8 tips to keep your mind sharp

by Kristina Puga for NBC Latino:Here are 8 tips recommended to keep your brain as sharp as can be:1. Say hello to the new neurons that weren’t there yesterday. Every day you wake up with 1,000 to 5,000 new neurons. Just by acknowledging them, you are making the first step to not ignoring them.2. Do aerobic exercise at least two hours per week. It has to be aerobic such as, jogging, running, or playing an intense sport. Exercising your body is very important, because it helps create new neurons.3. Learn how to manage stress. Observe your thought patterns and how to regulate your own thoughts/emotions. Meditation is a good way to do this, but he warns you need 15 hours for two months to get the exercise down.4. Try something new today. Stray from your comfort zone such as, if you usually read non-fiction, read fiction. If you usually do crossword puzzles, try a video game. As people get older and have children, they tend to get into a routine, but that’s very bad for the brain. Variety is important.5. Don’t worry about little things. Truly focus your attention on the things that matter.6. Socialize. It’s important to meet other people and not be isolated, but it’s better to meet with people that make us happy and stimulate us, rather than people who make us feel bad. We have to make sure that those meetings and friendships are positive to truly help our brain fitness.7. Watch what you eat. Avoid eating processed, fast food and saturated fats as much as possible.8. Go to school. This is perhaps the best anti-Alzheimer’s investment we can make. Keep learning.“Physical fitness didn’t really exist 50 years ago,” says Fernandez, about the gym craze happening in modern day America. “Brain fitness is not only about preventing Alzheimer’s, it’s about having a higher level of performance in everyday life…As you invest in your savings, you have to start early investing in your brain…By the time you retire, you can keep working.”Source: http://nbcnews.to/11pcqU8