KUNG nais mong maprotektahan ang iyong utak, hindi mo na kailangan ng app para rito.

Maaaring narinig mo na ang balita tungkol sa Lumosity, na pinagbayad ng $2 million ng FTC matapos umanong paniwalain ang mga customer na ang kanilang computer games ay makatutulong sa brain performance ng tao.

Ang mabuting balita: Napakaraming simpleng paraan upang mapatalas ang iyong isipan na may kaugnayan sa siyensiya. Bukod pa riyan, marami sa lifestyle changes na nag-aalaga sa ating utak ang nagpapanatili rin na maging malusog ang ating puso.

Palaging tandaan—hindi pa alam ng science kung paano maiiwasan ang pananakit ng ulo at matamlay na pag-iisip na iniuugnay sa Alzheimer’s disease. Ngunit nakasalalay talaga sa lifestyle ng tao ang talas at bilis ng kanyang pag-iisip, ayon kay James Becker, psychiatry professor at Alzheimer’s expert sa University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

At ang lifestyle naman talaga ang pinakamahalaga.

“If we could keep people relatively symptom-free for 5 years longer, then half of the dementia cases would disappear,” ani Becker. “If we could keep them symptom-free for 10 years longer, all dementia would be gone.”

Narito ang ilan sa mga paraan upang mapaganda ang brain performance:

1. Mag-ehersisyo. Napag-alaman sa isa pang pag-aaral na ang pisikal na aktibidad ay nakatutulong sa pagpoprotekta ng brain cells, ayon kay Dr. Paul B. Rosenberg, associate professor ng psychiatry at behavioral sciences sa Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine at sa Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

“It seems like aerobic exercise is better than non-aerobic exercise,” ani Rosenberg. “I tell my patients a minimum of 30 minutes a day. There was a neat little study in older adults in which they randomized 100 people to aerobic exercise or stretching. They found that in the folks that exercised, their hippocampus actually grew over the course of a year, while in the sedentary folks the hippocampus shrunk.”

2. Gumamit ng olive oil. Ayon sa pag-aaral na nailathala noong 2015, hindi lang ang puso ang pinoprotektahan ng Mediterranean diet, kundi maging ang utak.

“Eating fish twice a week can have a positive effect on brain structure and function and by implication will delay the onset of clinical symptoms,” paliwanag ni Becker.

3. Magpaka-busy. Napag-alaman sa tinatawag na Super Agers—silang nananatiling matalas ang memorya kahit matanda na—na ang mga tao ay may pagkakapareho, ayon kay Sandra Weintraub, neurology, psychiatry at psychology professor, at isang neuropsychologist sa Northwestern University’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center.

“Some of them smoke, some of them drink, some of them are couch potatoes, some exercise every day, some eat pork bellies and some consume a Mediterranean diet,” paliwanag ni Weintraub.

“What they do have in common is that they are very engaged and active. They’re so busy it’s hard to get them in for research visits.” (Today Health and Wellness)