OK! Pop quiz!!! What are five pillars of good brain health ?! Before you go search, I might as well repeat: Move, Discover, Relax, Nourish and Connect! In this text we are going to look at movement again.
Brain Science:
Myth: As you age, muscle mass is not as important as having healthy cardiorespiratory fitness.
Truth: People fail to appreciate how valuable muscle mass is to quality of life, recovery from illness and injury, and the ability to stay mobile and active and perform basic everyday tasks, as well as to overall metabolic health. Unlike fat, which mostly stores calories, muscle is highly active tissue that burns calories. This is why lean, more muscular people tend to burn more calories at rest than do people with higher proportions of body fat. So in addition to keeping a cardio routine that gets your heart up , you should also continue to build and preserve muscle mass. Gradual muscle loss over time goes with aging, but you can counter this decline with strength and resistance training. A big positive factor is that muscle exercise tends assist with the control of blood sugar. Using sugar to fuel your muscles instead of sitting idle in your blood helps prevent dramatic glucose and insulin fluctuations that increase the risk for dementia. Exercise also helps lower inflammation and that is critical in preventing dementia.
Myth: exercise can be dangerous when you get older and the body grows increasingly frail.
Truth: Exercise should be a lifetime activity. It will boost brain and body in ways that can physically de-age you while preventing and even treating frailty.
Brain Facts:
· Exercise is a big factor in the control of blood sugar. Using sugar to fuel your muscles instead of sitting idle in your blood helps prevent dramatic glucose and insulin fluctuations that you have learned increases the risk for dementia. Exercise also helps lower inflammation and that is critical in preventing dementia.
· People with high blood sugar levels have a faster rate of cognitive decline than those with normal blood sugar.
· Human behavior dictates that you will fill whatever time you are given to complete a task, and people think of exercise as the first expendable thing when they get busy and want another hour of time for something else. (Gupta)
So What:
The difference between this text and the last is that this text promotes strength training exercises. Not all of us are in the position to do a lot, but a little helps. Resistance and weight training is great especially for the big boys! For most of us life style can help just as much as going to the gym.
Some of us have active life styles that promote strengthened muscles. For example golf, bicycle riding and other sports related activities. Some of us work and play hard. Yard work and furniture building require a lot of strength. Our advice is to keep doing these things as long as you can (without over doing it.) It’s a fact of aging that we tend to become less and less active as we age. I know for me there is a tremendous mental positive I get out of being active; I use physical activity to get me out of mental ruts. Again for as long as you can as much as you can: MOVE.
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