What Does TV Do To Our Cognition?

Richmondchironeu • March 25, 2019

Hello All:

Saving our brain is a major focus of my practice, so I was really intrigued by this study that focused on what happens to our cognitive abilities when we watch TV. Most earlier studies focus on the younger age groups, but this study involved older folks. Here is what they found:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39354-4

“Watching television for more than 3.5 hours per day is associated with a dose-response decline in verbal memory over the following six years, independent of confounding variables. …… Overall our results provide preliminary data to suggest that television viewing for more than 3.5 hours per day is related to cognitive decline.”

Bottom Line: There are several things we can do to combat this decline.

· Reduce your total time and choose to read, or go for a walk, or learn a musical instrument or play music…find something else to do that you enjoy.

· While you watch TV, during commercials, find a way to exercise: such as a treadmill or whenever a commercial comes on do the Nitric Oxide Dump. If no commercials, do it anyway.

· Socialize: get together with family or friends and socialize!!!

· Write a letter, call a friend to chat, write your book, do some research, use your brain in some other way!!!

· Spend some time learning to cook, or get meal ideas from cookbooks: planning delicious meals ahead of time makes clean and healthy eating much easier. Please don’t rely on others to make your food, like restaurants and take out…learning to cook is a life skill that can greatly reward you.

Let me know of anything you think of that I can share with everyone!!

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