The 5 Brain Health Recommendations We Make Most Often

Move your body, build strength, eat well, get enough sleep, and close your nutritional gaps. Most brain health advice comes down to some version of that list, and it is good advice for almost everyone.

But knowing what is generally good for brain health is different from knowing what will be best for yours. The highest-impact action depends on your biology. Your blood pressure, metabolic health, nutrient levels, cardiovascular fitness, sleep, genetics, and lifestyle can all change what deserves your attention first.

Still, when we looked across BetterBrain coaching action plans, five recommendations appeared again and again. Some are among the most evidence-supported things anyone can do for healthy aging. Others come up because they address nutritional gaps that are easy to identify and act on. Here are the five, what the evidence says about each, and how to tell which one matters most for you.

Summary

• The five recommendations that appear most often in BetterBrain coaching plans are strength training, omega-3s, aerobic exercise, B vitamins, and adequate protein.
• Aerobic exercise and strength training carry the broadest evidence for healthy aging. Randomized trials suggest modest cognitive benefits for both.
• Omega-3s and B vitamins help most when they correct a real gap. In people who already have adequate levels, routine supplementation has not consistently improved cognition.
• Protein supports the muscle maintenance that keeps you moving, training, and independent as you age.
• The most common recommendations are not automatically your top priorities. Bloodwork and a full picture of your health decide where to start.

Why the same five recommendations keep coming up

Because brain health is whole-body health. Your brain does not age independently of the rest of your body: muscle, metabolic health, cardiovascular function, balance, and the ability to stay physically active are deeply interconnected with how well you age.

That is why coaching plans built from very different bloodwork still converge on some of the same actions. Two of the five below are foundational behaviors that benefit nearly everyone. Two are nutrients where common gaps can be identified with a blood test and corrected relatively easily. One supports all the others.

1. Strength training

Strength training comes up more consistently in BetterBrain coaching plans than almost anything else.

Resistance training supports strength, muscle mass, mobility, and physical function. It may support cognition too: a 2025 network meta-analysis of 58 randomized trials covering 4,349 participants found improvements in global cognitive scores among older adults who trained. These are short-term cognitive measures, not dementia outcomes, so the honest summary is modest benefit with a consistent direction. We broke down the science in more detail in what six months of lifting weights does to your hippocampus.

The brain health case for strength training is bigger than any single cognitive effect. Maintaining muscle protects the metabolic and cardiovascular systems your brain depends on, and it preserves the physical capacity to keep doing everything else on this list.

A useful general goal is to train the major muscle groups a few times per week and gradually increase what your body can do. The right starting point depends on your current fitness, health, and experience.

You can learn more about strength training on the BetterBrain App here.

Create a BetterBrain Account

2. Omega-3s

Omega-3s are fats involved in brain, cardiovascular, and metabolic health. EPA and especially DHA are structural components of neuronal membranes and play roles in inflammation and neurotransmission.

The trial evidence is genuinely mixed, and the pattern matters. Meta-analyses of randomized trials have reported modest cognitive benefits, mostly in people with low fish intake or mild cognitive impairment. The two largest trials in generally healthy adults, VITAL-Cog and AREDS2, found no cognitive benefit from supplementation.

That pattern is exactly why we prefer personalization over blanket recommendations. Someone who regularly eats fatty fish and already has healthy omega-3 status may have little reason to add a supplement. Someone who gets very little EPA and DHA through their diet may have a much clearer opportunity. We cover food sources, forms, and dosing in unlocking the power of omega-3s.

The BetterBrain approach: understand your diet and biomarkers first, then supplement when there is a reason to.

3. Aerobic exercise

Of the five, aerobic exercise has the broadest overall evidence base for healthy aging.

Regular cardiovascular activity supports cardiorespiratory fitness, blood pressure, glucose regulation, and metabolic health. Randomized trials suggest modest benefits for cognition, and observational research consistently associates higher physical activity with lower rates of cognitive decline and dementia. Observational findings show association rather than cause, but the direction is consistent across decades of research, and the cardiovascular and metabolic benefits are established on their own.

Walking counts. Cycling counts. Swimming counts. Running counts. The best form of cardio is usually the one you can keep doing consistently.

Learn more about aerobic training

4. B vitamins

B vitamins are an area with real opportunity, and context matters more here than almost anywhere else.

Vitamin B12 and folate are essential for normal neurological function, and correcting a true deficiency is important: frank B12 deficiency can cause neurological symptoms that are reversible when treated. Research in people with mild cognitive impairment has also produced interesting results. In the VITACOG trial, a randomized trial of 168 adults with mild cognitive impairment, B-vitamin treatment slowed the rate of brain atrophy on MRI, with the largest effect in participants who started with higher homocysteine.

That does not mean everyone benefits from a B-complex. Across 11 randomized trials covering roughly 22,000 participants, routine B-vitamin supplementation did not improve cognition in people who already had adequate levels.

This is another example of the importance of blood testing to understand your baseline and get a better view of what is going to impact your brain health the most.

Get started with BetterBrain bloodwork

Schedule your BetterBrain retest

5. Adequate protein

Protein might not be the first thing you associate with brain health. But healthy aging depends in part on maintaining the physical capacity to keep moving, exercising, and functioning independently, and adequate protein supports muscle maintenance, recovery, and the adaptations that come from resistance training.

How much protein someone needs depends on age, activity level, body size, health, and goals. A commonly used target is at least 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily, which works out to roughly 110 grams for a 160-pound adult, and possibly more if you are training intensely. Some experts recommend up to 1 gram per pound for strength and longevity goals, since hitting a protein target every day is hard and a higher target builds in a buffer.

Which recommendation should you start with?

The one that matches your biology, which is not necessarily the one that appears most often.

Omega-3s and B vitamins can sometimes be relatively simple gaps to correct. Strength training, aerobic exercise, and improving nutrition tend to require bigger and more sustained behavior change. Good brain health plans usually contain both kinds: quick wins, and habits you build into your life for years.

But even the most common recommendations are not automatically your top five. Someone with insulin resistance may need to focus heavily on metabolic health. Someone with low B12 needs a different plan. Someone with poor cardiovascular fitness, elevated ApoB, inadequate protein intake, or poor sleep has another set of priorities.

That is why BetterBrain starts by looking at the whole picture: your bloodwork, cardiovascular and metabolic health, nutrition, exercise, sleep, cognition, health history, and, where appropriate, genetics. Then you can take what science says about healthy brain aging and decide where to focus first.

The bottom line

The five recommendations above come up constantly because they address things that matter for almost every brain. Which of them belongs at the top of your plan is a question your biology answers.

If you have not seen your full picture yet, that is the place to start. Blueprint includes 50+ biomarkers, a consultation of up to 90 minutes with a brain health expert, and a personalized action plan ranked by impact. $89 with insurance, $399 cash pay.

Check your coverage

Already a BetterBrain client? Open your protocol to see the science behind each technique and the recommendations most relevant to you.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best exercise for brain health?

The best-supported combination is aerobic exercise plus strength training. Aerobic activity supports the cardiovascular and metabolic systems the brain depends on, and randomized trials suggest modest cognitive benefits. Resistance training preserves muscle, mobility, and physical function, and a 2025 meta-analysis of 58 randomized trials found improvements in global cognition among older adults who trained. The most effective exercise in practice is the one you can sustain consistently.

Does strength training help your brain?

Research suggests it can. A 2025 network meta-analysis of 58 randomized trials found resistance training improved global cognitive scores in older adults. The broader case is indirect but strong: strength training preserves muscle mass, metabolic health, and physical function, all of which are interconnected with how well the brain ages. A common goal is training the major muscle groups a few times per week.

Should I take omega-3 supplements for brain health?

It depends on your starting point. Trial evidence suggests modest cognitive benefits mostly in people with low fish intake or mild cognitive impairment, while the two largest trials in generally healthy adults found no cognitive benefit from supplementation. If you regularly eat fatty fish, you may have little reason to supplement. Understanding your diet and biomarkers first is more useful than defaulting to a capsule.

Do B vitamins help memory?

Only in certain situations. Correcting a true B12 or folate deficiency is important, and in the VITACOG randomized trial, B vitamins slowed brain atrophy in adults with mild cognitive impairment, especially those with high homocysteine. But across 11 randomized trials of roughly 22,000 people with adequate levels, routine supplementation did not improve cognition. Testing your levels tells you which group you are in.

How much protein do you need for healthy aging?

Needs vary with age, activity, body size, and health, but a commonly used target is at least 0.7 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily, roughly 110 grams for a 160-pound adult. Some experts suggest up to 1 gram per pound for strength and longevity goals. Adequate protein supports the muscle maintenance and recovery that keep you active and independent.

How do I know which brain health habit to prioritize?

Start from your biology rather than from a generic list. Blood pressure, metabolic markers, nutrient levels, cardiovascular fitness, and sleep all change what deserves attention first. A comprehensive assessment that reads these together, the way BetterBrain's does, can rank actions by likely impact for you specifically, so you spend effort where it counts.