Page 72 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power

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lance, so your cognitive radar becomes a little sharper. This effect is short-lived, but regular exercise
can prolong this effect.

Studies in animals show that exercise increases the availability of substances in the brain called
neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor, which stimulate the formation of new connections
among nerve cells. Increased connections among nerve cells may indirectly protect against, or at
least delay, degeneration of nerve cells during the aging process.

Regular physical exercise not only improves one's general feeling of well-being and quality of life,
but it also has preventive and therapeutic properties against most of the major maladies that affect us
as we grow older: heart disease, arthritis, and memory loss.

Exercise Action Steps for a Better Memory

Perform moderate, regular exercise three to six times per week.
Regulate aerobic and anaerobic exercises to your age, health, and tolerance level.
Aerobic: brisk walking thirty minutes, jogging twenty-five minutes, swimming twenty minutes,
formal exercise program in aerobics classes.
Mixed aerobic and anaerobic: running, tennis, exercise equipment (stationary cycle, StairMaster,
treadmill, NordicTrack, newer, low-impact workout machines).
Before you lift weights, start with at least twenty minutes of aerobic or anaerobic cardiovascular
fitness exercise (any of the options listed above).
Yoga and related exercises are excellent for mobility but burn few calories.
Keep a regular routine: don't overexert one week and become a couch potato the next.
Stop if breathing difficulty or palpitations or faintness develops.

The bottom line is that proper diet and exercise make up the fundamental foundations of a sound
program to prevent memory loss due to the aging process.