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Age-Proof Your Brain

By Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler

Pioneer Brain/Mind Researcher

Our brains are our body's most powerful and mysterious organ. The thought of “losing it” mentally due to aging isn’t pleasant.

Failing brains bring memory loss and reduced cognitive ability. If you’ve ever known someone with Alzheimer’s, you know how the loss of memory also causes the personality to unravel.

About 33% of all people age 60 and over have measurable memory problems. And the medical community estimates that by the time we reach age 85, fifty percent of us will have Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

This is NOT a pretty picture, but there ARE ways to fight back against both cognitive decline and AD.

Stress and Cognitive Decline

Age is not the only cause of reduced brain capacity. Stress is now clearly known to kill brain cells. This happens regardless of age - whether you're 20 or 90. The below picture is a microscopic photo of brains cells dying from stress.

There's evidence that high levels of stress hormones cause the hippocampus – a small brain organ that's crucial to memory – to physically atrophy and shrink.

Dying Neurons

One way to reduce brain damage from stress is to meditate on a regular basis. This also increases the activity of your pineal gland – the source of a natural hormone (melatonin) that regulates your sleep.

This also helps slow the aging process, and enough of an increase in melatonin can actually turn back the clock.

The problem with meditation is that truly good effects begin to occur only after years of daily practice. And very few of us today have time for a daily hour and a half meditation session.

The Self-Esteem Factor

And there’s more at work here than just aging and stress. It's now now proven by many research studies that personality plays an important role in protecting our mental powers.

This may shock you, but a major 20-year study proved beyond doubt that low self-esteem can cause your brain to shrink as much as 20 percent.

What Can You Do?

Can we age-proof our brains, or even turn back the clock? Actually new anti-aging research is very promising. Loss of your mental sharpness is definitely achievable. Fighting back against AD is also within reach, but only if you begin before symptoms start.

What's the secret to keeping your brain fit and flexible:

    * Participate in activities that will stretch your mental muscle. Study music, go back to school or begin to learn a new language or write a book.

    * Make sure you have a good diet. Your brain’s basic food is glucose. But fast food is not a good source of mental (or physical) fuel.

    * Bust your stress. When you’re stressed not only do you step-up the aging process, you also kill brain cells and direct glucose away from your brain to your big muscles. This is great for running from a tiger, but not beneficial in daily life.

    * Develop a daily practice of meditation. If you just don’t have 90 minutes to dedicate to this, consider a daily practice 10-20 minute stress reduction brainwave training that will instantly allow you to meditate like a monk.

    * If your self-esteem is not “up to snuff” consider working with a counselor, or pick up an on-line self-esteem training and DO the assignments.

    * Try adding ginkgo to your diet. Ginko is extracted from the leaves of the 200-million-year-old ginkgo tree, and has been shown to increase oxygen in the brain, and sometimes even lessen the symptoms of AD.

    * Get some moderate daily exercise into your daily plan of action. Park the car at the far end of the parking lot at work or the store and take a quick “hike.”

    * Increase your supply of human growth hormone (HGH) by natural methods (forget the artificial supplements - they just don't work. You want your body to do it naturally!)

      Dr. Deepak Chopra, MD says, "Mind training is the medicine of the future." We created the Quantum Brain Gym three years ago to give you easy access to tools to protect and build your brain power, turn back the clock, and avoid unnecessary mental deterioration. Join the thousands from around the world that turn on their computer for a few minutes each day and visit the gym to get their daily smart-brain fix. 

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article © 2007 by author Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler, Pioneer brain/mind researcher -

see her site for ecourse "Take Charge: 14 Steps to Smash your Limits"
and info about the Quantum Brain Gym [click "Member Center"]

Quantum-Self


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