5 Natural Ways to Improve Your Memory
You may be able to strengthen your memory with diet, exercise, and certain practices including meditation.
Everyone has moments of forgetfulness from time to time, especially when life gets busy.
While this can be a completely normal occurrence, having a poor memory can be frustrating.
Genetics play a role in memory loss, especially in serious neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. However, research has shown that diet and lifestyle have a major impact on memory too.
Here are 5 evidence-based ways to improve your memory naturally.
- Eat less added sugar
Eating too much added sugar has been linked to many health issues and chronic diseases, including cognitive decline.
Research has shown that a sugar-laden diet can lead to poor memory and reduced brain volume, particularly in the area of the brain that stores short-term memory (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source).
For example, one study of more than 4,000 people found that those with a higher intake of sugary beverages like soda had lower total brain volumes and poorer memories on average compared with people who consumed less sugar (2Trusted Source).
Cutting back on sugar not only helps your memory but also improves your overall health.
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14 Natural Ways to Improve Your Memory
Medically reviewed by Deborah Weatherspoon, Ph.D., MSN — Written by Jillian Kubala, MS, RD — Updated on February 14, 2023
You may be able to strengthen your memory with diet, exercise, and certain practices including meditation.
Everyone has moments of forgetfulness from time to time, especially when life gets busy.
While this can be a completely normal occurrence, having a poor memory can be frustrating.
Genetics play a role in memory loss, especially in serious neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. However, research has shown that diet and lifestyle have a major impact on memory too.
Here are 14 evidence-based ways to improve your memory naturally.
Lucas Ottone/Stocksy United
- Eat less added sugar
Eating too much added sugar has been linked to many health issues and chronic diseases, including cognitive decline.
Research has shown that a sugar-laden diet can lead to poor memory and reduced brain volume, particularly in the area of the brain that stores short-term memory (1Trusted Source, 2Trusted Source).
For example, one study of more than 4,000 people found that those with a higher intake of sugary beverages like soda had lower total brain volumes and poorer memories on average compared with people who consumed less sugar (2Trusted Source).
Cutting back on sugar not only helps your memory but also improves your overall health.
Summary Research has shown that people who regularly
consume lots of added sugar may have poorer memory and lower brain volume
than those who limit sugar.
- Try a fish oil supplement
Fish oil is rich in the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
These fats are important for overall health and have been shown to lower the risk of heart disease, reduce inflammation, relieve stress and anxiety, and slow mental decline (3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source).
Many studies have shown that consuming fish and fish oil supplements may improve memory, especially in older people.
- Make time for meditation
The practice of meditation may positively affect your health in many ways.
It is relaxing and soothing, and has been found to reduce stress and pain, lower blood pressure and even improve memory (8Trusted Source).
In fact, meditation has been shown to increase gray matter in the brain. Gray matter contains neuron cell bodies (9Trusted Source).
As you age, gray matter declines, which negatively impacts memory and cognition
For example, one study showed that Taiwanese college students who engaged in meditation practices like mindfulness had significantly better spatial working memory than students who did not practice meditation
- Maintain a moderate weight
Maintaining a moderate body weight is essential for well-being and is one of the best ways to keep your body and mind in top condition.
Several studies have established obesity as a risk factor for cognitive decline.
Having obesity can actually cause changes to memory-associated genes in the brain, negatively affecting memory (13Trusted Source).
Obesity can also lead to insulin resistance and inflammation, both of which can negatively impact the brain (14Trusted Source).
A study of 50 people between ages 18 and 35 years found that a higher body mass index was associated with significantly worse performance on memory tests
- Get enough sleep
Lack of proper sleep has been associated with poor memory for quite some time.
Sleep plays an important role in memory consolidation, a process in which short-term memories are strengthened and transformed into long-lasting memories.
Research shows that if you’re sleep deprived, you could be negatively impacting your memory.
For example, one study looked at the effects of sleep in 40 children between ages 10 and 14 years.
One group of children was trained for memory tests in the evening, then tested the following morning after a night’s sleep. The other group was trained and tested on the same day, with no sleep between training and testing.
The group that slept between training and testing performed 20% better on the memory tests (17Trusted Source).
Another study found that nurses working the night shift made more mathematical errors and that 68% of them scored lower on memory tests compared with nurses working the day shift (17Trusted Source).
Health experts recommend adults get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night for optimal health.