Some people’s anti-dementia regimen consists of doing Sudoku or puzzles, and while these might help keep the noodle sharp they’re just a small piece of the puzzle regarding long-term brain health in aging individuals.

Turns out that regular sleep, walking and eating fiber-rich foods—and dancing—can go a long way toward keeping the brain young. Those and other must-dos (or, at least, should-dos) were included in the tip sheet for a healthy brain provided by Marc Milstein, a noted Los Angeles-based researcher who focuses on the intersection of brain science and human health, productivity and happiness.

During a session on Tuesday at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors’ Spring National Conference in Austin, Texas, Milstein’s takeaway message is that we’re not slaves to our genetics, that afflictions such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease are often linked to physical health, and that taking care of the body can promote a healthy mind.

“We have new insights on how we can lower our risk [of dementia],” Milstein said. “The things that truly lower your risk are surprising things that you wouldn’t think are related to your brain. It turns out the most powerful thing you can do to lower your risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia is keep your brain young.”

Milstein noted the difference between a brain’s chronological and biological age. “It turns out that at any age your brain can be younger or older than its actual age,” he said. “You can actually turn back the clock and make your brain younger.”

Dementia and Alzheimer’s are often used interchangeably. Milstein explained that dementia isn’t a disease, but is a set of symptoms for specific diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and that Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of memory loss among 200 known causes.

He noted it’s now believed that one-third of all dementia is preventable. Forty-seven million people worldwide have dementia, and that number is projected to hit 115 million by 2050.

“This isn’t just a health crisis; it’s a financial crisis,” Milstein said. He added there is hope for mitigating this because 20 percent of all dementia is “easily treatable” when it’s induced by things such as hormone or vitamin imbalances, or medication side effects.

Snooze Time

Milstein said the brain contains 80 billion cells. For context, he added, it would take 3,171 years to count from one to 80 billion.

In simple terms, dementia is something that interferes with the ability of brain cells to talk to each other. If memory loss becomes evident, Milstein stressed the importance of seeking medical help immediately, and that one of the first questions a doctor should ask is whether the affected person suffers from sleep apnea.

“It turns out that sleep apnea is very much related to memory loss,” he said. “In fact, if someone has sleep apnea where they wake up hundreds of times during the night, they lose their memory 10 years before the general population. The good news is if you treat the sleep apnea all of that goes away.”

Milstein emphasized that sleep is a key part of learning and memory. “You actually learn in two steps,” he said. “You learn something in the moment, but you strengthen the connections when you sleep.

“The key takeaway is if you want to preserve your memory you have to get a good night’s sleep, he continued. “And a key insight is be very aware of sleep apnea.”

Learn Something New

Milstein said that brain cells are like factories in that both create waste which, in combination with toxins we’re exposed to in our daily lives, hinder brain cell communication. He noted that a three-pound brain makes five pounds of trash a year.

“Alzheimer’s, in all of its complexity, is simply too much trash in the brain interfering with one brain cell talking to the next,” Milstein said.

He added that one of the biggest breakthroughs in brain science has been the discovery that sleep is the process used to rid the brain of trash. Namely, while you sleep your brain shrinks by 60 percent and squeezes toxins out of your brain cells. After the trash is squeezed out, cerebral spinal fluid comes up from the spinal chord to wash the brain.

“Every night you sleep you give your brain a brain wash,” Milstein said, adding that the waste exits through a tunnel section in your neck. He further explained that a chemical called norepinephrine is believed to break up some of the brain trash, and that norepinephrine can be stimulated by learning something new outside of your field of study such as a sport, a language or a musical instrument.

“That feeling you get when you’re struggling and it seems hard, that’s norepinephrine squirting into your brain,” Milstein said. “We want to embrace that feeling. It just has to be something you’re not familiar with and done a couple times a week to help—what we believe to be the case—break up some of that trash. Make it challenging; make it something you enjoy.”

[Note: Milstein didn’t mention if the body can totally rid itself of brain trash after it’s washed out of the brain.]

Inflammation

Another way to cleanse the brain of trash is via the immune system, whose function is to get rid of things that shouldn’t be in the body. The job of the microglia immune cell in your brain is to eat the trash there, Milstein explained. But autoimmune scenarios cause the microglia to start eating healthy brain cells, contributing to memory loss.

“Alzheimer’s, in many cases, is an autoimmune condition,” he said. “What we’re learning is that inflammation in other parts of the body—in the joints, intestines or heart—can send signals into the blood stream that tell the microglia to go into attack mode. So we want to treat inflammation in our body from the neck down.

“Think of inflammation as a fire,” he continued. “We don’t want it to smolder, we want to put it out.”

Milstein noted that a CRP (C-reactive protein) blood test can detect inflammation in the body.

Hearing Loss

Milstein cited Johns Hopkins University research indicating that untreated hearing loss is linked to dementia by a factor of two times for mild, three times for moderate and five times for severe hearing loss.

Why? In part, because it inhibits a person’s ability to learn and take in new information, and also because it can create isolation and a loss of social contacts. But, he noted, this can be prevented by getting a hearing aid.

“So if you know somebody who’s stubborn and doesn’t want to get a hearing aid, it’s not just their hearing they’re saving, they’re also saving their brain,” Milstein said.

Proper Diet

Milstein said diet can play a role in memory loss because what’s good for the heart is good for the brain.

As such, the following foods are considered part of a healthy diet: green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine (one glass per day).

And the following foods should be limited: red meats, butter and stick margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried or fast food.

Other Things That Matter

Patients diagnosed with depression develop dementia at two-and-a-half to six times the rate of the general population, Milstein said. He emphasized the need to address mental health issues.

Elsewhere, walking roughly 30 to 40 minutes a day can be extremely beneficial for the brain, though that doesn’t have to be done in one session.

“Walking triggers the release of neurotrophic growth factors, which help the brain to grow, maintain new connections and stay healthy,” Milstein said. “Exercise is medicine for the brain because it helps blood flow to the brain, helps with sleep and helps balance the immune system.”

He noted that taking a 30-minute walk after meals lowers blood sugar by a significant amount.

“That’s important because lower blood sugar helps prevent diabetes, and diabetes boosts a person’s risk of Alzheimer’s by 65 percent,” Milstein said.

He added that it’s now thought that a considerable percentage of Alzheimer’s cases are directly attributable to type 2 diabetes. As a result, treating diabetes can lower one’s risk for developing the disease.

He noted that other good physical activities for both body and mind are dancing and tai chi.

Based on Milstein’s discussion, the following are the 10 best things to do for your brain:

• Sleep
• Learn new things
• Treat hearing loss
• Be socially engaged
• Manage stress/mindfulness
• Keep inflammation low
• Proper diet
• Moderate exercise/walking
• Treat diabetes
• Take care of the heart

These four things can potentially make a big difference:

• Sleep
• Get regular physicals to check for heart disease, inflammation and diabetes
• Have fun mentally and physically, and learn new things
• Eat real food (i.e., natural food without added chemicals)