8 Simple, Science-Backed Habits to Build a Stronger Brain and Fight Cognitive Decline

Experts share eight proven ways to hone a sharper, stronger, more resilient brain.

Our brains can always be improved and shaped by healthy new habits. Westend61/Getty Images

Forget what you’ve heard about the inevitability of cognitive decline. Your brain can thrive at every age, and it’s never too late to hone your mind.

Science reveals that we can actively sharpen mental focus, protect against memory loss, and improve mood, attention, and problem solving. Surprisingly, it’s not complicated. Basic self-care strategies adopted as lifestyle habits go a long way to keeping your brain in tip-top shape.

Neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter and psychiatrist Dr. Drew Ramsey, authors of best-selling books on the brain, are both on a mission to help people approach brain health similarly to physical exercise. In the same way that we train our bodies for strength and endurance, anyone can train a more resilient brain. Here’s how.

1. Eat Whole Foods

Diet is the most vital piece of the puzzle, according to Dr. Perlmutter. The brain uses 25 percent of the body’s energy, even though it makes up about 5 percent of body weight.

Dr. Ramsey, a pioneer in nutritional psychiatry, added that science is connecting the dots between what we put on our fork and how we feel. Eating more whole foods such as seafood, greens, nuts, and beans promotes mental resilience, while sugary foods such as energy drinks and baked goods interfere with mood and focus and contribute to anxiety.

Avoid Processed Foods

The role of food in brain health is perhaps most apparent in Alzheimer’s disease, which has been called Type 3 diabetes because its features overlap with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Alzheimer’s can be caused by brain insulin resistance, which happens when we expose our bodies to too much blood sugar and our cells can no longer absorb glucose—our main brain fuel source—from the blood.

“That means avoiding ultra-processed foods, highly processed grains, anything that will dramatically and suddenly raise blood sugar,” Dr. Perlmutter said. “That is a clear and present danger to the brain.”

Ultra-processed foods are industrially manufactured with artificial ingredients. They include sugary cereals, chips and other packaged snacks, soft drinks, frozen meals, candy, commercial baked goods, and fast food. Highly processed grains are often stripped of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, and include breads with refined flour, instant oatmeal, flour tortillas, rice cakes, and many types of pasta.

Wearing a continuous glucose monitor can help identify other foods that cause spikes in blood sugar.

Choose the Right Fats

Dr. Perlmutter advises feeding the brain instead with a “longer-burn type of fuel,” such as healthy fats. Fat-free eating isn’t ideal, because the brain is 70 percent fat—“It doesn’t get fat out of thin air,” he said.

But the type of fat matters. Wild-caught fatty fish and fish oil are high in essential omega-3 fatty acids, such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), which Dr. Perlmutter says are structurally important for the brain. These include salmon, anchovies, sardines, and mackerel. Avoid refined seed and vegetable oils, such as corn oil, soybean oil, and canola oil, which have been highly processed to increase their shelf life and are higher in pro-inflammatory components.

Eat a Rainbow of Fruits and Vegetables

“If you look at your plate and you don’t have three natural colors on your plate, go back to the kitchen. Find another color,” Dr. Ramsey said. “If food is medicine, this is a way of diversifying your medicine cabinet.”

Eating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables is associated with better cognitive health. Maria Korneeva/Getty Images

Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are rich in polyphenols, which enhance the function of the bacteria that live in our gut. A colorful diet is associated with a more diverse microbiome, which has been linked to better cognitive health and lower risk of diseases like dementia and Parkinson’s.

Fruits and vegetables are also rich in fiber. Our gut bacteria need it to make short-chain fatty acids that help reduce inflammation in the body, make B vitamins, and create neurotransmitters, Dr. Perlmutter said. Aim for about 60 grams of fiber daily—three times the amount a typical American eats.

2. Move Your Body

Make it your goal to exercise at least 2 1/2 hours every week. Don’t obsess over when you work out, Dr. Perlmutter said—newer research shows it’s just as effective whether it’s done all on the weekend or spread out over the week.

Exercise lowers your insulin sensitivity. It also helps the body make a compound vital for learning and memory called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, which Dr. Perlmutter says is “like Miracle-Gro for the brain.” When we increase its production, “we can actually turn on the process of growing new brain cells and forming new connections between brain cells,” he said. “The best way to do that is to exercise.”

His personal prescription is daily stretching, balance exercises, 30 minutes on the elliptical machine, and weight lifting. He also plays pickleball every other day.

Ramsey recommends combining exercise with other habits that are beneficial to brain health, like being outdoors or in community. Not only does it offer a double brain bonus, but it also makes it easier to automate new habits.

Regular exercise facilitates the growth of new brain cells and neural connections. pics721/Shutterstock

3. Prioritize Quality Sleep

Getting good quality, restorative sleep is crucial to brain health. The brain is active at night, conducting functions related to learning, memory, and toxin removal. The problem is that most people underestimate the importance of sleep, as well as how well they’re actually sleeping.

Both Dr. Perlmutter and Dr. Ramsey recommend using a sleep-tracking wearable, such as an Oura ring, which collects around-the-clock data on whether you’re sleeping an optimal four to six sleep cycles per night. Different types of sleep in each cycle play different roles in brain health.

Whether or not you use a tracking device, he listed some basic sleep-inhibiting factors to avoid:

• Exercising too close to bedtime.
• Eating two to three hours before sleeping.
• Too much light in the bedroom.
• Too warm of a sleeping environment.
• Noise or sleeping with a restless partner.

Dr. Ramsey, who has struggled with insomnia, said that using a sauna several nights a week has helped his sleep. He also bought room darkening curtains after his Oura ring alerted him to disrupted sleep, which made him reevaluate his bedroom and notice that a neighbor’s new light was spilling onto his pillow.

Light is an important cue for setting our circadian rhythm, our internal clock that governs our sleep-wake cycle. The best way to reset it, Dr. Ramsey said, is to go outside to view light in the morning and dim inside lights in the evening.

Good quality, restorative sleep gives the brain time to regulate emotions and organize information accrued during the day. Stock-Asso/Shutterstock

4. Challenge Your Curiosity

Do something that requires significant cognitive engagement for several hours each day. Dr. Perlmutter is 70 but actively blogs, hosts a podcast, and is always working on a book.

“For me, it’s extremely invigorating,” he said. “Once I finish the work, it still reverberates in my mind for the rest of the day. I keep thinking about things that are increasing my curiosity. I’m grateful I found an area I’m so intrigued by.”

Neglecting curiosity is associated with depression. Dr. Ramsey added that journaling or being part of group therapy can help foster healthy curiosity.

5. Make Music

Playing, singing, or simply listening to music has profound effects on the brain beyond mood. Just listening to music can improve sleep, memory, and mental alertness, while lowering blood pressure, pain, and anxiety.

Dr. Perlmutter plays guitar for at least 30 minutes a day. Lately, he’s challenging himself to learn music written in the 1970s.

“When you can play a song written and performed by someone like Joni Mitchell that comes to life from your own instrument and your voice, it really touches a special place in your soul,” he said.

Listening to or playing music can improve sleep, memory, and mental alertness. Rawpixel/Getty Images

6. Think Good Thoughts

Feed your brain good thinking. Thoughts influence brain structure, function, and chemistry, mostly through a mechanism called neuroplasticity, which strengthens or weakens neural pathways by repeated patterns of thinking.

Positive thinking releases neurotransmitters called dopamine and serotonin that improve mood and promote the growth of neurons. Dr. Perlmutter said optimism is also linked to lower stress, as well as improved resilience against an aging brain. That means intentionally positive thoughts can improve your memory, ability to solve problems, and emotional resilience.

On the other hand, chronic stress or negative thoughts release cortisol, which can shrink the hippocampus, a part of the brain important for memory and learning. It also over-activates the amygdala, which can reinforce fear and anxiety. The result is an increased risk of mood disorders and cognitive decline.

7.  Build Community

Tap into the power of community and connection, which benefits mood and also helps hold us accountable to goals. “Human beings have always had a set of stressors that make mental health tough, but there are some new challenges in town: screens, toxins, new social structures, and a lot of factors that promote disconnection,” Dr. Ramsey said. He says to take building new connections as a personal responsibility.

For him, prioritizing his family and self-care are of utmost importance, though it’s easy to be distracted and get off track. He makes that goal concrete by recording how often his family eats meals together.

Dr. Ramsey connects his patients’ interests to a community. For instance, he might assign someone who likes rock climbing to join a rock climbing gym. There, they can build relationships with people who have common interests and will help facilitate their goals.

Close relationships act as a bulwark against stress and poor mental health. Halfpoint/Getty Images

8. Commit to Self-Improvement

All of these tips hinge on the desire to change. Better brain health involves ongoing personal accountability. Start by taking an inventory of your life and commit to being self-aware, Dr. Ramsey advised. He keeps a journal to determine where his life isn’t matching his goals.

“Self-awareness is such a powerful tenet of mental fitness,” he said. “It’s really how we enact change in our lives, how we recognize problems, how we take control and shift from an externalizing stance and take responsibility for our life. I think about it as the first step to healing.”

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.