Keep Your Mind Sharp -- Excercise Daily

As soils are depleted, human health, vitality and intelligence go with them.
- Louis Bromfield

Staying physically fit throughout your life is not only good for your body, its great for your mind too. Exercise every day, and you're more likely to keep your mind sharp well into old age.

Maintaining a healthy mind2body health connection is the ultimate paradigm for living a healthier, full and active, longer life. Researchers from the V.A. Medical Center in San Francisco found that adults who were the most fit at the start of a six-year study maintained their mental sharpness over time and did better in tests of their mental function conducted years later than did their less physically fit peers, reports Reuters.

Study author Dr. Deborah E. Barnes, told Reuters that "Physical activity appears to be good for the brain as well as the body. And, older adults with higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness experience a slower rate of cognitive decline over time."

The benefits link between excercising and maintaining good health becomes even more important as we age. A person who has cardiorespiratory fitness may also be at a lower risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, all of which are known to be associated with poor mental function in older adults. Research findings suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness may be directly associated with blood flow to the brain. Reduced blood flow to the brain has been linked to lower mental function in both Alzheimer's disease patients and normal older adults.

Full study findings are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Also check out Health in Aging.