Alison Stewart: This is All Of It on WNYC. I'm Alison Stewart. It's the first full week of 2026, and a new project from the New York Times aims to help people resolve to start taking their brain health seriously. We're talking about the organic gray matter between your ears and making sure that we're keeping one of our most important organs as healthy as possible, particularly as we get older or you have a brain injury like yours truly. The five-day program is called the Five-Day Brain Health Challenge, with the tagline A Sharper, More Resilient Mind Starts Here. It's been put together by Dana Smith, a New York Times reporter focusing on brain health and aging. Dana, welcome to All Of It.

Dana Smith: Thanks so much for having me.

Alison Stewart: You report on aging and brain health. From a public health perspective, what were your sources telling you about brain health?

Dana Smith: I think there's a lot of scary headlines about brain health these days. There's reports that the number of people with dementia is going to double over the next couple of decades. One thing that really stood out to me in talking with neurologists and other brain health experts is dementia is not a guarantee. I think a lot of us have dementia in our family, I certainly do, and it can be a really scary prospect.

I think one of the most encouraging things I've heard from researchers and doctors over the last couple years is that there's a lot that you can do to reduce your risk of dementia and protect your brain health. That was really the main message that we wanted to get across with this challenge, is that, yes, your brain health, just like your physical health, is a lot more in control than people might think.

Alison Stewart: It's a five part challenge. We'll get into each portion in some detail, but can you give us an outline of the key pillars?

Dana Smith: Absolutely. I interviewed a lot of neurologists, dozens of experts, for this challenge and really asked people what their top five things for brain health would be and got a smattering of responses. These were the ones that really rose to the top. We started yesterday with a quiz just to get readers interested. The information that was in that day was really about sleep and just how crucial sleep is for brain health. Today we're focused about diet and we're highlighting the mind diet, which is similar to the Mediterranean diet, but with a few key tweaks and just how important nutrition is for brain health.

Tomorrow we're going to get into exercise, which, frankly, was the number one activity that experts mentioned. It was a unanimous inclusion about how important exercise is for the brain. On Thursday, we're going to have cognitive challenges. Cognitive exercises or games or ways to stimulate your brain mentally. Then on day five is admittedly maybe not the most interesting or the sexiest day, but it's blood pressure. Blood pressure is incredibly important for your brain health.

Alison Stewart: Listeners, have you committed to taking your brain health seriously this year? What does that look like to you? Tell us about your own brain health journey at 212-433-9692, 212-433-WNYC. What's worked for you? What hasn't? How did you build those healthy brain habits? Or maybe you have a quest for our guest. Remember, she's a brain health journalist, not a medical professional so she can't give you medical advice, but she might be able to explain the science. Our number is 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. Okay, for folks who started the challenge yesterday, they were presented with a quiz to see how much they already know about brain health. What are some of the common misconceptions you frequently see in the space?

Dana Smith: Oh, that's a great question. I think one is what I mentioned at the top, that people just assume that there's nothing they can do for brain health and that it's not the same as the rest of your body. That is really one thing that we wanted to address that diet, exercise, sleep are incredibly important for mental health, cognitive health, just like for physical health. Another one we see is a lot of people take supplements these days.

While there is some evidence that some supplements like Omega 3s may be helpful, one message that a lot of dietitians and neurologists got across was that really your diet is the best way to get in these important nutrients. Instead of taking an Omega 3 supplement, have a serving of salmon at least once a week. I think that that was one that really stood out. Let's see. Another one, I think that people disregard the importance of sleep. I feel that has started to change in the last 5 or 10 years or so but this rise and grind mentality I think has hurt a lot of us. The importance of sleep is another one that I heard over and over and over again.

Alison Stewart: Yes, there were 12 questions that you were supposed to answer on this quiz. I got 9 out of 12.

Dana Smith: Not bad.

Alison Stewart: Yes, I did okay. I said I had a PhD. A PhD in this quiz. How did you curate the 12 questions? What were you trying to get at with those 12 questions?

Dana Smith: We really wanted to include a smattering of what people would experience throughout the week. There's a couple teasers in there for the exercise day tomorrow. For the mind diet day today, we really talk about the importance of walnuts. It turns out walnuts are incredibly good for your brain. They have a lot of great nutrients in them. Then also address some of those misconceptions like you mentioned. Things like whether supplements are important enough for brain health. Another part of it was I have a background in brain research and there's just a lot of fun, nerdy facts that I find really fascinating.

Alison Stewart: Oh, give me a couple. Let's go.

Dana Smith: One that I think is so interesting is that a loss of smell can be an early sign of dementia, which I think not a lot of people are aware of. I certainly didn't know that until I was reporting on the dementia beat. I think that is really interesting. Things like that. Let's see. Another one that we led with was when your brain stops changing. I have a baby, I have a daughter, and I know that her brain is changing and growing all the time.

It turns out that our brains never stop changing. While the volume of your brain peaks in childhood and adolescence and it does start to shrink around our 30s or 40s, your brain actually never stops changing. You can always grow new connections between neurons. There's always changes that can be made in your brain. I thought that was a fun one to include at the top that, yes, it's never too early and never too late to improve your brain health.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Gary on line one. Hi, Gary, thank you so much for making the time to call All Of It.

Gary: Hi. Thanks for having me. I am a TBI survivor and now I'm about 20 years post. I've taken a real interest in what I would coin the term as cognitive wellness. That's all things that's going to either facilitate neurogenesis or neuroplasticity. Main focus is going to be with exercise, then supporting that with good nutrition, wellness, and as well as meditation. That's all I have.

Alison Stewart: Thanks, Gary, for calling in. Yes, nutrition is your next big one you have us looking at today. The first line of it cracked me up. It said, "Your brain is an energy hog." What makes your brain an energy hog?

Dana Smith: Our brain takes up about 2% of our body mass so it's not a huge portion of our size but it takes up a ton of energy. Your brain uses about 20% of the body's energy. What you feed your brain or what you feed your body really matters for your brain. It uses up a lot of our glucose and energy that the body produces. What you eat really matters for brain health. I loved what Gary said about neuroplasticity. I think this is one of my favorite fun facts that will come tomorrow in day three around exercise. Exercise is probably the best thing you can do for your brain, and it really does actually help new neurons grow connections between brain cells in the brain.

There's these amazing molecules called exokines that are released from your muscles and from other organs, and some of them make their way up to the brain. It really does repair brain cells and helps new connections form between neurons. There's some research that's still a little bit up in the air about whether it can help new neurons actually grow in the brain but it is definitely one of the best things you can do for brain health. The science behind it is just so fascinating. I love that Gary mentioned that.

Alison Stewart: Can I ask you about nutrition? Does hydration matter?

Dana Smith: That's a great question. I definitely want to say yes, but it wasn't something that came up in my reporting. I can't imagine that it doesn't matter but it was not officially part of the mind diet. Yes, please drink water for the health of all of your cells.

Alison Stewart: What is something simple that folks can implement today to start integrating brain health into their diets?

Dana Smith: One thing that we really tried to emphasize was that these are really small tweaks that you can make. I think when people hear diet, especially in January, they think of this major overhaul that they have to do. You have to throw out all of your favorite foods and just eat raw kale. That is really not what we're trying to do here. We're really encouraging people just to make small tweaks to their diet.

One thing that's really important in the mind diet is berries. Berries have all these amazing antioxidants that are anti-inflammatory in the brain. They're really, really healthy for you. Add a handful of blueberries to your cereal or your yogurt or your oatmeal in the morning. That I think can make a small but meaningful effect hopefully in your brain health.

Alison Stewart: We're talking to Dana Smith, New York Times reporter covering aging and brain health. They've just launched a five-day brain health challenge with five activities that you can start taking your brain health more seriously. Listeners, what have you done to help your brain? Crosswords? Sudoku? Do you go out in nature? Tell us how your own brain health journey began. Our number is 212-433-WNYC, 212-433-9692. What's worked for you? What hasn't? Let's take a few more calls. Nancy is calling in from Brooklyn. Hi, Nancy. Thanks for calling in.

Nancy: Hi. Great topic. I'm 70. I'm a very healthy 70. This fall I went back to the theater after 40 years of absence. I landed the lead role in a play and suddenly I had to memorize practically something on every single page, plus monologues, and it was so hard. It was different from when I was 20. I had to work so hard to do this memorization. It would slip out of my head and I'd have to do it again and again and again. There were different techniques for memorizing too that I found. I did it. I pulled it off. I had six performances. I'm so proud of myself. I realize not everybody can play the leading role in a play but what a fantastic way to get your brain in shape and I pulled it off.

Alison Stewart: Love that you pulled it off, Nancy. Thank you so much for calling in and congratulations to you. Let's talk to Frances, who's calling in from the Upper East Side. She has a question. Hi, Frances.

Frances: Hi. Yes, I have a question about if consume of alcohol is deteriorating the ability to regenerate the brain.

Alison Stewart: The question is, does alcohol- does the alcohol help--? Does alcohol hurt the brain? I guess that's the question.

Dana Smith: It's a great question and, unfortunately, the answer is yes. I'm not entirely sure of the mechanisms, but there is a lot of research, especially in the last couple years, that alcohol really is not great for our brains. It's not great for our bodies either. For a while there was the idea that red wine was maybe good for you and a moderate amount was okay, and now I think the tide has really turned that any amount of alcohol is not good for your brain. If you have one glass of wine every week or so, I don't think that's going to have a huge impact. In general, less is definitely more when it comes to alcohol and it's certainly not good for your brain, unfortunately.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Ken in Queens. Ken, thanks for calling All Of It.

Ken: Thank you. Happy New year, let me start with that. I'm curious, since today is diet day, you already talked about walnuts, what about coconut oil? I have to worry about my heart with coconut oil but it's supposed to help my brain.

Dana Smith: That's a good question. Coconut oil isn't included in the mind diet. The one that they emphasize instead is olive oil because it has a lot of those antioxidant properties that seem to be really great for brain health and reducing inflammation. I believe it also has some of those Omega 3s that are really important for brain health. The Omega 3s actually help create the insulating sheaths that basically help your brain communicate more efficiently between neurons.

There are these long axons that go from brain cell to brain cell, and the Omega 3s make these insulating sheaths that go around those axons and help the messages communicate more clearly or more efficiently. We know that olive oil is really great for brain health, and that is included in the mind diet. Coconut oil is not. I don't know if it would have any benefit or if it just is not as good as olive oil but I know that olive oil is the way to go, particularly with salad dressings and for cooking as well.

Alison Stewart: Here is a text which brings me to my next question. Exercise. The text says, "What kind of exercise?"

Dana Smith: Any kind. This, I think, is one of the most encouraging messages that researchers wanted to get across. Any type of movement is good for your brain. There's research on step counts in just walking, and it looks about 5,000 to 7,000 steps a day seems to be really optimal for brain health. Go for a long walk or two around your neighborhood. Go run errands while you're walking. I think that can make a difference on its own. Some of the researchers I spoke with said that they commute to work by walking.

One quote that I loved was, "Walk with a purpose." You're trying to get somewhere. You're not just mosing along. You do want to get your heart rate up and your muscles working. We know that strength training and resistance training is also great for the brain. Really, any type of movement that is getting your heart rate up and challenging your muscles is good. There's no one best type of exercise. Any type of movement is good for you.

Alison Stewart: A text question we have for you says, "Does the sleep have to be consecutive or done in stages like a two-hour nap and then five hours later?"

Dana Smith: Oh, that's a really good question. The standard recommendation is seven to eight hours of sleep a night. I'm going to stick with the standard recommendation. In general, you want long durations of sleep so that you can cycle through deep sleep and REM sleep, which are really important for memory consolidation. Sleep at night, those long chunks of sleep is when your brain does its daily housekeeping. This is why it's so important for brain health long term and why good sleep can actually lower your risk for dementia.

When you go to sleep at night, or if you're a shift worker a long chunk of sleep during the day, your brain, it's called the glymphatic system, and it kicks into high gear and essentially purges out all of the waste and abnormal proteins that might accumulate in your brain. That includes amyloid, which is implicated in Alzheimer's disease. Those long durations of sleep is when your brain does its self-cleaning and that's really, really important. I don't know whether that happens during an hour or two nap. That's a great question that I'm going to take back to some of my sources.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Todd in Westchester. Hi, Todd, thanks for calling All Of It.

Todd: Hi. I was wondering, I know you said exercise is good and you just talked about that, but I play tennis a lot and I've heard that racket sports and specifically tennis can add 8 to 10 years to your life. Do you know if tennis has anything to do with the brain as well?

Alison Stewart: I'm wondering about that because it might be the puzzling of it.

Dana Smith: It's funny you mention that. One of my colleagues is actually working on a story, I believe, and it's about the best exercise for longevity and I think that tennis is up there. I remember seeing that during ads for the US Open as well. I think it's probably a good combination of the social aspect of tennis as well. Dance is another one that a lot of neurologists mention as being really great for brain health. Of course, there's the cardiovascular and the fitness aspect to it but if you're playing with a friend or a partner, you're having a social engagement.

You're having a fun leisure activity as well. Socializing is incredibly good for our brain. I think that social component would make potentially tennis more beneficial than going for a run by yourself. Probably there's some agility as well but it's some footwork and a mental game. I do think that there is something to tennis being particularly good for your brain. Again, I'm going to emphasize any activity is good. If you're not a tennis player, you can still get a brain benefit.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk about games. In the next couple of days, we're going to get our project that says play a game. Can you give us a sneak peek of what we can expect?

Dana Smith: Absolutely. We are tapping into New York Times games to serve up some fun games for people to play. Although we're not trying to make any claims whatsoever that New York Times games will prevent dementia. We cannot say that. We will not say that. Just want to make that caveat out there. I think what was most fascinating to me about this day was that a lot of people do crossword puzzles or sudoku or are in book clubs or do knitting handicrafts. There's a lot of different ways that you can mentally challenge and stimulate your brain, and that is really the most important thing.

If you do the same thing over and over again, the benefit starts to drop a little bit. What you really need to do is something challenging. Something that's hard. It can't be the easy mode of a game. You really want to challenge your brain a little bit, and novelty is incredibly important. One researcher I spoke with that if you play Wordle every day, it probably isn't giving you the same benefit that it used to.

You want to seek out a new game, a new challenge, to really keep yourself on your toes. The crossword puzzle is great, going to museums, going to lectures, doing handicrafts, those types of things are really important for your brain. Also, try to keep a little bit of novelty in it. Try seeking out something new. That's what we really want to encourage people to do on day four.

Alison Stewart: Let's talk to Richard in Babylon. Hi, Richard. Thanks for calling All Of It.

Richard: Hi, Alison. Nice to talk to you again. I was just relaying to your screener that I had brain surgery in 2019 for a meningioma, and I found it interesting when I was listening to your interview, I listened to it twice, your interview with your neurosurgeon. I found it interesting and amusing that you consider you have your neurosurgeon, and I have my neurosurgeon.

I just wanted to emphasize to people that sometimes the discontinuity between something like you would go to my eye doctor. I went to my ophthalmologist, and he was concerned that my visual field was dropping down over the years. One particular instance he said, "I want you to go have an MRI right now." We did and it showed up right away there was a meningioma, which is very a silent thing and a lot of people might have this. He said, "You got to get the emergency right away." It was like one of those--

Alison Stewart: One of those things. I'm so sorry to cut you off, Richard, because we're going to run out of time. I feel you. Thank you so much for calling in. Before you go, we've got about 15, 45 seconds left. What is one thing you want people to do today, Dana, to help their brain?

Dana Smith: Eat a handful of walnuts and blueberries. I'm going to scoop myself for day five but really I think the most important thing is go get your blood pressure checked.

Alison Stewart: All right, it's the Five-Day Brain Health Challenge. It's in the New York Times. Dana Smith, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it.

Dana Smith: Thanks for having me.

Alison Stewart: There's more All Of It on the way.