According to Better Health through Natural Healing by Dr. Ross Trattler, N.D., D.O. and Dr. Adrian Jones, N.D., vitamin supplementation can be taken to improve memory. Their best-selling book recommends using vitamin supplementation as part of a comprehensive program to treat dementia, age-related memory impairment, cognitive dysfunction, senility and Alzheimer’s Disease.
Considering vitamin supplementation can help improve memory function in memory impairment disorders, just imagine how it might help improve one’s normal brain functioning.
The authors favor the hypothesis that chronically excessive levels of serum cortisol lead to a gross deficiency of acetylcholine, one of the brain’s primary neurotransmitter. Excess cortisol levels disrupts normal brain cell metabolism by causing excess calcium to enter brain cells which generates free radical that destroy cells. Emotional and psychological stress worsens the condition.
Their recommended treatment to improve memory is four part in nature. It involves dietary and nutritional considerations, stress management, exercise and lifestyle changes, and medicinal and vitamin supplements to improve memory.
Better Health Through Natural Healing recommends vitamin supplements to improve memory. These include Vitamin A supplements: “micellized,” up to 100,000 IU daily. The authors provide precautions warning against potential Vitamin A toxicity. They also recommend vitamin supplementation because “studies show that a deficiency of each B vitamin (B1, B3, B6, folate and B12) has been linked with dementia.
Other vitamin supplementation recommended to improve memory includes Vitamin E: 800-2,000 IU daily and the antioxidant minerals–magnesium, zinc and selenium though no recommended daily dosage for minerals was provided.
Nutritional supplementation with amino acids, phenylalanine, glutamine, methionine,arginine, and tryptophan are considered of primary importance. The authors also recommend taking 1,500 mg of lecithin daily as a preventative measure and increase dosage to 10,000 mg for a therapeutic level.
Phosphatidyl serine is available in capsule form and recommended to be taken in dosages of 100 mg to 300 mg daily. It is a fat found naturally in every cell of the body and is concentrated in the cell membranes of the neurons of the brain. Dietary supplementation with phosphatidyl serine helps relieve depression, lower stress hormones, increase alpha brain waves 15-20%, and stimulate memory of faces and facts.
One other nutritional supplement known to help improve memory is ALC (acetyl L-carnitine). Recommended dosages of up to 1,500mmg daily are believed to help improve mitochondrial efficiency of brain cells and improve intercerebral communication.
Besides vitamin supplementation to improve memory, the authors stress drinking green juices such as wheat grass which is high in peptides, precursors of neuropeptides, and also high in essential amino acids. Drinking one or two servings of green tea daily is also recommended because of its high concentrations of flavonoids and polyphenols which are potent antioxidants.
Besides drinking green juices and tea, other natural supplements recommended to help improve memory include ginko biloba which improves cognition, panax gingeng which decreases release of cortisol, nettles and horsetail which prevent aluminum from being absorbed in the gut, and garlic which has long been recommended for age-related memory loss. Secondary nutritional supplementation with 100 mg of Coenzyme Q10 daily and taking probiotics may also help improve memory.
The four-part plan to improve memory includes: (1) vitamin and nutritional supplements; (2) eating a diet low in fat and calories while rich in nutritionally dense foods designed to feed the brain’s neurotransmitters, (3) getting regular exercise and (4) practicing life style changes to manage one’s stress level. These four “memory boosters” are believed to be the four elements necessary to improve memory and brain function. The important role of vitamin and nutritional supplementation can not be over-emphasized.
Resources:
Dr. Ross Trattler, N.D., D.O. and Dr. Adrian Jones, N.D., Better Health Through Natural Healing, McGraw-Hill, 2001 edition; pages199-202.
