Memory foods, or foods rich in nutrients that are advantageous to brain health and operation, can effortlessly be added to most people’s diets for a boost to memory function. You might not know it, but it is simple to find these foods, and there is a good chance that your diet might already contain a number of of these brain healthy selections.

What are memory foods? An important characteristic of a brain healthy food is one that has no detrimental effects on your cardiovascular system. You already know that your heart stays healthy by eating low fat and low cholesterol foods, but your brain sees many of the same positive effects. Arteries and capillaries that are clogged with plaque and fat deposits restrict circulation not only through the heart, but also block crucial blood flow through the tiny capillaries that supply the brain. The brain will not work properly if it doesn’t get enough of this nourishing blood. So, remember this adage, if it’s good for the heart, it’s good for the brain.”

Something else you want to look for in foods to improve memory is loads of antioxidants. Human cells are continually under threat of oxidative damage by free radicals in our bodies. One of the most effective ways to fight against the onslaught of cancer is by slowing or stopping these free radicals. By eating a diet that has lots of antioxidants, which are known to be natural cancer and free radican inhibitors, you can help to protect your brain cells against disease.

The human brain, just like your muscles and other organs, needs to be fuelled to function properly. The brain has neurotransmitters which are needed for it to perform all of its functions. A vitamin known as choline is essential for the proper function of neurotransmitters. Pregnant women should make sure that they are getting enough choline as it is important in the growth of the unborn baby’s brain. Choline can be taken in vitamin form, but you can get plenty from your regular diet. One of my personal favorite foods containing choline is eggs. Just two cooked eggs will have more than the recommended daily allowance of the vitamin.

If you want to improve your memory, or just keep it healthy and maintain your current ability, the consumption of memory foods is a requisite piece of the pie. In addition to keeping your brain active and exercised, the right diet will certainly have a positive effect on the health of the organ.

Malnutrition is a highly dangerous condition in the old, as it seriously reduces life expectancy. Similarly, once an older person loses weight due to malnutrition, that weight is usually not put back on ever again.

Since aged people tend to get sick more easily and are absorbing their nutrient elements rather poorly, they are at serious risk of malnutrition.

Common symptoms of malnutrition are:

• Weightloss
• Muscle wasting
• Skin bruising
• Dry skin
• Oedema
• Poor blood nutrient profile like iron deficiency, etc

In order to protect against malnutrition in the aged, there are 5 main causes to look out for:

1. Medical condition – Most elderly individuals have some sicknesses or their immune system is compromised. Their illnesses may cause reduced appetite or no wish to eat at all. Reduced intakes naturally cause further decay of the immune status making them even more susceptible to developing diseases. This may present a dangerous cycle causing malnutrition.

2. Depression – Dementia and Parkinson’s Disease are usually associated with mood swings and personality changes. On top of that, elderly people are oftentimes isolated, lonely, suffering discomfort, anxious and sick making their depression worse. Depression is associated with thoughts of death or no desire to live. Often depressed individuals also stop eating or have no wish for food, making them highly susceptible to malnutrition.

3. Dysphagia – Difficulty in swallowing is rather common among elderly individuals. This condition is associated with neurological disorders like stroke, Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Swallowing issues can result in aspiration or the misdirection of food, drinks, spit and gut content into the wind pipe leading to pneumonia (lung infection), dehydration and malnutrition.

4. Dry Mouth (Xerostomia)/taste disturbance – Reduced spit production is a common result of the ageing process. This condition is amplified by prescription medications commonly given to the old. Taste disturbances regularly go with dry mouth and that leads to reduced wish to eat as “food simply doesn’t taste good”.

5. Cognitive issues – Poor food recognition, not remembering to eat, food refusal or simply incapability to open food packages can be great barriers to adequate nutrition.

In conclusion, while there are plenty of different reasons for malnutrition in the elderly, these five are the key ones to look out for. If you know a senior who appears to have any of these conditions, please seek professional help.

Giselle Brand is an accredited practising dietician and director of Aged Care Nutrition Services. She provides expert services such as aged care menu review and nutrition and hydration accreditation for aged care facilities in Australia.

With people getting busier and busier by the day, and more things to think about and tend to than ever before, it’s becoming a common problem that people are unable to remember everything they have going on in their lives.    I’ve always fantasized about the method of “learning” from the film, “The Matrix” where new information was loaded to the brain via download from a computer.  However, there are some things you can do to make your memory work a little better for you.

Getting Enough Rest.

Getting eight hours of good restful sleep every night will go a long way in keeping your brain sharp.  This is the period in which the human body repairs, rests, and replenishes its energy, and a similar process occurs in the brain as well.  Sleep research indicates that while a person is sleeping, the brain uses the time to turn off, and refresh itself.  It is accepted that this only occurs while people are asleep.

Exercising Often

How many people know that working out has a positive effect on brain health and memory?  Keeping your body physically fit is great for the arteries, and that includes the small capillaries in your brain.  The more oxygen-rich blood that gets to your brain, the stronger it functions.  A good workout is a great way to reduce stress too!  Stress will directly affect your ability to remember, and so the less of it you have in your life, the better.

Being Social To Improve Your Memory

As stated above, stress can be quite harmful to your memory ability.  If your are experiencing a lot of stress, it will be a roadblock to information that would normally be learned and remembered.  Individuals who are socially active find that their stress levels are naturally reduced by the interpersonal interactions they are enjoying.  By hanging out with family memembers, pets, and friends, your will be actively reducing your stress levels. Experts have also stated that people who laugh a lot also suffer less from stress due to the release of endorphins in the body.  This commonly helps people reduce stress in many aspects of their lives.

Brain Healthy Diet

Scientists now agree on the fact that a low fat diet not only keeps your heart healthy, but your brain gains many of the same benefits.  High levels of cholesterol and fat in the bloodstream will have a negative affect on brain funciton, just as it does the heart.  Drinking red wine and grape juice have benefits for brain health due to their high levels of reservatrol.  These tips for memory improvement can help anyone who wants to learn to enhance the power of their mind, and they are easy to implement.

Each and every time you turn on the television or open a general interest magazine today, you’re bound to be confronted with a story regarding the startling and ever-growing worldwide problem of obesity. A lot more people are unhealthily overweight, to the point where eating can actually endanger our lives. There have always been some individuals that have eaten unhealthily, mainly because naughty foods taste so great, however the population as a whole now has to consider how our diets are affecting us. We can become sluggish and lethargic when we’re getting the wrong levels of nutrients and so conscious thought about what we put into our bodies is vital, and this especially applies to seniors.

As we grow older, our metabolism slows down and we can’t burn calories at the same rate as we used to. It therefore makes it easier for us to put on weight but more difficult for us to shed it. However, putting on weight has a more negative affect on seniors than it does any other age group. Being overweight can put unnecessary stress on your joints and thus accelerate the affects of arthritis, osteoporosis along with other bone and muscle disorders and illnesses. Additionally, it can bring about the start of diabetes, which is more prevalent in seniors when compared to any other age bracket as it is. While any senior should enjoy a little of what she or he loves to eat every now and again, regardless of how unhealthy it may be, a regular balanced nutritious diet is exactly what the physician orders!

A typical senior diet should include:

* 5 to 10 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, although more of the latter than the former

* 6 to 10 servings of complex carbohydrates each day, which incorporates rice, pasta, bread and cereals

* 2 or 3 helpings of calcium-based products, which includes milk, cheese and yoghurt (although the low fat variety would work out best)

* 2 to 3 servings of meat, poultry or fish each day to supply the body with protein

* A great deal of fiber during the day, which can also be found in the cereals, fruit and vegetables mentioned above

All of the foodstuffs in the list above are finely balanced as far as amount are concerned. This diet would fulfil every nutritional need that the senior has and would encourage good health. However, dieticians do advise that seniors avoid saturated fats and sodium. The latter, also known as salt, is often a factor of increased blood pressure. Therefore, salt should only b used sparingly. Most natural foods do contain salt, however in healthy doses, and so excess salt ought to be avoided. Avoid baking with it if at all possible, and attempt to resist that liberal sprinkle on your main meal! Saturated fat is in fact resistant to your body’s nutritional process. In other words it is not broken down and used for good within your body. It just sits there and clogs your arteries. Consequently, it is a factor in heart problems, forms of cancer and gallbladder disease, as well as the widespread obesity in modern society.

A well balanced diet can boost your health, but an unhealthy diet that does not fulfil all bodily nutritional requirements can actually cause it to deteriorate. In seniors, this is especially dangerous. After all, if you find it difficult to move, then how are you likely to work off the excess weight? If you’re in shape you can avoid immobility. It is therefore a vicious circle that may relate directly on your diet.

All seniors should enjoy life to the fullest extent, but eating healthily regularly can actively extend the amount of time you have left to enjoy it! Make the most of every opportunity because you only have one chance at life. Revolutionize your diet and reap the rewards!

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As a caregiver, it is not easy to summon up the energy to do what’s in the best interests of the senior that you’re looking after at times. It is usually extremely exhausting simply because you have undergone enough mental stimulation to last a lifetime in just a few weeks. However, if you can keep elderly people with mental illnesses occupied, then you’re half way toward winning the battle.

Mental stimulation of the mentally ill seniors in your care can work wonders for your mental health in addition to theirs. Playing with them, which is essentially what it is, provides you with a welcome break from your usual caring routine. Putting aside a certain time period every few days will also make certain you are doing something fun with them. For the senior,it often turns out to be the highlight of their week because they finally recognise something and respond to it. It breaks the monotony for them and will often actively be used to calm them. They also see a light every now and then in the dark tunnel of the mind, and so they can often remember it and look forward to it.

It is very important to mentally stimulate seniors in your care to keep their minds as sharp and active as you possibly can. Seniors with Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and dementia, among other ailments, must exercise their minds as frequently as they possibly can and discovering the right approaches to achieve this could take forever, if you don’t have a bit of help and advice. Medical research has found that some sorts of stimulation are better than others due to the way in which the mind responds to certain stimuli.

Bright colours have been found to work best by the various studies that have been carried out. Having fun with rag dolls, and brightly coloured balls have worked wonders in keeping their minds active. The fact is, should you get them to do something while they’re concentrating on the colors will more often than not result in them doing it. This exercise is, obviously, purely for fun mainly because it has no direct meaning attached to it. However, there are actually certain activities that do have meaning and can be used to exercise them physically as well as mentally. Examples of games that are brightly colored and serve a purpose are puzzles. You can get large piece jigsaw puzzles of clown and balloons. Not only do the colors draw their eye, but you can also encourage the individual senior to try and position the piece, after a little help of course!

Outdoor activities that involve animals are likewise perfect activities for mentally disabled seniors. For instance, walking a dog will afford them responsibility and give some meaning to what they are doing, as well as enhancing their perception of themselves effectively. The responsibility of taking care of another living creature can perk up even their darkest days. Dogs are perfect for such activities because they’re loving and affectionate and provide a warm and loving reply to any fuss and attention they receive. Obviously, any such activities have to be carried out under close supervision to ensure that the safety of all is maintained.

It’s important that you,as a carer, do all you are able to make sure that seniors in your care stay in the best of health as far as it is under your control. Activities like the one above are generally fun for bother the caregiver and receiver. They have integral benefits and tend to bring the very best out in seniors with mental diseases and illnesses. Never underestimate the power of activities! Once you have tried one with a degree of success then make sure to inject a variety of activities into your routine so the senior in question does not get bored too easily. Keeping it all fresh for them will help you do your job that little bit better!

These are effective points we wrote in our article, but it isn’t the only place to find this information.  We have found other websites like this one about senior care that you might find useful .  Why don’t you share it socially too!