11. Keep your blood sugar under control
If you're diabetes-free, work to maintain a normal weight and follow a balanced diet to reduce your odds of developing the disease. If you're a type 2 diabetic already, follow medical advice for managing blood sugar levels.
New research shows that brain functioning subtly slows as diabetics' blood sugar rises and the blood vessels that supply the brain are damaged. This process begins well before memory problems become obvious, or even before there's a diabetes diagnosis.
12. Waggle your eyes back and forth
To help you remember something important, scan your eyes from side to side for 30 seconds. This little exercise helps unite the two hemispheres of the brain, say researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University in England. When the two hemispheres communicate well, you're better able to retrieve certain types of memories.
13. Eat your green vegetables
There's no such thing as an "anti-Alzheimer's diet." But people who are deficient in folate and vitamin B12 have an increased risk of developing dementia. (The research is iffy, in comparison, on the benefits of taking so-called memory enhancers: vitamin C supplements, ginkgo biloba, and vitamin E.)
Great vegetable sources of folate include romaine lettuce, spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, mustard greens, parsley, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, and beets. For you vegetable haters, the nutrient is also abundant in lentils, calf's liver, pinto beans, and black beans.
14. Don't ignore sleep apnea
People with sleep apnea -- a condition involving blocked airways that causes people to briefly stop breathing during sleep -- show declines in brain tissue that stores memory, researchers at UCLA reported last year.
More than 12 million Americans have obstructive sleep apnea. If your doctor has suggested you have the condition, be vigilant about trying treatment, which can include wearing oral appliances and "masks," losing weight, and surgery.
15. Learn something new that's a real departure for you
If you're a sudoku fan, you might think a good way to stretch your mind would be to take up a different Japanese numbers game, like kenken or kakuro. But an even better strategy for a nimble brain is to pursue a new kind of activity using skills far different from those you're accustomed to using.
If you ordinarily like numbers, try learning a language. If you're an ace gardener, try painting flowers instead.
