7 Ways to Keep Your Heart and Brain Healthy

People who most closely follow heart guidelines have better thinking and memory scores

Beth Howard

Updated May 19, 2025

A doctor holding up a heart over their chest

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The message just keeps getting clearer: The healthier your heart, the healthier your brain.

New research from Rush University Medical Center found that adhering to the American Heart Association’s Life's Simple 7 guidelines was associated with higher cardiovascular health scores and less loss of neurons in the brain. For the study, published in 2025 in JAMA Network Open, researchers followed 1,018 adults age 65 and older for almost 20 years, checking in every three years.

AHA’s heart health guidelines emphasize the importance of managing blood pressure, controlling cholesterol, reducing blood sugar, being active, eating well, losing excess weight and quitting smoking.

Data showed that those who were most faithful to the heart health guidelines had lower blood concentrations of a biomarker called neurofilament light (Nf-L), which signals damage to neurons in conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. The link between health habits and Nf-L was particularly strong for Black adults in the study.

Earlier research cited in a 2019 report from AARP’s Global Council on Brain Health also helps to make the case. “We hope the good news from the GCBH’s review of the evidence that you can reduce your risk for dementia will really motivate people to choose healthier lifestyles,” says GCBH Executive Director Sarah Lenz Lock.

Adults 50 and older may preserve brain health by following the GCBH report's recommendations, which are similar to AHA’s recommendations and include staying physically active; maintaining a healthy weight; quitting smoking; managing diabetes; treating sleep apnea; working to control stress; and keeping blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels in healthy ranges.

Simple goals, big results

Studies have shown specific positive effects from reaching for the AHA’s seven goals. (In 2022, AHA added “Get Healthy Sleep,” making it Life’s Essential 8.) Researchers from the University of Miami and Columbia University followed more than 1,000 older adults (average age 72 at the first assessment) for six years. Participants who most closely adhered to the goals did better on tests of the brain’s processing speed, executive function and episodic memory (i.e., the ability to recall specific events, situations and experiences), according to a 2016 report in the Journal of the American Heart Association. And in another study , reported in the same journal in 2022, of 2,585 adults age 60 and over, those closely following the guidelines had better scores on tests of cognitive function.

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Two measures — lack of smoking and ideal blood sugar levels — seemed especially important when it came to “better brain performance,” says lead study author Hannah E. Gardener, an epidemiologist in the Department of Neurology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

For optimal brain and heart health, adopt as many of these recommendations as possible:

1. Manage blood sugar

High blood sugar levels can cause inflammation, which may harm brain cells. People with type 2 diabetes who have elevated blood sugar levels are at an especially increased risk of memory problems. What's more, the longer people live with type 2 diabetes, the greater the risk for later cognitive problems. A study of more than 10,000 people, reported in 2021 in JAMA, found that, among participants who developed type 2 diabetes during a nearly 32-year follow-up, the younger they were at the onset of the condition, the greater their risk for dementia. As the Lancet Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention and Care wrote in its 2024 report on dementia risks: “Long illness duration and poorly controlled diabetes increase the risk of dementia. Overall improved control of diabetes … might … be a way of decreasing dementia risk.”

2. Aim for 120 on blood pressure readings

Among people with high blood pressure, keeping systolic pressure (the top number) below 120 lowers risk for mild cognitive impairment, a condition that is often a precursor to dementia, according to the SPRINT MIND study. Lead author Jeff D. Williamson, M.D., a gerontologist at Wake Forest School of Medicine, says the study of more than 9,000 people, published in JAMA in 2019, showed that the same blood pressure goals that have lowered the risk of heart attacks, stroke, heart failure and death from heart disease by 30 percent have now been shown to lower mild cognitive impairment by almost 20 percent, compared with having a top blood pressure number of 140. Your personal blood pressure goal should be set with input from your health care provider.

Making healthy lifestyle changes (even losing just 10 pounds) can help your heart and brain. So can taking blood-pressure-lowering medication. Williamson recommends starting with medication and then asking your physician if you can taper off as you adopt healthier habits.

3. Eat right

A heart-healthy diet is brain-healthy, according to the GCBH’s 2018 report, “Brain Food.” To protect your memory, cut back on excessive amounts of salt, sugar, calories, alcohol and saturated fats. A few examples of heart- and brain-healthy diets: the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes olive oil, fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts and seeds; the DASH diet for high blood pressure, which is high in potassium, magnesium and calcium and low in sodium; and the MIND diet, a hybrid of the two.

4. Get moving

Regular exercise sends freshly oxygenated blood to your brain and is one of the most important things you can do to preserve your memory. It’s also a stress reducer. Aim for at least 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as brisk walking or dancing, and two or more days a week of weight lifting, climbing stairs or heavy-duty gardening to strengthen muscles. Make an effort to sit less overall. Standing and taking a lap around the house every hour benefits your cardiovascular health and your mind; set an alarm on your phone as a reminder.

5. Minimize stress

Exercise helps, but so does maintaining an active social life, which helps ward off loneliness; practicing yoga or meditation; and going to therapy, if you have woes that weigh on your heart and mind.

6. If you smoke, quit

Smoking can cause heart attack, stroke and irregular heartbeat, and it can also damage your brain. Even without a catastrophic event, smoking thins the part of the brain that controls memory, speech, language and perception. Lower volume in this area has also been associated with mild depressive symptoms. The AHA offers tips that can help you stop smoking, vaping or using other tobacco products.

7. Practice good sleep hygiene

Always exhausted? Chronic poor sleep can put you at a higher risk for heart disease, depression, dementia and other diseases. Aim for seven to eight hours of sleep nightly. When you fall short, a 20-minute early afternoon nap may help. If you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, or you suspect you may have sleep apnea (symptoms include loud snoring and gasping for air), talk to your doctor about seeing a sleep specialist. These physicians can order a sleep study, a test that can identify sleep apnea and other sleep disorders, so you can learn whether there’s a problem and consider treatment options.

Too little sleep is a well known issue, but excessive sleep can also be a problem, suggests a 2022 study of 1,982 older adults in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Researchers showed that spending more time in bed, sleeping longer than eight hours a night and going to sleep before 9 p.m. were linked to dementia. If you find that you’re sleeping excessively, work with your doctor to identify any underlying causes.