What lifestyle changes will benefit post-menopause brain health?
Are you looking for a road map with simple self-help steps to improve brain health post-menopause?
Chronic conditions of ageing such as dementia, frailty, diabetes, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease are diseases of mid-life which present themselves 20 years later.
Having a positive attitude towards the way you age has been found to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s dementia post-menopause. Research has shown that people who have a negative attitude towards ageing have a slower walking speed and worse cognitive abilities than those with more positive attitudes.
It can be tough during perimenopause and menopause to be positive, or to look at your future self when you are right in the middle of your hormonal flux. If you’re reading this, you may already have a concern about your brain health or dementia but be reassured it’s never not too late to start making changes now to bolster your long-term health.
Now’s the time to dedicate to your future self!
DNA, chromosomes, telomeres, and the menopause brain!
DNA is the core of who we are and how we function and its very neatly packaged into strand-like chromosomes. At the tip of these chromosomes are telomeres which help keep the chromosomes from damage. As we age, telomeres wear down and shorten, so the strands of our DNA fray.
Forget the number of candles on your birthday cake. We are as old as our telomeres are long!
It is possible bolster brain health post-menopause and for these telomeres to repair themselves through lifestyle changes and people who have longer telomeres exercise.
Top of your list is keep moving in menopause!
If you exercise post-menopause, you will age better. Keep moving every hour of every day. Whatever your current fitness level, you make the gains when you push yourself just that little bit further and make yourself breathless. We’re not expecting anyone to turn into marathon runners, it includes movement in any way shape or form.
Being breathless puts the body under stress and the right kind of stress (acute) can be beneficial for the body and it goes into repair mode which is exactly what it needs as the body ages.
Move in menopause with High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
One way to work on strengthening telomeres is with short bursts of exercise, and that means what is intensive to you and your fitness level. And it doesn’t need to be sustained for long. HIIT is the way ahead!
HIIT refers to short bursts of intensive activity followed by a more leisurely pace. What constitutes vigorous activity you may ask? Well, what constitutes vigorous for one person is a walk in the park for another. It’s working out until you get breathless is enough
HIIT can be fitted into almost any exercise plan. Vigorous walks, cycling, swimming, running, or working out at home.
Aim for 10-20 minutes 3 times a week – go at your usual pace for a couple of minutes then add a burst of speed and intensity for 10-20 seconds, then back to your usual pace for two minutes, then speed up. Repeat this pattern for 10 minutes and gradually build up to 20. Don’t set yourself up for failure by trying too hard too soon.
How sleep improves menopause brain health
You may be struggling with quality sleep through menopause and therefore be missing out on slow-wave deep sleep.
Sleep is when our brains go into house-keeping mode and their inbuilt cleaning team clear out the lymphatic system of the toxins that accumulate during the day. The sleeping brain is much better at removing beta-amyloid that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
When we go into deep sleep the brain physically alters with cells shrinking up to 60% so the cleaning team can get between them. Slow-wave sleep takes us from waking into deep sleep in three stages and it’s in deep sleep that we get the most effective rest, consolidating memory.
We get more of this sleep during the first part of the night. Increasingly longer, deeper periods of REM sleep occurring toward morning.
Preparing to sleep well in menopause
As we age, our circadian rhythms, the biological ‘clock’ which defines our sleep pattern, become disrupted.
Make the most of your daily walk – get outside in the early morning so your body knows it’s daytime, to set the clock, this helps set your circadian rhythms correctly.
To reset your circadian rhythms, you should get 30-40 minutes of daylight in the mornings, and limit light exposure at night.
A healthy lifestyle reduces inflammation as we age! Learn more about getting quality sleep and changes to your diet to improve your cognitive health post-menopause.
Social interaction boosts brain health
Humans are social animals we developed to work as a tribe. Positive interaction with others has a measurable impact on our brain health. The amygdala (the area of the brain which processes emotions and memory) is stimulated by the company of others.
If you want to learn more targeted help do listen to our recorded webinar ‘Ageing well: How to live longer, healther & happier in midlife and menopause’ by health coach and author of ‘The age well Plan’ and co-author of ‘The Age Well Project’, where she explains her six rules for ageing well.
