Dr. Gary Small is the director of the UCLA Center on Aging and author of The Longevity Bible. And he says making simple lifestyle changes can improve your short-term memory in as little as 2 weeks! So here are Dr. Small’s tips for boosting your brain power.

• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. All of those foods are loaded with antioxidants which protect your brain cells, and keep your memory sharp.
• Walk for at least 10 minutes a day. Exercise improves blood circulation, which helps speed nutrients and oxygen to your brain.
• Relax. When you’re feeling stressed, you produce the hormone cortisol, which can shrink your brain’s memory centers. So practice relaxation techniques – like mediation or deep breathing. That lowers your heart rate and reduces the amount of cortisol in your body.

So if you want to boost your memory, eat fruit, vegetables, and nuts, walk for at least 10 minutes a day, and do something to relax when you’re stressed.  And here’s a quick memory trick from Dr. Small.  Let’s say you want to remember to buy bread, baking powder, and vacuum cleaner bags at the grocery store. He says you should imagine a mental snapshot of these 3 items, and then link the snapshots together in your mind. So, if you wanted to link together bread, baking powder, and vacuum cleaner bags, you could imagine a baker vacuuming bread crumbs off the floor. If you’d like to go further, check out The Longevity Bible by Dr. Gary Small.