24 Breakthrough Ways To Prevent Alzheimer's (Or Slow It Down)

Want to know why you want to prevent Alzheimer's? Take a look at this video:

The statistics and forecasts for how many people will suffer from Alzheimer's are staggering. Take a look at these facts from the Alzheimer's Foundation of America. As a nation we need to find ways to prevent Alzheimer's. Or at least slow it down:

We see it every day in our assisted living homes. At A Paradise for Parents,  about 2/3 of our residents suffer from some form of Dementia or Alzheimer's. In fact, we have one home that specializes in memory care.

We want to do everything we can to help families cope with this horrible condition. We've compiled 23 things you can do to lower your chances, or hopefully prevent Alzheimer's.

If you have a family member already suffering from Alzheimer's, many of these techniques will also help slow it down.

Dietary Methods to Prevent Alzheimer's

The number 1 form of Alzheimer's prevention seems to be diet. Here are some choices you can make that can really help:

1. Cut Out Carbohydrates - Although it seems very fashionable to say it these days, low-carb diets seem to make a big difference in preventing Alzheimer's. According to Dr. David Perlmutter, author of the NY Times best seller, Grain Brain:

"[Alzheimer's] is a preventable disease. It surprises me at my core that no one's talking about the fact that so many of these devastating neurological problems are, in fact, modifiable based upon lifestyle choices… What we've crystallized it down to now, in essence, is that diets that are high in sugar and carbohydrates, and similarly diets that are low in fat, are devastating to the brain.When you have a diet that has carbohydrates in it, you are paving the way for Alzheimer's disease. I want to be super clear about that. Dietary carbohydrates lead to Alzheimer's disease. It's a pretty profound statement, but it's empowering nonetheless when we realize that we control our diet. We control our choices, whether to favor fat or carbohydrates."

2. Cut Out Sugar - I'm sure a lot of people don't want to hear this one. That's because so many of us are addicted to sugar. Yet at least one study of 5,189 people over 10 years showed higher sugar is directly correlated to higher rates of cognitive decline.
3. Stop Eating for Certain Periods - The cool kids call it 'intermittent fasting'. Try skipping a meal every so often. If you eat lunch around noon, don't eat again until breakfast the next morning. There's a reason they call it 'break - fast'.
   Fasting causes your body to stop burning carbs and start burning fat. In one study, they found burning fat helps to lessen the Amyloid-Beta plaque build up in your brain that contributes to Alzheimer's.
4. Eat Lots of Saturated Fats - People used to think all fats are bad for you. Now we are learning how important saturated fats can be for brain health. This doesn't mean eat a lot of meat. It means eating foods such as the ones below:
   1. Avocados
   2. Coconuts and coconut oil
   3. Unheated organic nut oils
   4. Raw nuts such as pecan and macadamia

You can see a summary of all the studies linking saturated fat to brain health here:

6. Avoid Trans Fats - Foods such as margarines, vegetable oil, canola oil, corn oil, and butter-like spreads are full of trans fats. So are most processed foods. A lot of these fats are associated with higher levels of cholesterol. A study of 444 Finnish men found that higher cholesterol tripled your risk of Alzheimer's.
7. Eat Coconut and MCT Oil - Dr. Mary Newport was trained in Pediatrics and Neonatology (care of newborns). Then her husband started showing signs of Alzheimer's. She suddenly had to become an expert in older people.
   When she researched the latest Alzheimer's medicine, she found many of the them contained a similar ingredient, medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). That same ingredient could be found in coconut and, you guessed it, MCT oil. So she started feeding coconut oil to her husband multiple times a day. The result? A dramatic reduction of her husband's symptoms.     It is thought that coconut and MCT oils work so well because the body can instantly make ketones out of them. The Ketones can penetrate the Amyloid-Beta plaques in the brain and provide energy to the cells.

8. Eat Less Meat - One theory about Alzheimer's is that too much iron in the brain causes oxidative stress and destroys nerve cells. Researchers from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA reported their study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.  They found that iron build up in the hippocampus (part of the brain associated with emotion and learning) happened early on in Alzheimer's patients.

The author's concluded:

"The data shows that in AD, Hipp damage occurs in conjunction with ferritin iron accumulation. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate how increasing iron levels may influence the trajectory of tissue damage and cognitive and pathologic manifestations of AD."

9. Eat Lots of Vegetables - The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging performed a study with 579 elderly, non-dementia volunteers over 9.3 years. Those who had greater intakes of Folates, Vitamin E and Vitamin B6 had a much decreased risk of Alzheimer's. All of those vitamins are found in green, leafy vegetables.

Avoid Folate supplements which do not help with your risk factors for Alzheimer's nearly as much.

How Exercise Can Help Prevent Alzheimer's

Disclaimer: Make sure to check with your Doctor before beginning any workout program - especially if you are older or haven't exercised in a while.

Just like a good diet, everyone knows that exercise is good for you. However researchers are finding that exercise specifically helps prevent brain problems.

How? Exercise affects three main chemicals involved in keeping you mentally sharp. The links are to pretty technical articles. I'm not sure if you want to read them. They just back up the claims I'm making with Science:

1. Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) - A chemical in the brain that participates in neuroplasticity - a fancy way of saying how the brain creates new connections, as in when the brain is learning something new. Alzheimer's causes a big drop in neuroplasticity.
2. Peroxisome Proliferator-activated receptor Gamma coactivator (PGC-1α) - PGC-1α helps the mitochondria in your cells recreate themselves. Mitochondria are the batteries for your cells and create energy. The biggest concentration of mitochondria are in your brain. As you age, the mitochondria take a beating. The lower energy means your cells don't function as well. PGC-1α will slow this process
3. Cytochrome C Oxidase (CCO)  - Similar to PGC-1α, CCO helps to improve energy production in the mitochondria. Unlike the first two chemicals which are greatly enhanced through exercise, CCO is enhanced through sun exposure. Vitamin D really helps your body produce CCO, and the best source of Vitamin D is the sun. So it just makes sense to get outside and exercise!

Types of Exercises to Prevent Alzheimer's

Turns out practically any type of exercise helps prevent Alzheimer's. Let's continue our list of ways to prevent Alzheimer's with a few different types:

10. 10. Aerobic Exercise - Turns out any type of aerobic exercise can help stimulate your body to make more BDNF and PGC-1α. And it's the easiest type to do outside where you can build up more CCO. Some examples could be as simple as:
        • Walking
        • Gardening
        • Swim
        • Bike
        • Jog
        • Work on a project around the house
    11. Weightlifting - Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver studied women  between the ages of 70 to 80. Everyone in the group had some form of memory loss.  The researchers assigned the women to one of three groups:
        • Resistance training
        • Aerobic training or
        • Balance-and-tone training.

In each program, participants exercised two times a week for six months. At the end of the study period, those who had participated in strength training fared best: they outperformed the other groups on tests measuring attention, memory and higher-order brain functions like conflict resolution. They also showed increased function in three brain regions involved in memory.

12. High Intensity Exercise - Anaerobic exercise such as sprinting (either on foot, on a bike or in a pool) can help the function of your hippocampus (see above about the hippocampus). It also improves your high-interference memory. That's the part of your memory that helps you pick out details. An example would be picking out your car from a parking lot full of similar makes and models.

High-Intensity workouts sound like something for the much younger generation. They don't have to be. Just push yourself to go as fast as you can (15-30 for short-periods) of time. Here are some 100+ year-olds competing in the 100-yard dash:

10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOzCoDvRqyk

Supplements to Prevent Alzheimer's

Eating well is probably the best way to prevent Alzheimer's, but sometimes it's difficult to make sure we receive all the nutrients we need. Supplements are called supplements for a reason. They can really help in our war with disease.

Here are some supplements that can really make a difference in brain health:

1. 1. 1. 13. Sulfurophane - This compound can be found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables. The trouble is you have to cook the broccoli just right. You must also not freeze it and prepare it properly to gain the full benefits. A Sulfurophane supplement may be a whole lot easier.
      Studies show Sulfurophane has reduced the Amyloid Beta and Tau plaques in the brain. These two proteins that form plaques are one of the biggest issues with people who contract Alzheimers.
      14. Gingko Biloba Extract - From the Gingko Biloba tree (surprise..surprise), this extract improves blood flow to the brain.
      15. Omega-3 fatty acids - These are antioxidants found primarily in organic, wild fish. Or fish oil or Krill Oil supplements. Like lots of antioxidants, Omega-3 reduces brain cell damage and helps prevent inflammation.
      16. Magnesium Glycinate - Magnesium plays a role in lots of functions in your body, especially those mitochondria we talked about in the exercise section. Many doctors think most of us are magnesium deficient. Here's a way to tell:

10. 10. 17. 17. Curcumin - This is a powerful antioxidant derived from the turmeric spice. Tumeric is the ingredient that gives curry its unique taste. However there is very little Curcumin in Tumeric. That's why it's important to take it as a supplement. Curcumin is incredibly protective of brain function.
        Is it any wonder that the lowest rates of Alzheimer's in the world are in rural India, where curry is a staple of their diet?
        18. Vitamin D - As I discussed up above int the Exercise section, Vitamin D is an anti-inflammatory vitamin that helps brain function significantly. Scientists have noted much larger incidences of Alzheimer's in Northern Climates than Southern. If you can't get out in the sun, take a supplement!

Other Ways to Prevent Alzheimer's

None of the remaining ways to prevent Alzheimer's in this article are that much less important than anything else. They just don't have enough sub-points to justify having their own section.

10. 10. 19. 19. Sleep - This one is HUGE! With our busy crazy days, it's difficult to get enough sleep. Yet a lack of sleep can make a big difference in your chances of contracting Alzheimer's.
        When you sleep, your brain detoxifies and cleans itself through the Glymphatic System.  It also goes through a process of 'synaptic pruning'. We learn and make lot of connections during the day. Sleep allows the brain to review the connections and remove the unnecessary ones. That way you don't overwhelm the brain.
        Most doctors recommend at least 8 hours of sleep. Try to get as close to that number as you can.
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg_oSsPqyRc
    10. 20. 20. Reduce Stress - According to a study published at the World Congress of Neurology, too much stress causes:

        A degenerative process in the brain and precipitate dysfunction in the neuroendocrine and immune system.

        20. So many parts of our lives cause us to raise our stress levels. If you find yourself stressed out a lot, try something to alleviate it - Yoga, meditation, or just go for a walk and be thankful for all the beauty around you.
        21. 
            But do something!
        21. Social Interaction - Hanging out with friends and staying social reduces your chance of contracting any of the diseases of old age. On the island of Ikaria, Greece, Alzheimer's and Dementia are virtually non-existent.

One of the attributes of these people is that they stroll into the town square after dinner each night and socialize. Yet in America 1 in 7 seniors live alone. Scientists believe that socializing builds stronger neural pathways in the brain.

10. 10. 22. No Smoking - In this day and age it pretty much goes without saying that smoking is bad for you. Most people associate smoking with lung cancer - until recently. It looks like people who are heavy smokers, especially in their 50s and 60s, have twice as high a risk of Alzheimer's.
    11. 
        23. Brush and Floss - Scientists have not established a proven link between gum disease and Alzheimer's. However, British scientists have found that gum disease bacteria disease in the brain's of Alzheimer's patients. Given that scientific links have been found between the bacteria and diseases like cancer, it seems entirely possible there is a link with Alzheimers.
        24. Try to Master Something - Working on improving your ability to speak a foreign language, play an instrument, or just learn a new skill on YouTube, will help maintain that neuroplasticity in the brain and decrease your risk.

Hopefully this helps. The key to preventing Alzheimer's is to START TODAY! The sooner you start working on this, the higher the chances are that you will be around mentally for the rest of your life!

6 Key Tips to Touring an Assisted Living Home

Before making any sort of decision about where your loved one will go, you need to take a tour of the facility. This is a crucial element when selecting the right facility for your loved one. How can you know the home is the right one without seeing inside the building? If a tour is not offered, then walk away. When preparing to take a tour, outline on paper what you want to see and any questions that you need to ask. Go on a tour ready to see the building fully and with a list of objectives for you to achieve.

Here are some key tips for getting the best out of a tour:

1. Prepare a scoring system: Before going through the door have a list of important items you wish to see and questions that you want answered. Draw up a scoring system, so that if you are taking more than one tour, which you should, you can compare and contrast your evaluations. Some items will need to score high, while others may not be as important. Having a good rating system in place will help you objectively measure different facilities.
2. Look at everything: By drawing up a list in advance of a visit you will know what you are looking for in a care home. Ask to see the kitchens where food is prepared and a weekly menu plan. Look to see the activity rooms and the daily schedule for the patients. Go see the bedrooms and see if there are private ones offered as well as semi-private or shared rooms. Look at the landscaping, as that is what your loved one will be looking at when they come to stay. Go see the laundry, the bathrooms and all common areas. It’s important for you and your loved one to be happy with what you see.
3. Staff: Meet with staff and see how they measure up against your expectations. Ask about their qualifications.. Talk to them and see how they do things and how a day in the life of the home operates. The staff is a good indicator of how the care home is run and you can judge if it is suitable by how they come across in an interview. You want to make sure they have the knowledge, skills and demeanor to provide the best care to your loved one.
4. Allocate Time: Give yourself plenty of time to spend at the facility during your visit. Do not expect to just walk in and out and then be able to make an informed decision. Schedule your tour when you have a couple of hours free to properly see everything.
5. Take a second tour: Always come back for a second visit. Schedule it for a different time of day and maybe even arrive early. You want to see the home outside of a regular tour and see if it still operates as you would like it to. When taking the second tour, double check on what you noticed the first time around and keep an eye out for anything new.
6. Leave if unhappy: This is your time and do not waste it on a home that is not suitable from the start. It will not get better and those first impressions are usually correct. You do not need to explain yourself and always remember that you are looking for the right fit for your loved one.

A tour is a vital part of the decision process. Take all the above points into consideration before and after any tour and think of your loved one living there and whether or not they will thrive in the environment you’ve seen.

6 Ways to Help Protect Your Eyesight

If you’re over age 40, chances are you are dealing with some degree of presbyopia. This complex term refers to the natural changes that occur with aging eyes. Presbyopia makes it more difficult to read small print, which is the main reason many older people wear reading glasses even if they don’t need glasses otherwise. While some degree of presbyopia is inevitable in nearly everyone, there are six relatively simple strategies that seniors can take to protect their precious eyesight for as long as possible.

Only Wear Sunglasses during VERY Bright Activities

Most people believe that sunglasses protect your eyes like suntan lotion. New research however is finding that there are over 1,500 wavelengths of light that feed and nourish your eyes. Depriving your eyes of these wavelengths can result in eye malnourishment and lead to visual impairment.

The only time you really should wear sunglasses would be during activities like spending the day on a boat or a ski hill. The water and snow in these activities intensifies the sun’s rays and can do damage to your eyes. Other than water-type activities or other reasons the sun might be intensified, try to keep the sunglasses off as much as possible,

Eat More Fruit

Eating a diet rich in fruits such as berries, and vegetables like tomatoes, helps your body produce antioxidants that fight free radicals – an important aspect of protecting your vision. Bilberries, the European blueberry, may prevent or even reverse macular degeneration. Dark colored berries such as blueberries and cranberries also have bioflavonoids that strengthen capillaries in your eyes to better carry nutrients in.

Remember to eat berries in moderation, because many of them have fructose, which breaks down into sugar in your body.

Other foods and nutrients that really help include foods that contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which are antioxidants which help slow down macular degeneration. Astaxanthin is another antioxidant that supports your eye energy levels, and helps maintain a healthy eye pressure level. Foods that contain these antioxidants include:

• Free range organic eggs
• Spinach
• Kale
• Wild-caught Salmon

Try to avoid trans fats from processed foods. Trans fats interfere with Omega-3 in your body and contribute to macular degeneration. Stay away from aspartame as well. Visual problems can come about as a result of this Diet Coke sweetener.

Practice Proper Eye Hygiene

Back in the day, eyesight correction required thick heavy glasses. Hard contacts were viewed as an innovation – but required an elaborate routine of lens solution and nightly boiling. Today, there are contacts that you can wear to bed. But just because you can wear your contacts while you sleep doesn’t mean that you should do so. With rare exceptions, removing your contacts at night is an essential part of proper eye hygiene.

You may want to consider dropping the contacts completely. Some research suggests that having your eyes rely on glasses causes more harm than good. Contacts can make the eye prone to infection, irritate your eyes and make your eyes reliant on them.

If you have a loved one at one of  our assisted living homes, we have a mobile opthamologist that can come out and see them.

Maintain Regular Exercise

Maintaining regular exercise is an essential aspect of overall health. But exercise can provide benefits for maintaining your eyesight as you age. Specifically, regular exercise can help prevent macular degeneration – a common condition among older individuals.

In particular use exercise to keep your blood sugar at a normal level. High blood pressure could damage a lot of small blood vessels around your eye, and obstruct the blood flow.

Take Screen Breaks

Much of the day for many people of all ages is spent looking into screens – computer screens, TV screens, and especially cell phone screens. So much focus on screens causes eye strain and fatigue – and can eventually take a toll on your eyesight. Remember the 20-20-20 rule when working at your computer: every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to focus on something at least 20 feet away from where you are. This simple strategy gives your eyes a much needed break.

A large amount of research has shown that it is better to just relax your eyes in general rather than try to exercise the muscles in them. Sleeping on a regular basis, meditating and performing yoga, will help you relax your eyes and help them perform better.

Get Regular Checkups

Self care is an important aspect of maintaining good eye health. However, it is also important to have regular checkups with your ophthalmologist, even if you don’t wear glasses or contact lenses. Only a professional examination can disclose potential problems, such as macular degeneration or glaucoma at an early stage – when they can be more readily treated.

As the list above demonstrates, some of the most effective strategies for preserving your sight are also easy to accomplish. And maintaining your eyesight is an important aspect of aging well.

Source: APFP

8 Easy Diet Changes to Prevent Alzheimer's

The number 1 form of Alzheimer's prevention seems to be diet. Here are some choices you can make that can really help:

1. Cut Out Carbohydrates - Although it seems very fashionable to say it these days, low-carb diets seem to make a big difference in preventing Alzheimer's. According to Dr. David Perlmutter, author of the NY Times best seller, Grain Brain:

"[Alzheimer's] is a preventable disease. It surprises me at my core that no one's talking about the fact that so many of these devastating neurological problems are, in fact, modifiable based upon lifestyle choices… What we've crystallized it down to now, in essence, is that diets that are high in sugar and carbohydrates, and similarly diets that are low in fat, are devastating to the brain.When you have a diet that has carbohydrates in it, you are paving the way for Alzheimer's disease. I want to be super clear about that. Dietary carbohydrates lead to Alzheimer's disease. It's a pretty profound statement, but it's empowering nonetheless when we realize that we control our diet. We control our choices, whether to favor fat or carbohydrates."

2. Cut Out Sugar- I'm sure a lot of people don't want to hear this one. That's because so many of us are addicted to sugar. Yet at least one study of 5,189 people over 10 years showed higher sugar is directly correlated to higher rates of cognitive decline.

3. Stop Eating for Certain Periods- The cool kids call it 'intermittent fasting'. Try skipping a meal every so often. If you eat lunch around noon, don't eat again until breakfast the next morning. There's a reason they call it 'break - fast'. Fasting causes your body to stop burning carbs and start burning fat. In one study, they found burning fat helps to lessen the Amyloid-Beta plaque build up in your brain that contributes to Alzheimer's.

4. Eat Lots of Saturated Fats- People used to think all fats are bad for you. Now we are learning how important saturated fats can be for brain health. This doesn't mean eat a lot of meat. It means eating foods such as the ones below:
   1. Avocados
   2. Coconuts and coconut oil
   3. Unheated organic nut oils
   4. Raw nuts such as pecan and macadamia

You can see a summary of all the studies linking saturated fat to brain health here:

5. Avoid Trans Fats- Foods such as margarines, vegetable oil, canola oil, corn oil, and butter-like spreads are full of trans fats. So are most processed foods. A lot of these fats are associated with higher levels of cholesterol. A studyof 444 Finnish men found that higher cholesterol tripled your risk of Alzheimer's.

6. Eat Coconut and MCT Oil- Dr. Mary Newport was trained in Pediatrics and Neonatology (care of newborns). Then her husband started showing signs of Alzheimer's. She suddenly had to become an expert in older people.

When she researched the latest Alzheimer's medicine, she found many of the them contained a similar ingredient, medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). That same ingredient could be found in coconut and, you guessed it, MCT oil. So she started feeding coconut oil to her husband multiple times a day. The result? A dramatic reduction of her husband's symptoms.

It is thought that coconut and MCT oils work so well because the body can instantly make ketones out of them. The Ketones can penetrate the Amyloid-Beta plaques in the brain and provide energy to the cells.

7. Eat Less Meat- One theory about Alzheimer's is that too much iron in the brain causes oxidative stress and destroys nerve cells. Researchers from the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA reported their study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.  They found that iron build up in the hippocampus (part of the brain associated with emotion and learning) happened early on in Alzheimer's patients.

The author's concluded:

"The data shows that in AD, Hipp damage occurs in conjunction with ferritin iron accumulation. Prospective studies are needed to evaluate how increasing iron levels may influence the trajectory of tissue damage and cognitive and pathologic manifestations of AD."

8. Eat Lots of Vegetables- The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging performed a study with 579 elderly, non-dementia volunteers over 9.3 years. Those who had greater intakes of Folates, Vitamin E and Vitamin B6 had a much decreased risk of Alzheimer's. All of those vitamins are found in green, leafy vegetables.

Avoid Folate supplements which do not help with your risk factors for Alzheimer's nearly as much.

Hopefully that will be enough to 'chew on'. If you would like to know more, please feel free to contact us at A Paradise for Parents assisted living homes. Call us at 623-295-9890 or email Cam@aparadiseforparents.com. We can refer you to our nutritionist for further information.

7 Easy Chair Exercises For Seniors

If you think exercising is only important when you were younger, think again. It’s so much more than just looking good and maintaining a slim physique. In fact, exercising is just as important now, as it is in your younger years – maybe even more. Just because you can't move as well as you once did, doesn't mean you should give up on exercise. Even if you can just sit in a chair, there are certain chair exercises that can be very beneficial to your overall health.

Contrary to popular belief, fitness for seniors is not optional. If your elderly loved one wants to remain independent and improve their quality of life, exercise is not a matter of choice – it’s a necessity.

The good news is that you don’t have to go to the gym every day or get on a treadmill to exercise. There are various exercises that you can do even while sitting down! Your exercise doesn’t have to be rigorous to be effective. Chair exercises definitely work. They increase your flexibility, elevate your heart rate, and tone your muscles.

Here are some of the easiest and most effective chair exercises that your elderly loved one can do as often as they like. Make sure to use a sturdy chair to avoid injuries.

Disclaimer: Before starting any type of exercise, make sure to consult with your doctor or your healthcare provider to determine whether the exercise is right for your health needs and level of fitness.

1. Hand Squeeze

Start your chair exercises by improving your hand’s strength and endurance.  They  really help when you carry heavy objects for a long period of time. It also helps in contracting the muscles of the arms and chest.

Start by holding a ball in front of you with both of your hands. Then, try to press the ball together as hard as you can and release. Do this at least 10 times. To push yourself further, push the ball away from your chest while squeezing it and pull it back in. It is important to do this slowly as it will yield a better result.

2. Glute Squeeze

Squeezing your glutes (butt muscle) every now and then offers you great benefits. For one, it strengthens the muscles around your buttocks. It is one of the simplest chair exercises to perform.

To begin this exercise, simply tense and squeeze your glutes together while sitting on a sturdy chair. Hold the clench for five seconds and then rest for another five seconds. Repeat it at least 8 times. As the muscles around your butt increase their strength over time, hold the clench longer (i.e 10 seconds or more).

3. Seated Row

Chair exercises such as the seated row help improve your posture and reduce back pain. The seated row also helps in working your back and chest muscles.

To start, grab a chair and position yourself at the edge of a greater range of motion. Hold one arm out in front of your chest with your elbow slightly bent and thumb facing up. Start pulling your arm back as far as you can possibly go while compressing the shoulder blades together before releasing. Do the same on the other arm and repeat at least 10 times every day. You may also perform this chair exercise with both arms at the same time.

4. Tummy Twists

Doing tummy twists help enhance the strength in your core. This is another of the chair exercises that help in maintaining a proper posture.

Begin by holding a ball in front of your waist at a 90-degree angle. Twist your upper body to one side as far as possible then go back to your original position. Then twist your body on the opposite side then back to the middle. This may also be done if a ball is not available. It is important that only the upper body is moving so that the core muscles can contract.

5. Seated Hip Stretch

Doing regular daily activities such as getting out of a car often becomes difficult for someone if they suffer from tight hips. The seated hip stretch is one of the chair exercises that allows you to move more freely by increasing your hip’s flexibility.

Start by sitting on a stable chair with your back straight and feet flat on the floor. Place one leg over the other so that your ankle sits right at the top of your other leg. Relax your hip. By this point, you may already feel your hip stretching. If you’re willing to push yourself further, push down and stretch until you feel a slight discomfort. Stop if it becomes too painful. Breathe naturally and hold the position for a maximum of 30 seconds before switching legs.

6. Knee Lifts

Knee lifts, when performed correctly, are very beneficial for you. They improve balance and postural support. They also reduce lower back pain.

To start the exercise, sit with your feet within shoulder-width apart. Tuck your pelvis and bring one knee up as close to your chest as possible then slowly put your knee down to the starting position. Now, repeat the same thing with the other leg. Keep alternating for at least 8 times.

7. Arm Circles

These chair exercises helps build strength in your shoulders.

You may begin by sitting with your feet shoulder-width apart. Once in position, hold a ball above your head while making sure that your elbows are slightly bent.

Circle the medicine ball starting from above your head, to the left, down, right, and back up and over your head. Repeat the steps starting from the opposite direction. This exercise can also be done without any equipment. However, if your loved one is unable to place his hands over his head, extending his/her arms in front and moving it in a circle would also work. Repeat the exercise at least 8 to 10 times each day.

A Paradise for Parents knows that it is very important to stay physically fit and healthy especially in our golden years. Our assisted living homes have a personal trainer who works closely with residents to ensure that their physical capabilities are accommodated.

If you want to know more about assisted living facilities, A Paradise for Parents staff and our resources can answer all your questions. Don’t hesitate to give us a call at (623) 295-9890 or email us at cam@aparadiseforparents.com to know more about the services we offer. You can also fill out an online form located on our homepage. We’d be happy to assist you in your search for an assisted living facility for your loved one.