What’s the best thing to do to keep your brain young?  Move it!  I’m not talking about mental exercise (at least, not in THIS post) but about physically moving.  Many sites I visited mentioned clinical studies that show that critters from rats to people have better performing brains when they exercise. And stepping up the exercise can even reverse some of the brain atrophy.

Why does it work?  Scientists agree that moving your body, particularly with aerobic exercise, pumps blood to your brain.  Keeping your brain supplied with blood keeps it oxygenated and healthy.  Test after test show that people of every age who exercise outperform couch potatoes every time.

Exercise also does some other youth-enhancing things for your brain.  It lowers stress, for one thing, and stress is a major brain-ager.  It also helps you sleep better, which is important for youthfulness in the cranium.

And it’s never too late.  The step program in which you wear a pedometer and gradually add steps to your day will help your brain as well as your body.  I’ll be re-posting that plan soon, along with some other basics, so stay tuned.

If you can’t walk because of joint problems, you might want to consider checking into a whole body vibration machine.  It has the same effect of getting your blood circulating, even if all you can do is stand, or even sit, on the machine.  You can find them in many fitness centers and the prices are coming down enough to make them affordable to the general public.  You want the kind that oscillates, moving your from side to side in a walking movement — not the more vigorous up-and-down kind that are primarily for athletes.

Whatever you do, it’s important to keep your body moving so that your brain doesn’t slow down — or screech to a halt!

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown