Boosting Your Brain Health with Cocoa – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 259
We want to make sure that as we get older, we have the full functionality of our brain. The good news is that cocoa can really support brain-boosting ability.
Tag: brain
The Science Behind Cocoa For Overall Health – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 249
Cocoa is a plant-based, food-based antioxidant that has so many benefits when it comes to our health. Here’s what you need to know.
How Tart Cherry Offers Support For Memory Health – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 238
tart cherry
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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The National Institute on Aging recommends following a healthy diet, staying physically active, being mentally active, socializing, and looking after your health in general, like controlling your blood pressure and blood sugar, for you to maintain cognitive health and memory functions well into old age. Tart cherries have recently entered that mix. They really should be part of a healthful diet.
Some research on the benefits of tart cherry
The journal Food and Function published a very recent study from various departments and schools at the University of Delaware. They wanted to test the effects of tart cherry on brain health and memory functions in adults between the ages 65 to 80. They had normal cognitive function. They did not have memory loss. The researchers gave the subjects Montmorency tart cherry twice a day for 12 weeks. Then, they tested subjective memory and objective cognitive performances and they found a difference. They found a difference from baseline results, before they were given the tart cherry, and the end of the study. By the end of the study, the people in their 60s, 70s and 80s were more content and more calm and also did better on memory scores and on memory function tests, as well as performing better on learning tasks, retaining memory, working memory and visual sustained attention. Across the board, there were many improvements with the tart cherry. After 12 weeks, the University of Delaware found better memory, better contentment and more calmness in their subjects. They also responded more quickly to information. They had a 23% reduction in errors in episodic visual memory, a 3% improvement in visual sustained attention and an 18% reduction in errors during spatial memory working tasks, which includes doing math and things like that. These are really good results.†
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The tart cherry is loaded with flavonoids called anthocyanins that are good for circulation. They’re very powerful antioxidants, which is interesting because antioxidant levels in the eyes and brain decline with age and anthocyanins are very good for both your eyes and brain.†
If you look at the data on tart cherries in general, there are studies out of Texas A&M where they gave their NCAA athletes the skins of Montmorency tart cherries, called CherryPUREⓇ, and they performed better physically, recovered faster and had fewer injuries. There’s a number of studies that they published.†
There are other studies about tart cherry helping to improve blood flow, blood pressure and nighttime sleep. You’re taking tart cherry in the daytime for brain power, but at night, you’re sleeping better. There’s several studies on that, too. In fact, we’ve done a podcast episode on tart cherry and other nutrients that can help you sleep better at night.†
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Tune into the full podcast episode for more studies about the positive impacts of tart cherry.
More about tart cherry
Tart cherry is very safe. If you mix tart cherry in with real cocoa or red beets, these combinations help boost circulation in the brain. You can also take tart cherry with resveratrol. Those are good couplings to restore circulation to your aging brain. If you’re over the age of 50, I would recommend that because, if you keep the circulation going, you lose fewer memory cells.†
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
Studies Show Phosphatidylserine Offers Support for Hyperactivity – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 219
There’s evidence that Phosphatidylserine, along with vegetable and fish oils, improves the brain function of those with ADD and ADHD.
This Type of Dementia is Curable – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 216
Doctors are finding that there are brain diseases that seem to be curable, including what is called autoimmune dementia.
How Tocotrienols Supports Brain Health – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 207
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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Vitamin E is a very well-known nutritional supplement. It’s a chain-breaking antioxidant and fatty tissue. Considering that the brain is about 60% fat, it would seem that Vitamin E should be very important for protecting brain health, and that is turning out to be very true.
There are two families of Vitamin E, and it turns out that not all Vitamin E is created equal when it comes to protecting the brain. The original vitamin E that you’re familiar with was first discovered in 1922 by researchers at the University of California. It is an important factor for fertility and its name is derived from Greek words meaning ‘birth’ and ‘to carry’.
What are Tocopherols and Tocotrienols?
There are four members of this family, collectively known as tocopherols. The only form of vitamin E that has an established daily value is alpha-tocopherol, meaning that the government deems this vitamin is needed at a minimum level for good health and to sustain life. In 1964, a whole different family of Vitamin E was discovered and it also has four members. These are known as tocotrienols and research is finding that minimum levels are likely essential for brain health. This brings the number of known variants of Vitamin E up to eight – four tocopherols and four tocotrienols and it seems that you need all four for memory health.
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A very recent study prompted me to record this episode. Researchers in Japan gave elderly adults with memory loss a combination of a carotenoid called Astaxanthin and the four tocotrienols. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human clinical trial. It was published in the Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition. The researchers found that within three months, the two supplements improved memory across a range of activities and was extremely safe to take.†
For more information about astaxanthin and other carotenoids, tune into the full podcast episode.
You only need tiny amounts of tocotrienols. In fact, a very interesting study done at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center looked at animals that spontaneously developed strokes. They gave them tocotrienols in their food and found that the tocotrienols helped limit the amount of damage the strokes caused in their brains. They only had to give the animals tiny amounts; it seemed like nano amounts were enough to protect their brains.†
They did a follow-up study with healthy elderly women and they gave them very small amounts of tocotrienols. They found that the amount of tocotrienol that entered their brain was 12 to 20 times the amount needed to protect their brain from a stroke. The Wexner Medical Center is now doing studies where they are giving tocotrienols to patients who previously had strokes to see if the nutrient will help prevent damage if they have another stroke.†
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A study from Ohio State University Medical Center published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in 2004 showed that tocotrienols possess powerful antioxidant properties. All of those things are good for the brain. They found that tocotrienol, especially alpha-tocotrienol, was massively more powerful than regular Vitamin E, even at very tiny servings. It protected the cells of the brain from glutamate toxicity. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that becomes an excitotoxin when it gets overactive. This means that the brain cells can work themselves to death. The researchers found that even at tiny amounts, the tocotrienols protected the brain tissue from glutamate toxicity, as well as a whole slew of other toxins to the brain. They’re finding that tocotrienols are very powerful as neuroprotective agents and anti-inflammatory agents in the brain, even at very low dosages.†
Tune into the full podcast episode to hear more studies about the power of tocotrienols.
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.