7 things to do to keep your brain sharp

Hey, this is an interesting article about what we can do to keep our brain sharp in the old age. Research shows that your lifestyle could affect your risk of contracting diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Follow these 7 simple things:

1. Drink alcohol in moderation, that is. A study in US found that older women who reportedly have one or two drinks a day had a 40% lower risk of cognitive decline than those who claimed to drink nothing.

2. Eat apples. Fresh apples have high concentrations of quercetin, and antioxidant that, lab studies suggest, may fight the damage done by free radicals to brain cells.

3. Broccoli. A study of men aged 50 to 85 in Boston found that those with more folate in their blood showed less decline in verbal fluency. Folate turns up in leafy green vegetables such as spinach, Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

4. Oily fish. Experiments on mice bred to develop Alzheimer's show that feeding them DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in mackerel, salmon and sardines (and also almonds, walnuts and soy), reduced by 70% the build-up of blood plaques that are a hallmark of the disease.

5. Eat less. It's generally considered that obese people are at greater risk. And another mouse study found that animals who have their food restricted to 40% compared with mice who can eat all they want, again have a reduced level of blood plaque.

6. Exercise. It doesn't take much, a Hawaiin study found that elderly men who walked more than 3km a day halved their risk of dementia compared with men who walked less than a half a kilometre.

7. Look after your ticker. High LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking and diabetes are all known to be risk factors for heart disease, but a study of 9000 people found that they also raised the risk of dementia, by 46% for diabetes, 42% for high cholesterol, 26% for smoking and 24% for hypertension. These are cumulative; if you've got all four then your risk is boosted by 237%.