The Better Brain Book: The Best Tools for Improving Memory and Sharpness and for Preventing Aging of the Brain

YOU'VE JUST BEEN introduced to someone at the office or at a party, and seconds later, as you start to introduce her to your friend... you realize you can't remember her name.
You're standing in front of a dozen colleagues who have gathered to hear your presentation. It's your moment to shine... but in midsentence you stop dead. To your immense embarrassment, you find yourself asking, "What was I saying?"
You walk into the kitchen to find your reading glasses... but as you enter the room, you momentarily go blank and wonder, "Now, why am I here?"
You can't remember where you put your reading glasses... again.
You pick up the phone... and for the third time today, you intend to dial one number when you're actually dialing another.
You find that you're having trouble calculating restaurant tips... something you used to do easily in your head.
Does this sound familiar? Are you having difficulty concentrating at work, remembering names and appointments, and keeping track of your glasses and keys? Are you easily distracted and less able to stay on task? Do you nod out during long meetings? Do you feel that you're not as sharp or on-the-ball as you once were? Do you get cranky more often than you once did? Do you worry that you're so out of it that you're going to lose your next promotion to some kid right out of school? Do you worry, "If I'm like this now, what am I going to be like in ten years?" Are you tired of making jokes about "senior moments"?

In moments of desperation, do you wonder, "Am I losing it?"

The conventional wisdom is that becoming forgetful, moody, and even a little spacey is a "normal" sign of aging that happens to everyone and is no cause for concern. Moreover, you might think, even if your brain is turning to mush, there's nothing much you can do about it anyway, except sit back and watch with a combination of amusement and horror as you become mentally slower and duller with each passing day.

But that conventional wisdom is outdated, outmoded, and outrageously wrong. The slowdown in brain function that begins during midlife--the memory problems, difficulty focusing, brain fog, irritability, and loss of mental agility and physical coordination is not a "normal" part of aging. It is the beginning of a downward spiral that is destroying your brain, slowly and insidiously chipping away at your ability to function at your peak and stay on the top of your game.

And believe me, it is something to worry about. The process of deterioration that is causing the where-did-I-put-my-keys? and what-was-I-just-doing? syndromes is the same process that can lead to serious medical conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke. What's worse, most of us unwittingly lead lifestyles that accelerate this destructive process. We're promoting the demise of our brains. Consider this: