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Tricks to make your mind think younger

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By MICHAEL ROIZEN, M.D., and MEHMET OZ, M.D. King Features Syndicate

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 24, 2009

Like a nice burgundy, certain parts of your memory improve with age - specifically, highly learned information such as your vocabulary and your memory of how to do things. Other parts of your mind? Maybe not so much. But the following two lapses are easy to help. Here's how.

What Slacks Off: Your Senses

All memories begin with your senses, so any sensory loss, including impaired vision and hearing, can distort and fragment the info reaching your memory.

Make up for it: You may need extra sensory stimulation to perceive new information. So keep your eyeglass prescription up to date, and get that hearing aid you keep putting off.

What Slacks Off: Processing Speed

The speed at which you react to and process information slows with age.

Also, because you have a whole library of information stored in your brain, it can be a challenge to go back over all the birthday parties and names of Elizabeth Taylor's exes to locate things quickly. So you may need more time to recall information.

Make up for it: To remember new information better, try linking it to an existing memory (link a new Doug to a Doug you already know). As for digging up old information, try using contextual cues. Think back to the rooms you were in, the activities you were doing, and the conversations you had when the memory occurred.

4 ways to make salads better

"Just a salad" can hold nearly twice as many calories and aging fats as a Big Mac. And some so-called salads from fast-food outlets barely qualify as salads. But building a healthy one is easy, no skimping on taste needed:

Pile them on: Peas

What they get you: Protection from stroke. Peas are high in folate, a B vitamin that lowers blood levels of homocysteine, a stroke-promoting compound in the blood. Too much of this compound may encourage lousy LDL cholesterol to oxidize and contribute to stroke-causing (and heart-attack-causing) blood clots. Other foods that help, too: asparagus, artichokes, avocados, cabbage, watercress, Brussels spouts and cabbage.

Pile them on: Marjoram, sage, rosemary, thyme

What they get you: A small amount of fresh herbs adds extra phenols, plant compounds that protect your cells against oxidative damage.

That's the damage that can lead to cancer, heart disease and other problems.

Pile them on: Colorful vegetables

What they get you: Carrots, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli and beets give you more fiber, minerals and vitamins than their paler companions, such as cucumbers.

Don't abandon cucumbers altogether, though. We love their crunch. (And we love them in a drink we make that features cucumbers and dill with a little agave and vodka - but that's another column).

Pile them on: Tomatoes

What they get you: Tomatoes contain a good amount of potassium, which may play a critical part in preventing the inflammatory processes that can contribute to heart attacks.

The YOU Docs, Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz, are authors of "YOU: Being Beautiful - The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty. To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to www.RealAge.com, the docs' online home.

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