The list of ways to reduce your dementia risk just keeps getting longer.

Some are big efforts (meditation or distance running), while others are small (gardening, walking, eating blueberries).

But they’re all part of a “powerful shift in how we think about dementia, and especially Alzheimer’s disease,” said behavioral neurologist Silky Pahlajani, MD, a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian in New York City.

Dementia is “no longer just something that happens with age, but now is known to be a condition influenced by multiple factors,” said Pahlajani. “Those risk factors accumulate over decades before memory symptoms even appear. That’s a big, very important revelation.”

The consistent theme: What’s good for your body is also good for your brain. Four recent studies, all published in the last few weeks, build on this trend, offering new evidence-backed ways for you to boost your physical health while also potentially lowering your risk of dementia.

Quality sleep has long been linked with reduced dementia risk – not to mention improvements in mood, immunity, blood sugar, heart health, and weight. But a new study zeroes in on the right kind of sleep for Alzheimer’s prevention. “This study shows that deep sleep, which is a slow-wave sleep, and REM sleep are two stages that play a very important role in clearing brain toxins and supporting memory networks,” said Pahlajani, who wasn’t involved in the research.

You’d think that a hard workout would be better than an easy one – but maybe not. New findings just published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia found little difference. The study compared cognitive decline (a problem with thinking skills) in people who did moderate- to high-intensity workouts versus those who did low-intensity stretching, balance, and range-of-motion activities at the YMCA three or four times per week for a year.

Keeping your LDL cholesterol low could dramatically reduce your risk of dementia – and statins can offer other benefits for those who qualify. People whose LDL cholesterol was below 70 mg/dL had a 26% reduced risk of dementia and a 28% reduced risk of Alzheimer’s specifically, compared to people whose LDL was 130 mg/dL or higher, according to new research.

If you have type 2 diabetes and you’re north of 50, this finding matters to you: Taking a GLP-1 or a SGLT2i (two types of diabetes medications) was linked to a 33%-43% lower risk of Alzheimer’s or a related dementia. The average age of the people in the study was around 65.