“Senior moments” happen to us all at some point. We can’t remember the grocery item we needed… Or the phone number we thought we had memorized… Or the name of a person we just met.
It’s a fact of biology: As we get older, our short-term memory power wanes. There’s decreased blood flow to the brain. Neural growth declines. Memory formation and retrieval deteriorates.1
But there are ways to fight it. Researchers have uncovered simple and surprising ways to overcome the normal memory lapses that come with age.
Surprising Tricks that Beat Senior Moments
1. Chew gum: A study found that chewing gum temporarily improves memory. Researchers at St. Lawrence University in New York found that subjects who chewed gum for five minutes before testing scored 50% better on recall and memory tasks. The effect lasts for about 20 minutes after gum chewing ends.2
Researchers don’t know why this works. But other research shows that the hippocampus, a brain area important for memory, is more active when people chew.
2. Drink coffee: Johns Hopkins researchers found that people taking caffeine pills perform better on memory tests. The subjects were given 200 mg of caffeine. This is the equivalent of about two cups of coffee.3,4
3. Clench your fist: Research shows that if you are right-handed and clench your right fist while committing something to memory, your recall will be better.
Montclair State University scientists theorize that hand-clenching activates brain regions associated with memory formation. It makes sense that this trick would also work for lefties, although researchers didn’t study them.5
4. Doodle: A Plymouth University study found that simply doodling while listening to information improves recall by 29%. Scientists believe doodling keeps the brain more actively engaged in the information being presented. 6
5. Eat chocolate: A recent study published in the journal Appetite found that people who eat chocolate at least once a week have better memory ability. Researchers stated chocolate lovers are better at “remembering a phone number or shopping list.”
Dark chocolate contains flavanols shown to improve overall brain function.7
But not all dark chocolate is created equal. Some brands contain lead, which is a potent neurotoxin. We recently told which kinds are lead-free.
Here’s something else you should know about brain health… Big Pharma has set its sights on an herbal extract that works better than leading Alzheimer’s drugs.
You can get the safer, natural version today…before they try to sell it to you for hundreds of dollars.
In Good Health,
Angela Salerno
Executive Director, INH Health Watch
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References:
1http://www.helpguide.org/articles/memory/age-related-memory-loss.htm
2http://www.livescience.com/17520-chewing-gum-test-performance.html
3http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/01/12/caffeine-enhances-memory
4http://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/caffeine-and-mental-exercises-improves-memory/1890440.html
5http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/259678.php
6http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-power-of-the-doodle-improve-your-focus-and-memory-1406675744
7http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/12187042/Chocolate-makes-you-smarter-study-suggests.html