Post 105

Smart Foods & Memory

Smart Foods, Herbs, and Fungi– Preserve and Improve Your Memory—

The most recent hopefuls are;
1. Ashwagandha
2. Lion’s Mane Mushroom

Both of these have been studied for memory boosting and as Alzheimer’s preventatives.  To supplement these, use 1 teaspoon of Ashwagandha powder daily and 10 grams of Lion’s Mane.

These are available in powder and capsules. Ashwagandha Root is also available in cut form which can be used as a tea or added into any tea you already drink. Mix powders as a single supplement or blend it into your Organic 8 Greens or other greens you take. They can be added into a smoothie, mixed into fresh vegetable juice, or added into soft food. There is just no reason not to take them because they are easy to include in anyones regime

These are certainly only two great supplements to include every day. Both act as adaptogens so you don’t have to ever stop and take a break from taking them! But there is more and more research on natural supplements and foods that can help us retain our memory, improve recall, remove cellular toxins and heavy metals, preserve telomeres, and help to prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. Empower yourself to preserve your mind.

Here is an extensive list of natural products and foods to consider and research– and don’t forget sleep!

Sleep 7 hours per night and keep your telomeres long- longer.  If you sleep less than 7 hours per day your telomeres shrink and become shorter than they should be as you age.  This means that you will run the risk of demensia later on down the road.  More sleep however doesn’t improve your telomeres.  You need 7 hours per night and not 8 as was once believed.  So what are telomeres?

Definition Telomeres:  Inside the nucleus of a cell, our genes are arranged along twisted, double-stranded molecules of DNA called chromosomes. At the ends of the chromosomes are stretches of DNA called telomeres, which protect our genetic data, make it possible for cells to divide, and hold some secrets to how we age and get cancer.

Lithium Orotate
This elemental salt is important so a wide spectrum of benefits;
1. 30 days use can increase your brain’s grey matter by as much as 3%
2. If you have ADD or ADHD, it can balance things out and improve both memory and recall
3. Studies have found Lithium Orotate to be an option for an Alzheimer’s preventative
4. Helps with brain fog
5. Great for students

Memory Tea- This is just a great blend of herbs for the mind. It can be used a solitary tea or mixed with any tea you already have.

Ginkgo Biloba– helps thin the blood and improves brain function, hearing, vision, and blood pressure.

DMAE
This is good as an antiaging supplement. It helps with mental focus and attention span, and it can be used by children with ADD and ADHD.

Cayenne Pepper- a pinch a day in your tea or water is good for brain circulation, your heart and a multitude of other health benefits.

So what diet is the best for memory?
The Mediterranean Diet is considered the best meal plan to preserve memory

Eat these foods to protect glial cells. Researchers believe that glial cells may help removes brain toxins and debris which contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and cellular damage.These foods include;
1. ginger
2. green tea
3. oily fish
4. blueberry
5. miso (fermented soy only)
6. dark berries

Eat plenty of oily fish. Omega-3 fatty acids, especially DHA, has been found to help prevent Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. DHA reduces the formation of beta-amyloid plaques. The best food sources of omega-3 fatty acids, besides supplementing, include fish, oily and trout;

1. sardines
2. mackerel
3. tuna
4. trout
5. salmon
6. halibut

Omega-3 supplements should be from small fish, such as a source from sardines, mackerel, krill, anchovies, or salmon. This assures less possible exposure to mercury. Tuna is the least desirable source since it is a large fish and generally is found to have a higher mercury level.

More Foods to Preserve Memory—
1. Avocado
2. Coconut oil, water, and milk
3. Pomegranate
4. Beans- especially dark beans
5. Coffee- 1 cup per day
6. Dark Chocolate
7. Nuts- 1 serving per day of any nut (see my Post Nuts4Nuts)
8 All Adaptogen Herbs including;

Adaptogens:  ginseng, astragalus, cat’s claw, licorice root, Siberian ginseng, rhodiola, shatavari, tulsi holy basil, turkey tail, polyporus, phellinus, lion’s mane, ashwagandha, reishi, maitake, shiitake, chaga, cordyceps, schisandra berry, goji berry, maca, and there are more.

Leafy green vegetables, cruciferous foods (cooked), and all dark colored fruits and vegetables. Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels with multiple small meals during the day rather than large meals, will help maintain better brain health.

Cruciferous foods are;
(eat only cooked unless you have a HYPER thyroid) Cooking them corrects this problem with the thyroid.  These are terrific anti-cancer and smart foods. Eat them– eat them often–  just cook them!
cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, watercress, brussels sprouts

Drink Tea Every Day

By now everyone knows that green tea is beneficial to our health and should be consumed daily to help enhance memory and slow down brain aging. 3-5 cups per day is recommended. Start with a rounded teaspoon of tea each day and repeat steep it throughout the entire day until all flavor is gone or up to 5 times. This enables you to extract all of the health beneficial polyphenols and antioxidants from tea. White tea is higher in antioxidants and polyphenols than green. It is however much more fragile and is only steeped for 2 minutes.  If you steep it too long, it is bitter. The bitter taste when over-steeping your tea is the health benefits, so drink it anyway, but making it correctly– not bitter–  you will get all of these benefits in a tasty way, you just need to repeat steep to get them all extracted into the hot water.

Add a few of these suggestions into regime, you will likely enjoy better memory and cognition over the length of your life. Remember as well, it is never too late to begin. If you are living and breathing, our philosophy is that change is possible, no matter what anyone says!