Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
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cognition
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH
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Have you ever set your keys down and then you can’t remember where you put them or walked into a grocery store and you’re standing there wondering what you went in there for? This is a common thing that happens with the aging brain. I want to talk in some detail today about what that actually means and if you experience things like this, is this actually a sign of cognitive decline or could this have been brought on by other things in your life. Let’s talk about different factors that really play a role into age-related cognitive decline and different nutrients that can be incredibly beneficial when it comes to supporting proper neuronal activity within the brain itself.†
We know that aging is associated with a gradual decline in cognitive function. It’s common for people who are getting older to find that certain tasks take longer to complete and that their memory and attention aren’t as sharp as they once used to be. This doesn’t mean that you have dementia or the start of Alzheimer’s disease. What we do know is that new neurons develop throughout our lives within our brain, but they actually reach their maximum size during our early 20s. Then, they begin to very slowly shrink and this can be exacerbated by many different things. Certainly stress can make it worse and, most importantly, poor diet. The correct healthy fatty acids, vitamins and minerals all make a difference to optimizing our brain’s functions.†
Are Your Prescription Medications Causing Memory Loss? – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 274. Listen Now >>
We know that there are tremendous differences among individuals when it comes to the way that the brain itself actually ages. There are different causes of memory problems and we know that there are common conditions that can actually exacerbate that decline in cognitive abilities. Certainly, we can look at things like stress, anxiety, depression, certain infections and many different medications. Nutrition plays a role. Emotional distresses, substance abuse and thyroid disorders would certainly play a role into why people would have declining cognitive capacity.†
For more information on declining cognitive abilities, tune into the full podcast episode.
When we look at what we can do with natural interventions, we know that there are many different things that have been widely studied when it comes to being beneficial for age-related cognitive decline. I’m going to highlight our Cognition Hx formulation because this is a combination of many of those widely-studied nutrients that have been shown to be very efficacious when it comes to supporting the health of the brain.†
The Cognition Hx formula contains phosphatidylserine, which is a very important and essential fatty acid that helps with the actual cellular membrane of the brain. It’s also a key player in the formation of a very important neurotransmitter known as acetylcholine that we consider to be our primary memory neurotransmitter. Having that phosphatidylserine helps to support proper production of that acetylcholine. This formula also contains acetyl-L-carnitine, which we know is incredibly important. Decreasing levels of acetyl-L-carnitine have been associated with a decline of cognitive function. There was a meta-analysis where they looked at over 20 different studies showing that supplementation with acetyl-L-carnitine could actually improve cognitive deficits in people who had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease. Acetyl-L-carnitine is a modified amino acid and what it does is it helps to drive the fatty acids to the inside of the cell so they can be utilized for energy production. It’s a very important and critical amino acid.†
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This particular formulation also contains Huperzine A. Huperzine is a medicinal herb that has been shown to actually inhibit acetylcholinesterase, which is an enzyme that breaks down the very important neurotransmitter acetylcholine. We know that low acetylcholine levels is one of the main pathogenesis of cognitive decline in patients who have dementia and Alzheimer’s. The more we can bolster up acetylcholine, the better off we are.†
Tune into the full podcast episode to learn more about the beneficial nutrients found in our Cognition Hx formulation.
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.
There are certain classes of drugs that people are commonly prescribed that can actually affect, in a very negative way, someone’s cognition or memory over time. Here’s what you need to know.
Thiamine is a B vitamin that is involved with many important activities in the human body, including creating energy out of the sugar in your food, blood sugar control, heart health, nerve health and brain health. A form of thiamine called Benfotiamine has been studied for its memory support benefits.
aged garlic
Invite Health Podcast, Episode hosted by Amanda Williams, MPH.
Subscribe Today!
Most of us have used the term “thinking outside the box” at some point in time in our lives. One thing that I like to think about is thinking outside of the kitchen and there’s a reason why. There are so many wonderful things that we have in our food on a regular basis that can be so helpful for our overall health, so we have to think about some of the common nutrients that we’re exposed to. We can think about things like onion and garlic, for example. The garlic is predominantly what I want to focus in on today. We know that garlic not only has many well-studied cardiovascular benefits to it, but it goes well beyond that. I want to talk all about the many benefits of garlic, aged garlic in particular. When we think about supplementation, we want to make sure that the form of garlic we are using is the aged garlic type.†
What is garlic?
Most of us know garlic and it definitely has a very strong and familiar scent to it. Most people know if someone has had a good amount of garlic in a meal or you walk into your house and if someone is preparing a meal with a lot of garlic, it has a very profound smell to it.
Garlic itself is a perennial that actually belongs to the onion family. The flavors that come from the garlic are very, very powerful, which is why when you’re cooking with garlic, usually a little bit goes a long way. There are many different types of garlic. Most of us just think of the traditional garlic that we utilize, which is the hardneck garlic. We have to recognize that all of the powerful constituents that are found within the garlic is what really yields all of these superior health benefits.†
Aged Garlic for Heart and Overall Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 54. Listen Now >>
Learn more about the history of garlic by tuning into the full podcast episode.
We also have to look at the chemicals and constituents that are in garlic. We know that allicin is a very powerful chemical constituent that is derived from the garlic itself. What’s really quite interesting is that it is the allicin that produces that very powerful and unique scent. We know that there’s a high count of sulfur compounds in garlic and this is what’s responsible for its scent and taste, as well as those beneficial effects. It’s been studied across the spectrum when it comes to health.†
Garlic outside the kitchen
Initially, people would look at garlic in terms of its cardiovascular benefits and we certainly know that there are many of those. It offers broad cardioprotective effects, to such a degree that there was a really important study that came out in the Journal of Nutrition about four or five years ago. This was done via the UCLA Medical Center, where they were showing the impact of aged garlic extract, so now we’re talking about supplementation as opposed to the food. This means that we’re taking those really active constituents and putting them into a capsulated form. You’re getting a major power punch of those constituents. In this study, they were able to show that aged garlic could reduce dangerous plaque buildup within the arteries. This is a really great thing.†
At UCLA, they completed the four different randomized studies through which they looked at the progression of atherosclerosis and heart disease and looking at the aged garlic and seeing that it had this ability to actually reverse those different stages of heart disease. We have seen studies where they assess the C-reactive protein, which indicates levels of chronic inflammation. We have seen how beneficial aged garlic can be, even with supporting cholesterol levels.†
Importance of Aged Garlic for Heart Health – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 16. Listen Now >>
A study published in 2019 by the Experimental Biology Journal talked about how garlic could reduce aging-related memory problems. In this particular study that was conducted out of the University of Louisville, they were looking at that sulfide compound within the allicin. The interesting finding within the study was the correlation between the gut microbiome. Remember, a healthy gut means a healthy mind. The researchers were able to see how the garlic itself helped to maintain that healthy gut microbiome, those microorganisms that are in the intestines that are there to keep us healthy and to maintain that proper communication between the gut and the brain. The gut contains trillions of these microorganisms. They were able to show just how the garlic itself can work in a way to enhance that communication between the two, and in doing that, they were able to show an improvement in memory.†
Tune into the full podcast episode for additional benefits of aged garlic.
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.