exercise For Enhanced Memory
Everyone knows that there is an important role of exercise in overall physical and mental health. The research shows that exercise is beneficial for the brain and helps in improving memory in people of all ages, from children to older adults. In one study, the results showed that if you do 15 minutes of moderate exercise on a stationary bike, it helps you improve your memory and cognitive performance.
There was another study that showed that exercise might increase the secretion of neuroprotective proteins. It also improves the growth and development of neurons that help in improving brain health. Regular exercise is also essential because it reduces the risk of developing dementia later in life. Regular exercising results in decreased procrastination at work.
The Bottom Line
There are many ways by which you can improve your memory, such as exercising regularly, reducing added sugar in your diet, nootropics, taking less refined carbs, and many more. If you add the ways mentioned above in your life, these can boost your brain health and keep your memory in top condition as they are natural ways to improve your memory. We are sure, the above-mentioned steps will help everyone to improve their memory and enjoy a healthy physical and mental life.