Avoiding Cognitive Decline – 5 Easy Steps to Add to Your Daily Work Routine

A decline in cognitive function is being noticed by many at work earlier and earlier, including younger generations.

This impacts not only our ability to work efficiently but can cause anxiety as to how this may impact work in later years as we climb the corporate ladder, as well as increasing our risk of dementia in later years.

Cognition involves the mental processes of thinking, learning, memory, attention, language and perception and a decline in any of these areas can be considered as ‘cognitive decline’.  There are 4 official stages:

• No cognitive impairment.
• Subjective cognitive impairment.
• Mild cognitive impairment.
• Dementia – this is an over-arching term that can include many conditions you are likely to have heard of such  as Alzheimers and Vascular dementia.

Nutrition and lifestyle strategies are best implemented as a prevention.  That is not to say they can’t slow the decline of an official diagnosis of dementia and are still vitally important but, as with most things, we really want to start thinking about these things proactively not reactively.

Genetics actually account for a SMALL percentage of our risk factor with lifestyle, dietary and environmental factors accounting for much more.  The good news is that for those of us who are motivated to make changes there are many modifiable factors.  In other words, factors that are IN OUR CONTROL.  

Her are some key ones to be aware of – some probably quite obvious but others perhaps less-so:

• Excess stress – chronically elevated cortisol has widespread negative impacts on the body of which a decline in cognitive function is one (1).
• Diet – eating a diet high in inflammatory foods can contribute to cognitive decline (2).
• Lack of essential nutrients – eating a ‘healthy’ diet and having all essential nutrients are not one and the same thing.  What we absorb from our diet as well as our own unique need for higher amounts of specific nutrients means that we can often be deficient in key nutrients even with all the best intentions.  Essential fats, choline, adequate folate, zinc, copper and adequate good quality protein are key nutrients to consider (this is not an exhaustive list).
• Poor dental health – did you know that individuals with chronic periodontitis and at least 8 years of exposure are at higher risk of developing cognitive decline and dementia (3)?
• Hormonal changes – it is a recognised effect of peri/menopause as the loss of oestrogen can result in both metabolic and structural changes.  Possible mechanisms are through oestrogen’s role in stimulating the production of a acetyl-choline essential for neurotransmitter production and healthy cell to cell communication and blood sugar regulation.
• Sleep deprivation – we have probably all experienced and aware of the impact on how quickly we can think and react when we have a poor night’s sleep but what is often not appreciated is the impact of more chronic sleep deprivation and risk of later-life dementia.
• Other chronic health conditions – did you know that it is estimated that up to 70-% of people with auto-immune conditions report symptoms of brain fog, memory loss and other cognitive dysfunction?
• Environmental toxins – dose response relationships with cognition have been found for lead, cadmium, PCB’s, bisphenol-A, mercury and arsenic in children (4) and one can logically assume the same drivers will be at play as we age.
• Mold Myctoxins – this is unfortunately a commonly missed driver of cognitive issues (5).  In neuropsychological tests, cognitive impairment was shown similar to that caused by mild traumatic brain injury.
• Excess weight – fat tissue is an endocrine organ and inflammatory and a known contributor to cognitive decline.  Even so-called ‘metabolically healthy obesity’ if it occurs before the age of 60 has been shown to be associated with increased risk of dementia (6).
• Poor blood flow – an often unrecognised benefit of exercise is improved blood flow and its link with cognitive function (7).
• Medications – certain medications such as benzodiazepines and anticholinergics (including some anti-histamines and antidepressants) can significantly increase risk of dementia (8).

So what can you do to be preventative when time is short?

Here are 5 tips that you can implement daily in a busy life that will help support cognitive function as you age: 

1. Plan your meals so that you do not rely on last-minute poor food choices.  This starts with some weekend thought as you need to have food in your fridge to eat well.  At the weekend, book a mid-week delivery of fresh food – this is one of the best simple strategies you can implement when you are time short to remove the excuse of ‘there was nothing in the fridge’ and get those vital, anti-inflammatory foods in.
2. Healthy Fats at your Desk – in your drawer have a bag of walnuts or almonds if you need a snack or buy a pot olives on the way into work to avoid going for the office cakes.
3. Regular movement from your desk – breaking up prolonged sitting has been shown to improve your brain function (9) !  So set an alarm to stand up and move (squats, lunges, jumping jacks, walk up and down the stairs a few times …. all are good and do not have to be done for long) – benefits include improved blood circulation with increased blood flow to the brain as well as  removal of toxins.  You can do this while on Teams and Zoom if you are just listening.   It is easy to get immersed in work thus why setting an alarm is key.
4. Hydration – this is often overlooked as a way to improve brain function.  Poor hydration status has been associated with cognitive decline over a 2 year period, particularly in men (10).  Sip water through out the day rather than drinking large amounts 2-3 x day.  Remember coffee (and alcohol) will dehydrate you as you need to drink more to compensate for this.  Urine colour is the best way to assess if you are well hydrated.   Of course, alcohol will further increase risk of cognitive decline, short and long-term, via other mechanisms as its is a neurotoxin.  Coffee conversely is associated with an improved executive function at LOW levels (estimated 2 cups a day) – there is a U shaped curve at play here (11).
5. Late-night eating – this is a downfall I see for many of my time-pressed busy clients and where weight gain can creep-in as well as those less-healthy food choices.   Making sure your evening meal has enough healthy fats, protein and fibre is key to making sure you don’t get bedtime munchies – that and just get upstairs earlier, clean your teeth and get to bed.

QUIZ

This is a quick quiz (free and validated version of what gets measured in memory clinics) you can do to assess cognitive function from Food for The Brain run by Patrick Holford.

FURTHER ACTION

If this is something you want to know more about, either from a team-based support workshop or to dive deeper from an individual perspective, please do contact me on info@kchnutrtition.co.uk

Katherine