It's no secret that regular exercise can be extremely beneficial for the body. However, a new study has found that it can also help boost brain power in elderly men. The study even found that the relationship between physical and brain fitness may vary between the sexes. For the study, the researchers examined the cardiorespiratory fitness of the participants. Cardiorespiratory fitness measures how much and how well oxygen can get distributed to the muscles while exercising.
Researchers conducted the study on two groups of people, one with men and one with women, both with the average age of 67 years. The participants' height, weight, age, sex and resting heart rate were then recorded to determine their cardiorespiratory fitness. Apart from this, they also recorded images of the brain to figure out the efficiency among all networks.
"Our findings that [cardiorespiratory fitness] is associated with brain function in a sex-dependent manner underscore the importance of considering sex as a factor when studying associations between exercise and brain health in older adulthood," the researchers said.
The researchers also said that eating a balanced diet can prove to be beneficial in keeping your brain power boosted. So, ensure that you eat lots of veggies, nuts, fruits and fatty fish to enrich brain power and aid memory retention. Five foods that you must absolutely include in your diet are - almonds, whole grains, salmon, blueberries and pumpkins. Stay tuned for more updates.
