Peach Friedman
author, educator & trainer
intuitive fitness for women

I’m a longtime NPR listener. In fact, when Jeffrey and I were on our very first date I found out that not only does he listen to NPR too, but we actually have the same favorite show: Fresh Air with Terry Gross (and I won’t say that’s why I fell in love with him, but it certainly piqued my interest!).

So, yesterday morning I was driving to a client’s house while listening to Terry Gross on the radio. She was interviewing Martha Weinman Lear about her book, Where Did I leave My Glasses?. I didn’t hear the whole thing, but I did catch a pretty interesting part of the discussion. As it turns out, the #1 (or #1 and #2, I guess) most important thing in maintaining memory function is…drumroll…diet and exercise. Not those Soduko puzzles people do. Not studying languages or keeping up with business. But food and fitness.

As it turns out, according to Lear, when it comes to food, what’s healthy for your heart is also healthy for your brain. And according to whatever study she sited (you can listen to the program here) cardiovascular exercise is superior to stretching and strengthening, at least when it comes to keeping your remembering-skills up to par. I guess this has something to do with all that blood flowing to your brain, and that makes sense to me.

Of course, I still believe it’s best to choose to move out of true desire for movement, not necessarily because we think it’s going to help keep us smart. But that can be part of it. As you know by now, I believe in fitness for self-nurturing and self-care rather than self-loathing, guilt, fear, punishment, etc. (which are still the reasons most women hit the gym). But taking care of your brain? Yeah, that’s cool with me–if it helps inspire you to take the dog out for a walk on a sunny day or do cartwheels with your kids in the backyard. After all, I want to be able to remember my first date with Jeffrey when we’re ninety-nine (okay, when I’m ninety-nine and he’s one hundred and three)!