Welcome back to part 4 of our brain health series. Did you know scientists used to think your brain stopped changing after age 25? They were wrong by about 75 years. 

So far, we’ve talked about some of the biggest ways we can keep our brains healthy—getting enough sleep, meditating, and healing our gut: 

• Part 1: Hormones & Sleep
• Part 2: Exercise & Movement
• Part 3: Gut Health

Today we’re diving into brain-building activities and supplements that can change your brain for the better. As we age, we need to continually look for ways to fight cognitive decline. The question we should be all asking is: What can we do to build our cognitive muscles?

💪🏻 BRAIN BUILDING ACTIVITIES 💪🏻

Just like any other muscle you want to keep strong and healthy, it’s important to mix up your “workouts” to get your neurons firing, wiring, and rewiring. When you take on new challenges, your brain forms fresh neural pathways and strengthens existing ones—a process called neuroplasticity. This is how we keep our minds sharp, adaptable, and resilient throughout our lives.

• Read (or listen) more—especially to content that stretches your thinking, grows your vocabulary, and exposes you to new ideas and cultures. This kind of mental rigor activates your brain’s language networks, deepens comprehension, and improves memory retention. Right now, I’m reading Fluke by Brian Klaas. 
• Play games. Games challenge problem-solving, pattern recognition, and memory—all while sparking new neural connections. And I love words, so most days I finish my Wordle, Quordle and Octordle, as well as Strands, Connections, and a few crosswords. I also love Murdle, either online or in print. Have you gotten into Mah Jongg yet? 
• Learn new skills. Novelty helps your brain build new pathways. Right now, I’m learning Spanish on Duolingo (which is also a game—double bonus) and working on my sourdough bread. This fall, I’m ready to get better at pickleball and finally learn Mah Jongg. 
• Spend time with people you love. Authentic, genuine friendships and regular social interaction lights up your language centers, emotional regulation areas, and memory recall networks—and it boosts feel-good chemicals like oxytocin and dopamine. And let’s be honest, does anything feel better than deep laughter with friends? Connection is cognition!

Your homework: 

• What from the list above sounds fun to you? Make a list of some of the brain-building activities you’d like to try. 
• Swap out some of your social media time for brain-building activities. I suggest Daily Murdle and NYT Games. 
• Make a date for a walk with a friend, or ask a group of friends if they’d like to start a book club. 

These activities work synergistically with the sleep, movement, and gut health strategies we’ve covered—but targeted supplements can amplify these benefits even further. Let’s dig into my top suggestions:

💊 SUPPLEMENTS 💊

I’m a huge fan of supplementing our diets to support our health, but I don’t want any of us feeling like we’re running a small health food store out of our homes. I’m also not a doctor, so this is my personal opinion as a midlife woman and a wellness nut. 

My first recommendation is to get bloodwork🩸 done regularly to check your hormone levels and see what essential nutrients you might be low in – most Americans are low in Vitamin D and magnesium which are essential to virtually every function in your body. 

• Vitamin D acts more like a hormone than a vitamin, helping your brain grow, repair, and protect its neurons. It plays a role in the production of dopamine and serotonin, and it keeps brain inflammation in check. Low Vitamin D has been linked to slower thinking, memory problems, and even higher dementia risk.  Pro tip: Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, so it needs to be taken with fat to be absorbed in the body.

• Magnesium helps neurons communicate without getting overstimulated, supports memory and learning, and keeps your stress response in balance. Also, magnesium is essential to “activate” Vitamin D, so if you’re low in magnesium, your Vitamin D won’t be as effective.  Pro tip: Anything ending in “ide” is poorly absorbed in the body. Grab some magnesium L-threonate, which can cross into the brain and boost the connections between neurons.
• B vitamins work behind the scenes to keep your brain chemistry balanced. Vitamins B6, B9 (folate), and B12 help make the neurotransmitters that regulate mood, focus, and memory. Deficiencies in B vitamins can show up as brain fog, low energy, mood changes, and memory issues. Get your levels checked and grab a high quality b-vitamin complex. 
• CoQ10 helps your mitochondria (the “power plants” inside your neurons) turn food into energy, and it protects those cells from damage caused by oxidative stress. Your brain runs on a huge amount of energy, and when CoQ10 levels drop as we age, neurons can struggle to fire efficiently. Low CoQ10 has been linked to memory issues, fatigue, and even higher risk for neurodegenerative diseases. Supplementing can help keep your brain’s energy production strong, improve blood flow, and even reduce migraine frequency in some people.
• Creatine isn’t just for muscle, it’s also brain fuel. Your brain uses creatine to help rapidly recycle energy (ATP) so neurons can fire efficiently, especially under stress or during demanding mental tasks. Research suggests it may protect against neurological decline, support memory, and even boost mental performance in sleep-deprived situations. And yes. It also helps maintain muscle mass and bone density. I wrote a whole blog post about creatine for women, including the brand I use and why you don’t need to waste money on fancy marketing.

• Lion’s Mane mushrooms contain compounds that can stimulate nerve growth factor (NGF), helping neurons grow, repair, and form new connections. Research has shown measurable improvements in cognitive function with regular use, as well as promising results for people with early Alzheimer’s. You all know I’m a huge fan of the power of mushrooms for whole-body health. Pro tip: Host Defense is an affordable, high-quality option. Stamets 7 and Brain both combine Lion’s Mane with other mushrooms and supplements to support brain health, immunity, and energy.

Your homework: 

• Get your blood levels checked and talk to your healthcare provider about what supplements might make sense. 
• Decide what’s best for you on supplements and let me know if you have any questions. 

Please share this with someone you love. These are easy and practical tips that can dramatically improve our quality of life. 

We’ll wrap up the series with all of my extra thoughts about the default mode network and thoughts on breathwork, sound therapy and yes, the other kind of mushrooms 😘. 

Love, 

Tracey