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How you choose to live your life may set the stage for a sharper mind in your later years. While some dementia risk factors are outside of your control, plenty of scientific evidence suggests that you can lower your risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia through healthy lifestyle changes, health management, and brain exercises.
Here, we give you tips for preventing dementia through simple lifestyle changes and brain health strategies.
Some people are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia because of information in their genes. Some genes linked to Alzheimer’s disease are called risk genes, such as APOE4. This gene affects how the body handles cholesterol and may raise the chance of Alzheimer’s as you age. Other genes, known as deterministic genes, directly cause Alzheimer’s disease. In almost all cases — more than 99 percent — your genes only raise your risk. That means your daily habits play a big part in keeping your brain healthy.
Deterministic genes for Alzheimer’s disease are rare. Just 1 percent of Alzheimer’s disease cases are linked to them.
Talk to your doctor about genetic testing for Alzheimer’s. Genetic testing is generally recommended only for those with a strong, early-onset family history, as testing for risk genes like APOE4 is rarely recommended without extensive counseling.
Even if you have risk genes that increase your risk of developing Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, you can take steps to maintain your brain health and lower your dementia risk.
Your lifestyle has a heavy impact on your health and how you age. Aging is the strongest risk factor for dementia, but research suggests that lifestyle changes can prevent up to 45 percent of dementia cases.
Adopting healthy habits in midlife (ages 40 to 65) is linked to a lower risk of dementia later in life. Here are some lifestyle changes you can make to lower your Alzheimer’s and dementia risk as you age.
Exercise isn’t just good for your body. It stimulates your brain and may lower your risk of dementia. A lack of exercise is scientifically proven to increase the risk of developing dementia, and regular physical activity may lower your risk by about 20 percent.
Physical activity helps your brain by improving blood flow and increasing a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). BDNF supports the growth and health of brain cells.
Regular exercise can reduce your dementia risk no matter what age you start, so it’s never too late to add more physical activity to your routine. You don’t have to challenge yourself with intense exercise like running, either. Even activities like gardening and brisk walks can improve your thinking and memory skills while reducing age-related brain shrinkage.
Aim for about 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week — the kind that gets your heart beating faster and makes you sweat a little.
Your eating patterns also influence brain health. Consistently eating a balanced, healthy diet can reduce the risk of cognitive (thinking and memory) decline.
While researchers continue to study specific foods and eating patterns that might help prevent Alzheimer’s disease, they believe some diets may reduce the risk by preventing oxidative stress, inflammation, and beta-amyloid buildup. These changes in the brain can contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Healthy eating can also help manage or prevent long-term conditions that increase the risk for Alzheimer’s disease, like diabetes and heart disease.
According to the National Institute on Aging, two eating patterns have the strongest evidence for improving cognitive health and reducing dementia risk.
When following the Mediterranean diet, you center your meals on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes (e.g., beans and nuts), fish and other types of seafood, and unsaturated fats like olive oil. This diet limits foods like red meat and sweets. Eggs can be eaten in moderation.
The diet’s strong anti-inflammatory effects help protect your brain’s cells from long-term damage. A few studies have shown possible brain benefits from this diet, like fewer beta-amyloid proteins and improved cognitive function.
The MIND diet — short for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay — combines parts of the Mediterranean diet with the DASH diet. Both of these diets support brain health.
The MIND diet focuses on leafy greens, berries, whole grains, legumes, and at least one serving of fish each week. It limits fried foods, high-fat dairy, and red meat.
Although overall evidence is mixed, one study showed that people who closely followed the MIND diet had a 53 percent lower rate of Alzheimer’s disease than people who didn’t after 4.5 years. Other studies on the MIND diet have suggested it may slow cognitive decline and lead to fewer Alzheimer’s-related brain changes.
You can keep your mind sharp by playing memory games, creating art, or learning new skills. These activities help build your brain’s cognitive reserve, or its ability to stay strong and adapt as you age.
The goal of mental exercise isn’t just to practice what you already know — it’s to learn new and challenging skills that help your brain form fresh connections, working like a backup system for your thinking and memory. It can be tempting to spend your free time watching TV, but studies show that learning and other brain-stimulating activities keep mental pathways intact to prevent dementia.
Here are a few ways to keep your brain engaged:
Socializing with friends and family is another way to keep your mind sharp and challenged. The most valuable social engagement is an active, challenging conversation, which requires more complex planning and response than passive interaction.
Even if you consider yourself an introvert, too much social isolation can put you at risk for dementia as well as other dementia risk factors like high blood pressure. Some studies show that social isolation can increase dementia risk by up to 60 percent.
Spending time with others is linked to larger brain volumes and lower levels of inflammation. Beyond occasional check-ins with the people in your life, you can increase social engagement by:
Cigarettes and secondhand smoke expose you to thousands of chemicals that can damage your brain’s blood vessels. Research shows that smoking increases the risk for all types of dementia. For Alzheimer’s disease specifically, smoking can increase your risk by up to 79 percent.
The good news is that quitting smoking may reverse this extra risk. Some studies show that people who quit smoking don’t have a higher risk of dementia, highlighting the brain’s strong ability to heal itself.
Drinking too much alcohol also increases your dementia risk, so if you want to drink, do it in moderation. Drinking more than one alcoholic drink per day over a long period of time can shrink the white matter in your brain, leading to problems with thinking and memory. The more alcohol you drink, the more harm it can cause.
It’s important to understand the difference between moderate drinking and alcohol use disorder, which is one of the biggest preventable risk factors for dementia.
A French study found that people who drink alcohol heavily are more than three times more likely to develop dementia, including early-onset dementia (dementia that starts before age 65).
If you drink, try using these tips to cut down on alcohol and lower your dementia risk:
Your brain needs quality and consistent sleep to stay healthy and function at its best. During deep sleep, the brain activates the glymphatic system, which clears out harmful proteins such as amyloid-beta.
One study from Harvard Medical School showed that people who sleep for five hours or less each night are twice as likely to develop dementia as people who sleep six to eight hours each night. A second study showed a 30 percent higher risk of dementia in people who slept fewer than six hours per night.
To lower your dementia risk, try to make consistent, restful sleep a priority. Some responsibilities or conditions, such as anxiety, can make it hard to get enough sleep. Still, you can try these steps to help improve your rest:
Talk to your doctor about taking care of your health to prevent dementia. One key step you can take is scheduling regular preventive care visits to check in on your overall health and review your health risks.
Some health conditions can increase the risk of dementia. Talk to your doctor about preventing or managing:
These conditions aren’t just separate health problems. They can cause ongoing inflammation and damage to small blood vessels in the brain, which speeds up the development of Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.
Your doctor can also help you make healthy changes to lower your risk of dementia, such as improving your diet or quitting smoking.
On myALZteam, people share their experiences with Alzheimer’s disease, get advice, and find support from others who understand.
What steps do you take to lower your dementia risk? Let others know in the comments below.
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