Stop Your Brain From Aging! (Here’s How)

You’ve probably heard the saying, the bigger the better. 

While that’s NOT the case with something like your waistline, the size of your heart, or the amount of debt you’re in…it does ring true for plenty of other factors. 

Like your brain.  

It’s when your brain starts to shrink that you start having issues with memory, attention, and learning. 

Fortunately, there’s a simple thing you can do every day to keep your brain bigger (and better). 

I’ve told you before about an uncommon benefit of exercise… the fact that it can help prevent about a dozen different types of cancer. 

That same study also found that you don’t have to run yourself ragged to get the benefits. Instead, they came from “leisure” activities like walking or gardening. 

Now, a recent study adds another unusual benefit to exercise…  

It can actually increase the size of your brain. 

As you age, your brain tends to get smaller. Specifically, the frontal lobe and hippocampus, which play a key role in cognitive function and memory, starts to drop off by the time you hit 60 years old. 

It’s the main reason you can’t think as fast as you used to, remember the same details, or recall an acquaintance’s name. 

It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re on the road to Alzheimer’s, but it does impact the everyday quality and function of your life. 

But there’s a way you can prevent that from happening… and it’s by doing just a little bit of physical activity. 

Researchers examined over 2,000 people averaging 53 years old. They wore devices that measured their physical activity for eight days and had MRIs to look directly at their brains. 

Whether or not the individuals met the overall physical activity guidelines (at least 7,500 steps per day), each additional hour of light activity was linked to between 1.1 and 2.2 years less brain aging. 

The study also found that increasing the intensity of the workouts did NOT increase the brain volume benefits. 

The proves yet again that you don’t have to run yourself into the ground or move all day every day to get the benefits of just a little bit of movement.  

And with the benefits to your heart, waistline, cancer risk – and now even the size of your brain – I can’t think of better reasons to get off the couch and get moving.