Originally published September 19 2005
Youthful optimism keeps mind and body healthy
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
In addition to exercising and eating right, elderly people can help prevent memory problems and other age-related ailments by eliminating stress, engaging in social and mental activities and simply having a good attitude and outlook on life that allows them to look at themselves like they are younger.
"Once you get over 50, the degree to which you maintain your mental functionality depends on a handful of quite simple environmental variants."
Prof Robertson said there were seven elements to staying sharp - aerobic fitness, mental stimulation such as a mentally demanding job, avoiding stress, rich social interaction, diet and thinking of yourself as young.
He added: "One of the most important is aerobic fitness, which has a profound effect on the brain particularly over 50.
"Both your mental capacities, the functionality of the brain and the structures of the brain are influenced by aerobic fitness," he said.
Also speaking at the festival, Trinity professor Marina Lynch said polyunsaturated fats, particularly fish oil such as Omega 3, were important in maintaining memory as people grew older.
She said a study which followed a group of people for more than 60 years found those who had eaten high concentrations of fish oil over the years were much less cognitively impaired than those who hadn't when they reached their 80s.
For example, remembering a list of items to buy from the shop by mentally visualising the walk to the shop with those various items on the way - milk on top of the letterbox, bread on the next-door neighbour's gate - would make it easier to remember the list than just trying to learn the words.
He also said thinking of yourself as young could help to keep you younger.
An experiment on people's attitudes to age had found volunteers who did a word puzzle involving words relating to old age walked more slowly out of the laboratory afterwards than those whose puzzle didn't have the subliminal messages.
"We know that optimists live longer than pessimists, and that optimism has effects on the immune system," he said.
Prof Robertson also said people who thought of themselves as young may be more likely to do exercise which kept them mentally sharp.
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