What can we do to slow the aging process? One of the most important things we can do is to exercise regularly and maintain an active lifestyle. It’s been shown time and again, that people who remain physically active into their later years tend to age more slowly and have more stamina. They’re also less susceptible to accidents and injury. On the other hand, those who don’t exercise and are not active physically tend to have shorter lives and more health problems—including the likelihood of problems associated with memory loss and confusion. Yes, that daily morning jog/walk or evening weight routine at the gym in your 40s might help you remember where you left those house keys in your 80s!
If you’re daunted by the idea of being an octogenarian marathon runner, let me reassure you that while it’s important to stay active as we age, we don’t necessarily need to maintain the same level we did as young adults. Even a brisk nightly walk around the neighborhood can do a lot of good in our later years. The important thing to remember is that if we don’t maintain some level of physical activity, we can accelerate the aging process. Physical activity stimulates and increases blood flow into the brain, which is important in maintaining cognition and memory.
Of course, if we maintain physical activity as we age, we also need time to rest and recover. In fact, we actually need that rest more than when we were younger. While we may not necessarily need more rest time, we need to make sure that we are getting enough rest to completely recover from various activities. No more skipping our recovery time and hoping we can just muscle through it—leave that invincible attitude for the young!
A recent article in the Cleveland Jewish News, “Keeping brain healthy important as seniors age”, shared opinions from numerous professionals in age-related fields on additional actions we can take to improve brain health and prevent some of the decline in brain function as we get older. One important factor? Socializing!
Maintaining social contacts and interactions stimulate our brain networks, and keeping active inter-personal interactions and exercising our brains keeps our nervous system functioning at a high level. This can be as simple as playing cards with friends or even reading a book for the first time.
In the above mentioned article, Silvia Orsulic-Jeras, a senior research associate and SHARE program manager at the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging in Cleveland, urges, “It is so important for families to remember to keep their older loved one socialized through interactions. A lot of what happens is people stop asking their older loved ones what they like to do. Learn more about their interests and their life story, spend time with them doing what they love and value.”
Of course, nutrition is also important in aging and especially for brain health. Nerve cells are the basic building blocks in our nervous systems, and have a much higher rate of metabolism than other cells in our body. They are also much more sensitive to toxic molecules that find their way into the brain. This means that brain nerve cells need much more energy than cells in other tissues in order to function, and they need more protection than other cells and organs from toxins. They get this energy primarily from the little ‘batteries’ inside each cell called mitochondria, and mitochondria are also important in the removal of toxic molecules in the brain.
Mitochondria supply over 90% of brain cell energy, so it’s easy to see why these little cellular organelles are so important to brain health. Nerve cells in our brain need nutrients and oxygen to perform their vital functions, including providing high-energy molecules to nerve cells, maintaining calcium balance inside our cells, and important immune functions and other maintenance operations. If nerve cell mitochondria are damaged or cannot receive the necessary nutrients and oxygen, then all of the biological functions that involve the nervous system are impaired.
In my next update, I’ll tell you more about the impact this damage can have, and what you can do to help mitigate it by adding to your diet important natural membrane molecules that are already inside your cells, and especially inside your mitochondria! What are these natural membrane molecules? One class of the essential membrane molecules inside mitochondria are the membrane phospholipids that compose the matrix of all biological membranes, and this essential class of membrane molecules forms the basis of important natural supplements for your brain like NTFactor® Lipids. The membrane lipids in NTFactor® Lipids are essential to maintaining mitochondrial function, and these lipids must be routinely replaced. My next update will go into more detail how NTFactor® Lipids can help maintain your brain and especially your brain mitochondria.
Prof. Emeritus Garth Nicolson, PhD, MD (H)
The Institute for Molecular Medicine
Huntington Beach, California
References
Nicolson GL. Membrane Lipid Replacement—a functional approach to repairing cellular membranes, reducing symptoms, and restoring function. Functional Food Science 2022; 2(8): 198-204.
https://doi.org/10.31989/ffs.v2i8.990
Nicolson GL, Ferreira de Mattos G, Settineri R, Breeding PC. Membrane Lipid Replacement and its role in restoring mitochondrial membrane function and reducing symptoms in aging and age-related clinical conditions. Nature Cell Science 2024; 2(4): 238-256.
https://doi.org/10.61474/ncs.2024.00038
