Transcripts

Dr. Gary Small:
With a sharp mind we're more likely to stay fit, have good relationships, eat well and live an overall healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Gary Small, author of the book The Longevity Bible, says keeping a sharp mind requires that you challenge yourself.

A number of studies have found that when we challenge ourselves mentally we very well may be protecting our brain cells and staving off future memory loss. So any kind of interesting game, puzzle - whether it's Soduku or crosswords or reading a challenging book - has a potential of expanding our minds and improving our brain health. Our UCLA study found that with just two weeks of mental aerobics, people had highly significant improvements in brain efficiency. That means that they were much better at their memory tasks and they used up much less brain energy to perform those tasks.

And your attitude is also important for good health and longevity.

Optimists live longer than pessimists - what a lot of people don't realize is that we can learn optimism. Studies have found that when people are more extroverted - when they're making an effort to be more optimistic - it has a significant impact. And recently it was found that people who attend church or temple once a week have seven years longer to expect to live.

At somethingyouhsouldknow.net I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.