Brain health in everyday life

Blood pressure and blood vessels

The brain depends on a steady supply of blood. High blood pressure can damage the vessels that supply it, including small vessels deep within the brain. Blood vessel injury can also occur alongside Alzheimer’s disease or another condition. More than one process can affect the brain.

Your primary care clinician can help you manage blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol. Ask what your numbers mean and when they should be checked again. If you measure blood pressure at home, check how to take readings and what range to aim for. Bring your readings to appointments so decisions reflect more than a single measurement.

The right treatment also depends on how you feel. Tell your clinician about dizziness on standing, fainting or difficulty taking a medicine so your plan can be adjusted. If you smoke, ask about a plan that combines support with treatment for nicotine cravings.

Better blood-pressure control may also help protect the brain. A large study of people with poorly controlled high blood pressure found fewer dementia diagnoses among those receiving more intensive treatment. The right target still depends on the person. Blood-pressure study.

Movement and balance

Walking is useful, but a well-rounded routine also includes strength and balance. These support different parts of daily life, from carrying groceries to getting out of a chair and moving safely around your home.

Aim to include three kinds of activity over the week:

• Movement that raises your breathing and heart rate: adults should aim for at least 150 minutes a week at a moderate effort, such as brisk walking, dancing or water aerobics. You can usually talk but would find singing difficult. Shorter sessions count toward the total.
• Strength: work the main muscle groups on at least two days a week. Options include resistance bands, weights or exercises using your body weight.
• Balance: regular practice suited to your abilities, such as a supervised balance class or tai chi. If you are unsteady, use support and get guidance before trying exercises that challenge your balance. This becomes especially important as you get older.

These are goals to work toward. You might begin with a five- or ten-minute walk and gradually add time. If walking is difficult, a seated routine, water-based activity or a physical therapist’s plan may be a better starting point.

If you have been inactive and want to start strenuous exercise, or if a health condition limits what you can do, discuss the plan with your clinician first. After an illness or a break, restart below your previous level and build back up.

CDC activity guidance includes examples and ways to adapt activity. The movement and strength targets also apply to younger adults.

Sleep and feeling rested

Most older adults need about seven to nine hours of sleep. Sleep often becomes lighter with age. Ongoing exhaustion or trouble sleeping deserves attention.

A consistent wake-up time and a quieter period before bed can help establish a rhythm. Keep caffeine earlier in the day, and notice whether long or late naps make nighttime sleep harder. Alcohol may make you sleepy initially but can lead to more disrupted sleep later in the night.

If the problem continues, the next step is to understand it. Pain, mood, medicines, nighttime urination and sleep disorders can all play a part. A brief sleep diary can help: note when you go to bed, when you wake, naps, and how you feel during the day. NIA’s sleep guide offers more detail.

Loud snoring, pauses in breathing, gasping or feeling very sleepy during the day are reasons to ask about sleep apnea. Someone who shares your room may notice breathing changes that you cannot. Your clinician can decide whether a sleep study would help. More about sleep apnea.

If you regularly have trouble falling or staying asleep, ask about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, often called CBT-I. This is a treatment program for sleep difficulties, not just a list of bedtime habits. It is usually the first treatment recommended for long-term insomnia. Review sleep medicines and nonprescription sleep products with your clinician before starting or changing them. More about sleep treatment.

Food that works in daily life

Think about a pattern of meals rather than one ingredient marketed for memory. A Mediterranean-style pattern emphasizes vegetables, fruit, beans, whole grains, nuts and olive oil, with fish or other sources of protein. The MIND diet combines this approach with a diet designed to lower blood pressure, with particular attention to foods such as leafy greens and berries.

In practice, familiar meals can often be adapted. Add lentils or beans to a soup, use a whole grain you enjoy, or include vegetables alongside the main part of a meal. Frozen vegetables and berries, canned beans and oats can make this easier when fresh food is costly or cooking time is limited. Choose lower-sodium versions when available, especially if blood pressure is a concern.

Food should be enjoyable and provide enough nourishment. If you are losing weight without trying, have a poor appetite, or find chewing, swallowing or preparing meals difficult, discuss that with your clinician. A restrictive diet may be the wrong approach; a dietitian can help adapt meals to your needs.

In a three-year study, people following the MIND diet did not do clearly better on memory and thinking tests than those following a comparison diet. Both groups received counseling and support for modest weight loss. It remains a reasonable way to organize healthy meals, not a proven way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. MIND diet study.

Do not start drinking alcohol for brain health. If you already drink, discuss how it fits with your sleep, medicines and other health conditions.

Vitamins and supplements

Replacing a vitamin your body lacks is different from taking a supplement to prevent dementia. Some multivitamin studies found small benefits on memory and thinking tests in older adults. They did not establish that multivitamins prevent Alzheimer’s disease, or that other products sold for memory have the same effects. Multivitamin study.

Bring a list of supplements to your clinician or pharmacist. Whether one is useful depends on your diet, health, medicines and whether you are low in a particular vitamin.

Staying connected and engaged

Activities are easier to return to when they mean something to you. A reading group, gardening, music, volunteering, learning a skill or helping someone with a project can give you ways to learn, solve problems and spend time with other people.

Choose something you enjoy or want to learn. Practicing a familiar skill or tackling a new one can both be worthwhile. Paid brain-training apps are optional; research on one program does not establish that other games sold for brain health work the same way.

If social contact has become harder, consider what is getting in the way. Hearing difficulty, low mood, transportation or fatigue may need attention. A smaller gathering, a regular phone call or an online group may fit better than a busy event. Libraries and community centers can be useful places to find an activity without a large cost.

Enjoyment, companionship and a sense of purpose are worthwhile reasons to keep an activity in your life.

Other health needs

Hearing, vision, mood and medicines can affect how comfortable, connected and alert you feel during the day.

Hearing and vision

If you often miss words, turn up the television or avoid conversation because listening is difficult, ask about a hearing assessment. Keep vision care up to date as well. Clearer hearing and vision can make daily activities easier.

Whether hearing treatment also protects memory and thinking is less certain. A major study found no overall benefit on thinking tests, but suggested a benefit among participants at higher risk of decline. Hearing-treatment study.

Mood

Persistent low mood, anxiety or loss of interest can interfere with sleep, concentration and activity. Tell your clinician when these are affecting your life. Feeling better now is an important reason to seek help.

Medicines

Include nonprescription sleep aids, allergy remedies and supplements when reviewing your medication list. Some medicines, or combinations of medicines, can cause sleepiness, confusion or memory difficulties. Ask whether a medicine could be contributing and whether there is an alternative. Discuss any change before stopping a prescription. Brain-health guidance from the National Institute on Aging.

What recent research adds

Researchers are testing whether combining several approaches works better than giving general health advice. In U.S. POINTER, people in an organized program covering exercise, food, mentally and socially engaging activities, and heart health did modestly better on thinking tests than those in a self-guided program. A 2026 study across Latin America found a similar advantage for an organized program compared with flexible health advice. Both studies followed thinking skills over two years. They did not establish that the programs prevent Alzheimer’s disease. U.S. POINTER and LatAm-FINGERS.

The practical message is that advice is easier to use when there is support: an activity you can access, help managing a medical condition, or a routine you share with someone.

These steps support health and daily life, without guaranteeing a particular future. Resilience explains why similar brain changes can affect people differently.

If you are noticing changes in memory, language, behavior or movement, bring them to a clinician rather than relying only on changes in daily habits. The care navigator can help you find a starting point.

Further reading

• Healthy Brain Aging from Penn Memory Center
• A MINDful Diet from Penn’s Age of Aging
• Cognitive Health and Older Adults from NIA

Return to the brief healthy brain-aging guide.