How to improve brain fog and memory loss during menopause?
Exercise for body and brain
Just a 30-minute brisk walk each day is beneficial for body and brain. Aerobic exercise and strength training can boost chemical reactions, generate blood flow to your brain, and help to repair brain cells. Exercise will also promote a healthy heart, indirectly improving your brain function, as well as calming you down.
Watch our series of three videos with simple aerobic exercises you can do at home to build up your confidence if you want to start being more active again. Or enjoy watching us workout with a fitness instructor doing simple strength and conditioning exercises that you can do with friends in a park or at home.
Exercise your mind!
Strengthen the body’s key organ. Train the brain to keep healthy it in rude health with memory-boosting activities:
Play cards
Download a brain-training app
Crossword puzzles and Sudoku
Learn a new language - try the free app Duolingo
Take up knitting, crocheting etc
Join a book group, or just read more
Tools to tide you over
If you know you’re more prone to these brain fog or memory loss moments, be prepared! Have some strategies in place for the times when your memory may not be firing on all cylinders.
Repeat things in your mind for 1-2 minutes to embed facts and names.
Make associations. Use word association to drum up an image. If you need to meet someone at a certain time, imagine a digital clock set for then.
Take notes & make lists! Now is the time to make notes, and set reminders, to stay on top of things. Post-its, phone apps, and lovely little notebooks will all come in handy.
Sweet smell of memories
Smells, emotions and memory are linked. Essential oils can trigger a positive response in the brain and nervous system - oils of note are: rosemary, basil, ginger and peppermint. Pop some drops on a tissue, in an infuser, in the bath or massage (always use with a base oil when applying to skin) - relax and help your memory.
Sleep refreshes the parts of your brain that other activities can’t reach!
Night sweats, anxiety, and insomnia may mean you are not getting enough sleep. Try to keep to a regular bedtime routine, even at the weekends. Check our sleep and insomnia section where you’ll find plenty of sleep strategies to help you to de-stress, relax and improve your slumber.
Manage stress
Life delivers a pick and mix of stresses and strains: relationships, work, family, elderly parents. Take your pick! Oestrogen keeps levels of the stress hormone cortisol low, and its absence may make you feel more stressed. Stress impacts on memory. Find your own stress-buster, exercise, meditation, or yoga.
Watch our video showing us how to do relaxing yoga breathing exercises to de-stress our body and mind.
Stub out smoking
A 2011 study carried out by the University of Northumbria found that smokers lose some of their everyday memory. The good news is that kicking the habit can help to restore it. Talk to your doctor, try counselling, or nicotine replacement products - just keep trying to quit.
Go NoLo (no alcohol or low alcohol)
Alcohol slows brain processes down, affecting memory and impacting on the quality of your much-needed sleep. If you’re suffering from brain fog, or struggling with a bad memory, it might help to cut down - or cut out - alcohol. Your brain and body will thank you. If you need advice, support, and friendly encouragement on going alcohol free, check out Join Club Soda online.