An article in the October 2022 Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter describes how the same measures that we can take to be heart-healthy also help keep our brains healthy. This includes a good interview with Dr. Mitchell Elkind, a co-author of the chapter on brain health in the American Heart Association’s 2022 annual report on Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics. The link between heart and brain health is not surprising because factors that can affect the health of coronary arteries also affect the vascular supply to the brain.
A good place to start for both heart and brain health is practicing the American Heart Association’s “Life’s essential 8” (described in detail in the same issue of the newsletter:
Follow a Healthy Diet (Harvard’s “healthy eating plate” is a good example)
Adequate physical activity
Avoid smoking or other consumption of tobacco
get adequate sleep
maintain a healthy weight
keep blood cholesterol (ldl and hdl) in a healthy range
keep blood sugar in a healthy range
maintain normal blood pressure
