Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Huperzia serrata is a plant extract. Huperzine A is an alkaloid extracted from the plant that provides a substantial effect on brain function and memory, specifically by protecting the nerve cells of the brain. Here’s what you need to know.
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.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
Subscribe Today!
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.
What is Alcar?
Acetyl L-Carnitine (ALCAR) is an absorbable form of the amino acid known as L-Carnitine, a naturally occurring amino acid that is synthesized in the liver and kidney. Like L-Carnitine, Alcar produces energy in the mitochondria of the cell. Because it participates in energy metabolism, it can be supportive in healthy brain development, visual memory and overall focus for the general public.
What is ALA?
ALA, or Alpha-Lipoic Acid, is made by the body and found in every cell. It supplies the body with Lipoic acid that is normally formed and very active in the body. But Lipoic acid activity decreases with age. This is a key nutrient for creating energy out of the calories you eat, functioning with at least two key enzymes needed for energy production. All of the energy required in your body requires Lipoic acid activity.
How Cocoa Also Benefits Brain Health and Memory. Listen Now >>
Alcar and ALA – Better Together
Alcar and ALA create something called acetyl-coenzyme A out of your food. When you eat fats, proteins, and carbohydrates they go through different pathways to wind up with something called acetyl-coenzyme A. You need ALA to make this and it is very important for the creation of this energy molecule. It is currency for energy. The Alcar shuttles this to your cell – the power plant of the cell where you release and create energy called the mitochondria. So, ALA allows you to create acetyl-coenzyme A and Alcar shuttles it into the cell. This gives your brain energy, as energy production dwindles with age. In fact, Alcar directly creates energy in the brain and is a neurotransmitter. A neurotransmitter is a tiny molecule in the brain that has a profound effect in making the brain work properly and helping to restore metabolism when you are aging. For example, Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that controls your appetite and helps to stabilize your mood.
“In the daytime, Alcar with ALA is driving energy utilization in the brain, or rolling back the clock on an aging brain. At night, it helps to create Melatonin for better sleep quality.”
– Jerry Hickey, Ph.
Alcar and ALA also create a very important molecule called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine interacts with GABA and glutamate to help you learn something. GABA relaxes the neurons so it opens up, acetyl-choline shoves the message in there and glutamate provides the energy to carry out this action. Acetyl-choline also allows you to remember information.
The Benefit of Vitamin C For Your Brain and Heart. Listen now >>
Key Topic
Questions about Alcar with ALA? Leave Jerry Hickey, Ph. a comment below to join the conversation. You can also send us an email at nutritionist@invitehealth.com today to speak with a degreed healthcare professional.
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 has been shown in numerous studies in the support of healthy memory function and in its powerful defense against the effects of pollution. Here’s what you need to know.
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.
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Jerry Hickey. Ph
Subscribe Today!
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, according to NHANES. Additionally, older individuals and pregnant women need more Choline than the rest of the population.
Sources of Choline
You need to have Choline every day, as you lose it in your urine. Men need about 550mg and women need about 450mg, according to NHANES. Choline is neither a vitamin nor a mineral, but it is an essential nutrient. It’s loosely related to the B-complex of vitamins and is water soluble so you must have it daily. Without sufficient Choline, all of the other nutrients you consume for your memory or any supplement you take for your memory will not work effectively. It is extremely safe.
Foods that contain this nutrient include:
Choline was first recognized as an essential nutrient by the United States Institute of Medicine in 1998. Your body cannot make enough so you must get it from your food. But you would need large amounts of these foods to get sufficient levels; you would need three or four eggs to get enough Choline for your brain. Eight ounces of steak or fish gives you about 174mg of Choline.
How Fish and Krill Oil Benefit Your Brain Health. Listen Now >>
There are supplements that dependently supply this nutrient. Now, multivitamins generally contain some Choline and it benefits your heart, your muscle function, your nerves and liver. Choline typically used in multivitamins is choline bitartrate or choline citrate, which is good for your body overall. But this type of Choline does not get into your brain effectively. Other forms of Choline work better in the brain.
What does choline do for your brain?
Choline is tagged with a tiny molecule called the acetyl-group, which becomes a very important messenger in your brain called acetyl-choline. Acetyl-choline works throughout your brain and body. In the back part of your brain, the more primitive part that controls your muscles, balance, coordination, heart rhythm and beat, and your lungs ability to breathe, acetyl-choline interacts with a second neurotransmitter, called dopamine, for these functions. In the more advanced part of your brain, it is incredibly important to repair your brain cells, as some medications or prescriptions block the acetyl-choline from the transmission of messages between brain cells.
The Importance of Resveratrol For Brain Health. Listen Now >>
Other Key Topics
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.