Using the best nootropics available can do wonders in helping keep your mind sharp. With their memory enhancing and neuroprotective properties, supplementing with smart drugs is one of the best ways to maintain and even improve your brain functions. Keeping your mind sharp should be one of your main priorities as you start piling on the years. Apart from nootropics, there are other ways to keep your mind running efficiently. Here are seven practical tips to keep your mind sharp.

Play Word Games

Ever find yourself trying to spit out the word that seems to be right “on the tip of your tongue?” You may or may not succeed in recalling the word, but it is one indication that the brain may be slowing down a bit. Don’t panic though, as it happens to everybody. To keep your mind functioning efficiently in terms of verbal fluency, play word app games that will challenge you to dig deep into your treasure trove of vocabulary. As you become more proficient with the game, keep increasing the level of difficulty or switch to a more challenging word game.

Become a Lefty (or Righty)

Switch from your dominant hand to the other from time to time when doing your normal day-to-day activities. This may include brushing your teeth, combing your hair or even holding a spoon and eating. You can practice from time to time until you have mastered the skill. While this may seem to make you feel silly at first, this is a good exercise to improve the plasticity of your brain.

Buy Jumbo Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles with at least 500 pieces will give your brain a good workout. The tip works well to sharpen your mind because it is attention intensive and becomes more rewarding as you get closer to completing each puzzle. This type of cognitive workout improves your memory, learning abilities and mood.

Eat Well

Having the right amount of energy from food in a steady flow will be beneficial for your brain functions. On the flip side, energy highs and lows will certainly affect your cognition processes. Cut down on high-glycemic food sources such as sugary treats and other carbohydrate bombs. Tweak your diet to include food that digests slowly for a more stable and consistent flow of energy to the brain.

Exercise

Working out helps prevent the onset of a host of degenerative diseases that can adversely affect brain functions. These include type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Staying true to a fitness regimen will also help keep you from doing drugs, smoking and heavy drinking — all of which are detrimental to cognitive health.

Sleep Well

The brain self-optimizes during sleep. It sifts through your memories for the day and discards those that it deems unimportant, and it saves and consolidates your more important memories. Getting enough sleep, therefore, is beneficial for your short-term and long-term memory formation and recall. Several studies also show that getting at least seven hours of sleep improves your focus and mood.

Consider Nootropic Supplements

Research and user testimonials attest to the abilities of true nootropics to improve your memory, recall, logical reasoning and verbal fluency. Some of the more established nootropics such as racetams and Noopept are also believed to have neuroprotective and anxiolytic properties. If you prefer all natural cognition enhancers, choose supplements with all-natural ingredients such as citicoline, lion’s mane, ashwagandha extract and bacopa monnieri.

As you age, your cognitive processes inevitably go on a decline. However, keeping your brain healthy and heeding some of the tips above may delay it or even prevent it indefinitely.