7 Ways To Increase Your Brain Power

There are many ways to increase your brain power and your memory, including eating certain foods. For example, the flavanols in dark chocolate and carob affect concentration, response time and recall as well as boost blood flow to areas of the brain.

Here are a few ways to increase brain power and your memory.

Be a Social Butterfly

Research shows that staying socially active helps maintain brain function. If you're retired and spend time alone, consider a part-time job or volunteer at an organization you support. Join a club — there's one for everything these days, from aikido to zither playing.

Solve It

The brain isn't a muscle, but the more you use it, the better off you'll be. Crossword puzzles, chess, word-find games, jigsaw puzzles, Boggle and other games (like cards) are great ways to keep your brain active and boost your memory. Your weekly poker game is good for more than just time with the boys or girls.

Never Stop Learning

Attend lectures or take a class on something you've always wanted to know more about. Visit museums and art galleries. Reading and listening to the radio are great too — but reading aloud activates more of your brain, so find someone to share a story with you, like those cute grandkids.

Keep Exercising

Physical exercise helps your heart and lungs — and it may help your brain. You don't need a high-intensity workout. A study of people aged 58 to 78 found that those on a six-month program of brisk walking improved their heart and lung fitness, and increased function in certain parts of the brain. Walkers were able to focus on tasks and pay attention better than the folks who didn't go walking.

Retrain Your Brain

Changing your routine uses parts of your brain that are usually quiet. Rearrange your furniture or button your shirt with one hand. Close your eyes before you spread jam on your toast. (You can clean up the mess later.) Move your computer's mouse so you have to operate it with your other hand. Tasks like these can go a long way to increase your memory.

Feed Your Head

The old adage that "fish is brain food" may be true. Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids, which appear to protect brain cells. If you don't eat enough wild salmon (pass up on the farm-raised variety) you might want to take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement.

Eat antioxidant-rich foods, like these, to make your brain happy and function at its best:

Fruits and berries, whole or in juice form, or a top-rated antioxidant juice
Vegetables: Like green leafy ones, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts
Beans
Mushrooms
Nuts
Dark chocolate
Coffee
Tea, like green, white, Greek mountain
Spices, like cinnamon
Moderate alcohol consumption — 1 drink a day for women; 1 or 2 for men — appears to help keep the brain healthy. Red wine contains lots of resveratrol, so that should be your #1 choice.
Supplements, like ginko biloba, sage oil, and folic acid.

Keep Stress Level Low

Meditation, yoga, keeping a journal, a new hobby, gardening, breathing and relaxation techniques, can accomplish much to keep your stress level down. This allows you to better focus more of your brain power and increase your memory.

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