Bingo proven to strengthen mind and body
Mt. Olive Seniors by Dixie Kuykendall
The North Jefferson News
Our July pot luck was so very good. We may be seniors, but we can cook.
We celebrated the birthdays of members Jackie Murphy, J.T. Lyon and Don Studyvin.
On Thursday, a group of our ladies enjoyed a shopping trip. We invited the gentlemen, but they always prefer bingo. Speaking of bingo, have you ever wondered how the popular game got started? The history of bingo is very interesting — it dates back all the way to the 1500s and the country of origin was Italy.
It quickly became a lottery game all over Europe and the Germans used a version of it as a child’s game for learning math and other subjects. The French played bingo as a lottery game for aristocrats.
When bingo made its way to the United States in the 1920s, it was called beano because beans were used to mark the cards (I did not make this up!). There are 6,000 variations of the bingo card.
We try to stay as young as we can. Although it is not physically possible to keep a youthful body forever, you can help to keep your mental agility in place.
Seniors often encounter thinning of their blood. Thin blood reaches the brain, lowers brain reflexes and as a result, you lose flexibility of your brain reflexes.
Bingo helps you tackle all those woes differently. The energetic and agile brain reflexes in a game of bingo can prevent such loss. The competitive spirit energizes you.
Bingo is essentially a community game; you can play bingo meet and catch up on your friends. Regular bingo gatherings tend to do away with loneliness. Loneliness often leads to depression.
Bingo is the sole medication for all such ailments. It helps you keep a healthy mind leading to a healthy body.
Researchers have proven that regular bingo players did better on various mental tests than non-players, and at certain tasks, older players even out-thought younger people. Also, a Harvard study showed social activities such as bingo could increase life span by 20 percent.
So, how can you not get up and get yourself down to the senior center meet some nice folks, play bingo, get smarter and live longer?