Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Alcar and ALA are two nutrients that are natural to the human brain that have numerous health benefits, including brain energy production. But they also play a major role for memory. Here’s what you need to know.
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.
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.
Choline is a necessary nutrient for your memory and is an essential nutrient for all activities in your brain related to your memory. Here’s the issue; most Americans – about 90% – do not get enough Choline in their food or their diet.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
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There is a large volume of research on the benefits of fish oils for your brain, related to brain health, brain function, memory, mood but also for good housekeeping and the maintenance of the structure of the brain. Let’s talk about how taking fish oil is so important for your brain. In part two, I will be diving into Krill oil benefits for your brain.
Fish Oil Capsules: Ancient Food for the Modern Brain
A large and growing library of studies shows the overwhelming benefits fish oils have for the brain. The results of these studies may lead doctors who treat brain-related conditions to change certain aspects of their practice.
Essential for Memory and Cognitive Function
Fish oils accomplish their effects on the brain through many different pathways. Fish oils mostly supply two important fats – EPA and DHA. The DHA component combines with the brain-friendly nutrient Phosphatidylserine to improve the health of neurons, or to shield the brain from stress hormones. This has applications for improving and protecting memory and executive functions, particularly in the elderly, adults and children with ADHD. It may also improve physical activity and performance in athletes.
Resveratrol is another important antioxidant for the brain. Click here to read more >>
Protect the Brain with Fish Oil
Fish oil fatty acids are metabolized into resolvins and protectins. Resolvins made out of the EPA or DHA fractions act like molecular tweezers removing a splinter. In this case, they remove cells that cause inflammation in the brain or the retina of the eye. Protectins are made out of the DHA fraction of fish. They act like a shield in the brain and eyes, and through these activities, fish oils may help selectively protect cognitive functions and vision.*
Clinical Studies: May Postpone or Fight Alzheimer’s disease
Eating fatty fish or taking a non-GMO fish oil supplement is proven to be an inexpensive “weapon” that may delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease. In 2007, researchers led by scientists from UCLA confirmed that fish oils are a deterrent against Alzheimer’s. They also identified the science behind their effectiveness. Greg Cole, Professor of Medicine and Neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and Associate Director of UCLA’s Alzheimer’s disease Research Center, along with his colleagues reported that the DHA component of fish oils increased the production of LR11, a protein that is low in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. LR11 destroys the toxic protein that forms the “plaques” in Alzheimer’s disease. The plaques are deposits of a protein called beta-amyloid that is toxic to neurons in the brain, contributing to Alzheimer’s. This was effective in cell studies as well as in studies of animals specifically bred to develop Alzheimer’s.*
Dr. Zady Tan, also of UCLA, has dramatically increased the status of the evidence. Dr. Tan and his colleagues from the Easton Center for Alzheimer’s disease Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA examined the effects of Fish Oil levels on brain health and function in 1575 dementia-free adults taking part in the Framingham Study. In the analysis published online in the journal Neurology, the study participants with an average age of 67 had their red blood cells examined for their fish oil levels. They were also given an MRI to determine brain volume.*
Having trouble with focus and concentration? Here’s what you need to know >>
People with the lowest content of fish oils in their red blood cells, 25% of participants, had a significantly lower total cerebral brain volume (the thinking parts of their brain had shrunk) than those in the highest 25%. They also performed significantly worse on tests of visual memory, executive function and abstract memory. In other words, the fish oils helped reduce the rate of brain aging.*
In a related study led by Doctor Nikolaos Scarmeas of Colombia University Medical Center in New York, it was estimated that consuming one additional gram of omega-3 fatty acids a day above the average intake of the people in the study was associated with a 20% to 30% decrease in the blood level of beta-amyloid protein. This study included 1,219 people aged 65 and up. Interestingly, up to 15% of the dry weight of the brain is made up of DHA. DHA levels fall with age; therefore, you may want to replace it.*
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.