As we move along repeating our mantra about our biostat (every day, in every way I will improve my physical and mental health) it’s a comfort to know we can do both by exercising. A daily dose of exercise causes a jolt of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) making you not only think better, but also remember more. 4 very different, recent studies –on college students, on U.S. airline pilots, on elderly rats in Brazil and younger ones in California–all confirm that physical exercise directly impacts our BDNF and hence positively impacts our brains. Workout regularly and your BDNF stays elevated. If you (assuming I do) have a genetic tendency to lose BDNF with age, exercise may even be more important to increase memory and improve task skills. When your fueling up remember that kale (and all your dark leafy greens), blueberries and mustard can all help keep that brain functioning sharply. The turmeric in mustard –just a teaspoon a day– can help activate genes that control the cleanup of cellular waste in the brain. Salmon is a great source of omega-3-fatty acids which is believed to have the most anti-aging effects on the brain. If, like me, you don’t eat fish, the good news is that the omega-3 actually comes from the algae that the fish eats, and that is easy to find in a supplement…one of the few I do take because I am aiming to keep my brain strong for many years to come. My biostat (the age I want to FEEL –not necessarily be, just FEEL– is 35. What’s yours?