Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Today we are discussing the many benefits that Alcar and ALA have on the brain. There is a huge impact on your brain when you use these two nutrients together. These nutrients are involved with energy production and so much more.
Omega-3 fatty acids are in the news once again! This is because they are so critical to our overall existence, but especially for brain and heart health. Generally speaking, our bodies are lacking omega-3s, because of our standard American diets. Here’s why that is so damaging to our health.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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Welcome to Part 2 of Cocoa For Brain Health and Memory! If you missed Part 1, click here to listen now. In Part 1, we discussed the benefits of cocoa and some studies that show evidence of them. Let’s continue talking about this powerful superfood today!
How Pollution Impacts Your Brain
Vehicle pollution releases Fine Particulate Matter. Fine, meaning that it is really tiny. When you inhale this matter, it inflames the lungs and is very easily solubilized into your blood. When it mixes into the blood, it shoots right from the blood into the heart. This inflames the heart, and the heart then pumps this blood all throughout the body. Researchers have found that inhaled pollution is involved with fatty liver, a decline in kidney function, damage to the heart, strokes and memory loss. Memory loss occurs because it gets into the brain, inflaming it.
Several studies from the University of Montana Missoula along with other academic research institutions looking at children who lived in an urban area who were around a lot of pollution. Researchers compared them to children that lived in more pristine surroundings around the country with more clean air. They found that the kids living in the city that were exposed to all of this air pollution had inflammation in their brain and heart. They also did not do well academically. Pollution seems to impact their mental function, memory, judgement and processing. Researchers also found plaques in their brain that you would normally see in 70 or 80 year old elderly adults and in Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease. This kids were put on a high-quality cocoa supplement and within nine to 21 days, the level of inflammation in their heart and brain dropped and they were doing better academically and in memory function tests.
Not only had Cocoa been shown to help restore circulation to the aging brain, which we discussed in Part 1, but it also has been shown to help restore memory in aging people and it helps to defend the brain from inflammation, toxins and pollution. Research also shows that a number of ingredients within Cocoa help to calm the brain down, helping with stress and nervousness.†
Cocoa and Memory in Aging People
Published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, researchers from NYU and Columbia University Medical Center in New York found that age-associated decline in memory function has to do with a part of the brain that is called the dentate gyrus, which sits next to the hypo campus (a major organ for memory). They found that with age, as circulation to the brain declines, these two organs start to shrink a little bit, pull apart and stop functioning well together, impacting memory. In this study, high-quality cocoa – specifically its component flavon-3ols – helped to restore circulation to the dentate gyrus, helped the dentate gyrus better connect to the hypo campus and helped to improve memory. Researchers reported, “When we imaged our research subjects brain we found noticeable improvements in the function of the dentate gyrus in those that consumed a high-cocoa flavanol drink.”
Flavanols Also Benefit Healthy Hearing. Click Here to Learn More! >>
Questions about the benefits of cocoa? Leave a comment for Chief Scientific Officer and Pharmacist, Jerry Hickey, Ph.
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.
Cocoa is a very powerful superfood that has been studied extensively for brain health, including brain circulation and memory. Here’s what you need to know from Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Vitamin C is not just essential for healthy immune function. It is also important for brain and heart health, specifically for endothelial function. Here’s what you need to know.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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It is normal to feel sad after a loss or anxious in the face of a threat or new challenge. But when you can’t shake these feelings, or they seem to occur for no obvious reason, you may have depression or an anxiety disorder, such as panic disorder. Fortunately, most people respond well to treatment.
What is Major Depression?
Depression ranges in how serious it is. Some people experience mild and temporary episodes of sadness. Others experience severe and ongoing depressive episodes. Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States but it is not the only form of depression. For some individuals, major depression can result in severe impairment that interferes with or limits the ability to carry out major life activities.
Typically it is classified as a period of at least two weeks where a person experiences a depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities, and had a majority of specified symptoms, such as problems with sleep, eating, energy, concentration, or self-worth.
Serotonin is known as the happiness molecule. A supplement called 5-HTP can raise serotonin and this makes you feel good, feel happy, and feel free of the symptoms of stress and anxiety. Serotonin also makes you feel full when eating, making 5-HTP useful for weight loss; we describe this activity in a separate episode.†
Conventional and Lifestyle Therapies
You may successfully manage symptoms with one form of treatment. It is also common to combine conventional and lifestyle therapies. Your doctor may prescribe medication for depression and anxiety. Living with depression can be difficult, but treatment can help you cope. Talk to your doctor about possible options.
In a review of 28 studies, “forest therapy” was shown to improve depression. If you go into the woods for 15 to 20 minutes it lifts your mood. A review of 30 studies shows that “forest bathing”, also called forest therapy, reduces the stress hormone cortisol. When you reduce cortisol, you can sleep better at night and are able to focus better. This reduction is also good for weight loss. When you are stressed out and release cortisol, food is much more fattening.
In a study of 94 adults, visiting a park for 20 minutes boosted feelings of well-being and in a group of 60 adults, walking in a forest for 15 minutes compared to 15 minutes in a city area clicked their mood up a couple of levels and improved their attention span. The Japanese have a name for it – Shinrin Yoku or forest bathing – and it’s a good reason to visit a botanical garden or arboretum.
Nutritional Support for Mood Improvement
There are a number of nutritional supplements support or improve your mood.
ALCAR stands for Acetyl L-Carnitine. It is great for your nerves, good for energy, great for your heart and it is helpful with tinnitus (ringing in your ear). If you take ALCAR away from food, it is better absorbed into the brain and it has been shown in a number of studies to click your mood up. And it does this very quickly and it is very safe. ALCAR is also good for your memory as you grow older.†
Well absorbed Curcumin is called Bio-Curcumin. It is also called BCM95. Five human clinical trials have found that it is good for depression and if you add it to an anti-depressant, it works better.†
NAC stands for N-Acetyl-Cysteine and is a powerful amino acid. This supplement is useful for helping with addiction even to alcohol or tobacco, and it helps compulsive behavior, such as nail biting and gambling, as shown in thousands of human clinical trials.†
SAMe, or S-Adenomethionine, may help boost the formation of neurotransmitters needed for healthy brain function. It is also useful for liver and joint health.†
Fish oils help to a degree. Your brain is about 60% fat and one of the major fats in your brain is fish oil (omega-3 fatty acid).†
The Importance of 5-HTP for Brain Health and Mood Support
5-HTP stands for 5-hydroxytryptophan. It comes from the seeds of the Griffonia simplicifolia plant. It easily enters your brain and is quickly converted into serotonin. Serotonin is known as the ‘happiness molecule’ and is a very important neurotransmitter.
Neurotransmitters – and we know of approximately 100 of them in the human brain – transmit messages throughout the brain. Serotonin transmits happiness, and helps fend off depression, anxiety and stress.
In humans, studies indicate 5-HTP may reduce anxiety (although there are more trials looking at it’s effects on depression) and the studies find benefit. Results from more recent studies suggest that 5-HTP has antidepressant effects comparable with fluoxetine (Paxil), and there is benefit as part of augmentation therapy for drug-resistant depression.†
5-HTP augments the response to SSRIs by increased presynaptic serotonin availability, thus enhancing serotonins release into the synapse. It was also proposed to potentially reduce hot flashes in menopausal women with breast cancer or with risk of breast cancer by enhancing serotonin levels (27) , but a clinical study in postmenopausal women found it ineffective (20) .†
5-HTP can also increase levels of dopamine, and norepinephrine, these neurotransmitters are involved in mood and taking 5-HTP at night improves sleep; it’s metabolism at night takes an extra step and creates the sleep neurotransmitter melatonin.†
Talk to your doctor about possible lifestyle and treatment options.
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.