featured Archives - Brainfit Resorts

5 Steps To Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease

Brett Simmons — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 06:37:32 +0000

If you want to stay sharp and in control of your life well into your golden years, there are proactive methods to achieving the mental alertness you need.

More and more research is pointing to the fact that physical activity and lifestyle choices have more to do with preventing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other forms of Dementia – once thought to be a normal part of aging – than pure genetics.

So, if you had a parent, grandparent or sibling with AD it doesn’t mean you have to follow the same path.

What You Need To Know

Statistics gathered from extensive research do point toward a higher risk of developing AD if you had a close relative with AD – as much as 50%, but that has less to do with genes and more to do with following their lifestyle patterns.

If for example, your parents were smokers who rarely exercised, you may have developed some of the same destructive habits.

What can you do to break the cycle and prevent AD?
Take action, and take control TODAY.

Even if you are in your 60s and 70s, you can reverse some of the damage done to your brain through poor diet, inactivity, or damaging lifestyle choices.

Scientists have discovered very recently that the brain has the ability to repair cells and neurotransmitters and improve cognitive function and memory.

Start with these 5 Simple Steps:

1. Eat Right.

It seems so simple, yet too many people just don’t get enough of the mind preserving antioxidants found in fresh fruits and vegetables.

A well-balanced diet, free of dairy products and using low-fat sources of protein will protect both heart and mind.

2. Supplement where necessary.

Many diets lack the nutrients proven to promote brain health.

These include sources of essential fatty acids found in fish and specific herbs and minerals that can enhance cognitive function.

3. Exercise.

Originally it was thought that exercise increases blood flow and oxygen to the brain cells.

This is still true, but a report prepared for the National Institutes of Health states that exercise can also stimulate the production growth factors, which are molecules produced by the body to repair and maintain nerves.

4. Lower Your Cholesterol.

Many people with early dementia or AD symptoms may have actually experienced small strokes that damaged the brain’s neurotransmitters.

By keeping cholesterol levels in check, the arteries are free and clear of plaque that can cause a stroke.

5. Exercise Your Mind.

Keeping up with current events, working puzzles each day, learning and memorizing new information all work to keeping the mind strong and alert.

It is normal for people to sometimes forget a name or date, but the more practice recalling such information the greater the brain’s ability to do this throughout old age.

In the case of mental challenges, the more you do the more you can push back the clock on cognitive decline.

Final Thoughts

Five easy steps, when you think about it, can do much to make aging an event to celebrate instead of dread.

With age there comes experience and wisdom, and we should all do whatever is within our power to be able to pass that on to the next generation.

Think you might need a hand in creating your ideal brain-healthy lifestyle?

You’re not alone. In fact, most of the people who engage with our articles and posts tell us the hardest thing about a plan to prevent diseases like Alzheimer’s and Dementia, is getting started, and knowing what works and doesn’t work.

We created our ProtectMyBrain Program to give people the tools and strategies they need to identify their individual risks and tailor a personalized plan to prevent these diseases from ever becoming an issue.

To find out if our ProtectMyBrain Program might be right for you, click the link below.

ProtectMyBrain Dementia Prevention Program

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this piece, and want to see more of our works relating to prevention and brain-healthy lifestyle, check out the links to some of our other articles below:

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you new feature articles and videos just like this one, as we release them.

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If you would like us to feature a particular topic or interest in one of our upcoming articles or videos, leave a comment below with the details or alternatively, send us an email to info@brainfitresorts.com.

We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Finally, if you know someone who may benefit from this article or any of our other features, please SHARE this article with them using the icons below, and help us to better enrich the lives of those who need it.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

We are what we eat

Vishan S Gill — Sat, 15 Sep 2018 10:26:15 +0000

Food is one of the most singularly important factors in overall health.

The food we eat literally becomes who we are, and influences our physical, mental and even emotional well-being.

A poor diet has been proven as a cause of conditions such as hypertension, heart and blood vessels diseases, obesity, and diabetes.

Nutritious food choices not only contribute to optimal brain health but can actually be a tool for supporting and even improving cognition.

Food for Brain and Thought

Unhealthy diets can ultimately increase your risk of psychiatric and neurologic conditions, such as depression and dementia, whereas healthy diets can be otherwise protected against such conditions.

Some evidence suggests that poor dietary and nutritional patterns may have contributed to the widespread rise of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias over the last three decades, especially in developed countries, such as USA, UK, Australia, and Canada.

At BrainFit Resorts, we make “Brain Food and Supplements” an essential component of our ProtectMyBrain program. We will not only provide an optimal diet but also help you understand the principles of brain-healthy nutrition.

To support the process, we will also offer you a meal plan, supplements and helpful eating habits that you will be able to incorporate when you return home after the program.

Click HERE to find out more about the ProtectMyBrain Dementia Prevention Program

For now, here are some top nutritional tips to promote your brain health:

Lower your carbs intake and avoid (refined) sugars.
Natural carbohydrate sources with higher fiber content are better choices, but again, in limited quantities.
Avoid the “Bad” fats (trans fats, found extensively in processed foods) and limit your saturated fats intake (usually found in beef and pork).
Fatty fish contain high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids, namely omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for brain health. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (found in nuts, seeds, fish, and leafy green vegetables) and the monounsaturated fatty acids (found in olive oil, avocados, and nuts) decrease the risk for dementia over time.
Vegetables and fruits which are not sweet are excellent sources for natural antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, which can protect your brain. These may include green and red vegetables, berries, grapefruits and many more.
Diets that have been suggested to promote brain health include The Mediterranean, The MIND and APT diets.

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to nutrition and brain healthy foods, check out the links to some of our other articles below:

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you new feature articles and videos just like this one, as we release them.

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We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.

How To Improve Cognitive Skills

Vishan S Gill — Sat, 15 Sep 2018 10:21:49 +0000

Cognitive skills, sometimes referred to as cognitive or brain functions, are the “tools” we use to mentally learn, remember, process and interpret the world around us.

We also use cognitive skills to evaluate, analyze, apply knowledge, reason, decide, solve problems and take actions.

While some of these abilities seem to be innate, most cognitive skills must be developed and practiced to reach their full potential.

In other words, with a little effort and experience, it is possible to become more skilled.

Click the video below to find out more.

Ongoing Training

Cognitive skills are not something that will simply improve overnight.

It takes an ongoing application of training, assessment, and consistency to achieve improvements.

Just like how when we consistently exercise our bodies do we see results, so too we will with our cognitive skills.

Think of starting cognitive training like engaging a personal trainer to get you into shape.

You need to start with a baseline assessment to understand where you currently are, and what areas need focus.

A specific training plan would need to be outlined, and an exercise regiment detailed.

Naturally, any training plan will only e as good as the end user’s level of engagement, so one’s ability to stick with it and take action is what inevitably yields results.

Online Platforms

Considering some of the available tools out there in the big, wide world of the internet, we are now in an age where many online platforms can support the types of cognitive skills training that can show real improvements in cognitive abilities over time.

Some examples include Elevate, CogniFit, and NeuroNation as some of our top picks.

Cognitive assessment and Memory test

A cognitive assessment involves a series of cognitive tasks to determine an individual’s level of cognitive function.

Such tests can be divided into several components to test skills such as:

Visual and Auditory Processing
Language Understanding
Attention (Selective, Divided or Sustained)
Memory (short and long-term)
Logic and Reasoning
Problems Solving
Processing Speed
Motor Skills

At BrainFit Resorts, our ProtectMyBrain program encompasses many of the most effective cognitive assessment methods, to give you an accurate description our your current cognitive skill level.

We will further define any potential areas of shortcoming, and give you the tools you need to increase your cognitive skills in select areas so that you will continue to improve long after your time spent with us.

If you would like to find out if the ProtectMyBrain Program might be right for you, simply click on the link below.

Click HERE to find out more about the ProtectMyBrain Dementia Prevention Program by BrainFit Resorts

We hope these tips provide you with some insights and assistance to living your most brain healthy life.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, and want to see more of our articles relating to cognitive skills and training, check out the links to some of our other articles below:

Be sure to hit the SUBSCRIBE button below so we can send you new feature articles and videos just like this one, as we release them.

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We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.

Until next time… Live Strong. Live Well. Live BrainFit.