Although the brain changes with age, a growing body of research suggests that lifestyle factors such as social activities, intellectual stimulation, physical activity and diet play a key role in maintaining cognitive health.
Far from being an "inevitable" consequence of aging, we now know that cognitive decline and memory deficits are the anticipated results of a lifetime of oxidative and inflammatory damage that limits the ability of brain cells to communicate with one another.
We live in extraordinary times and there is no doubt in my mind that it can affect your health.
Social and economic problems on a global scale provide an endless stream of stress.
The combination of stress and the growing number of environmental toxins provides a one-two punch that can affect your health.
One of the fastest-growing segments in the world population is the elderly.
We are living longer than ever before in history.
This should be a call to action for implementing strategies for maintaining cognitive fitness for both individuals and societies.
A necessary step in protecting cognitive health is to eliminate, or at least limit the intake of neurotoxins, synthetic chemicals that have a harmful effect on the brain.
This is not as easy as it may seem.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently published results of a study to learn how early in life do synthetic chemicals begins to accumulate in the body.
Researchers analyzed blood samples taken from infants, born in U.
S.
hospitals, for the presence of more than 400 industrial and consumer product chemicals.
The results were startling.
Researchers found that the babies averaged 200 contaminants in their blood.
Among the toxins identified was pesticides, mercury and a relatively new-comer to the neurotoxins list, PFOA, which is a chemical used in the manufacture of Teflon.
In total, the babies' blood contained traces of 287 chemicals many of which are well-established neurotoxins.
Plant-Based Antioxidants First and foremost, a healthy diet is vital to maintaining cognitive health.
In fact, the food choices made throughout a lifetime, can increase, or decrease, the risk for many age-related diseases that cause premature death or disability.
A review of several long-term studies conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, and involving almost 300,000 subjects shows that subjects whose diet contained the most plant-based antioxidants, had the lowest risk for breast and prostate cancers, heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
Eating fresh fruits and vegetables is essential to your health, but equally critical is that they are natural and free of any pesticide residue.
Remember, when it comes to food, quality always trumps quantity.
It is essential to thoroughly rinse all produce, even better, buy as much organic produce as possible.
Despite careful washing, conventionally-grown produce will always contain systemic pesticide residue.
For this reason alone, it is best to buy organically grown produce, which is not hard to find these days.
Large grocery chains like Wal-Mart now have entire sections devoted to organic and natural foods.
However, organic produce must still be rinsed under running water to remove any microorganisms on the surface.
According to the CDC, food borne illnesses are responsible for more than 250,000 emergency room visits each year.
There is overwhelming scientific evidence that even small doses of pesticides, and other chemicals, can cause serious health conditions, especially during early childhood.
I have read enough about these toxic chemicals to know that they should be avoided at all costs.
Buy as many organic fruits and vegetables as possible, and if there are local farms in the area, get to the local farmers market.
Once you try local produce, you will never again accept the washed-out taste of products shipped thousands of miles across the country.
Support your local farmer; they are a vanishing breed.
Dietary Fat - Brain Food Despite the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables, to maintain cognitive health your diet must contain healthful dietary fats.
The controversy surrounding fat makes no sense to me.
Today, with more than 60% of the population overweight, fat has become a demon.
Conventional thinking is eating low-fat and keeping your blood cholesterol levels as low as possible.
However, becoming a fat-phobic is arguably the worst situation for your brain.
Removing dietary fat from the diet, deprives the brain of one of its most prominent building blocks.
Researchers from Boston University recently completed a review of information on more than 2,000 men and women who originally participated in the Framingham heart study.
The purpose of the review was to determine the relationship between total cholesterol and cognitive function.
Published results showed that not having ENOUGH dietary cholesterol could create a measurable loss in cognitive functioning.
The participants with the lowest levels of cholesterol performed poorly on memory, concentration and word fluency tests in 80% of the cases when compared to the high-cholesterol (240-380) levels.
Exercise Your Brain Little more than a decade ago, scientists thought that the brain was hardwired and as we aged and the hardwired connections began to fail, so did the brain.
We have since learned that with a minimal amount of physical exercise, intellectual stimulation and proper nutrition, age-related memory deficits and cognitive decline can be minimized.
We now see it is possible for the brain to seek new connections when old ones fail.
Memory exists because there is communication among millions of brain cells.
When brain cells die, it stops communication in that section.
However, given the proper stimulation, your brain will seek an alternate route around the damaged cells.
Just as muscle tone improves with physical exercise, memory can be improved with intellectual stimulation.
Your brain is constantly reorganizing and growing throughout your life.
It is intellectual stimulation that encourages your brain to expand.
Scientists now believe that this development and reorganization can continue well into old age.
Challenging your brain with different experiences is what stimulates your brain to grown and re-connect in complex ways.
It is necessary to challenge your mind to learn new and different tasks.
Good exercise for the mind is reading a book, or a magazine or the daily newspaper.
Learning a Tai chi or yoga routine is an excellent way to achieve fitness above and below the shoulders.
If you are right-handed try using your left hand more during the day.
Switch the hand you are using to control the computer mouse.
It will feel uncomfortable for a while, but with practice, you will be amazed at your progress.
Try this exercise with other common tasks.
Use your opposite hand to brush your teeth, dial the phone or manage the TV remote.
It may feel uncomfortable, but the mind is learning a new skill and it will strengthen neural connections and even create new ones.
Your brain needs regular exercise to stay in peak shape.
Brain scans confirm that when learning new skills, there is an increased blood flow to infrequently-used areas of the brain.
It is the brain looking for new connections where none existed before.
To maintain healthy cognitive function, one must challenge the mind every day.
Learn to play chess or a musical instrument.
Try learning a new language or participating in social activities.
Science has demonstrated that social interaction can preserve memory and cognitive function.
Keeping your brain involved will keep it young.
Physical Activity and Brain Function Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana examined the effects of exercise and physical fitness on memory, cognitive function and brain structure.
They focused on the hippocampus, a brain structure that is vital to memory.
The function of the hippocampus is closely related to size.
Most scientists agree that a larger hippocampus can predict better memory function.
Currently, researchers are finding that physically fit seniors tend to win in hippocampus structure and function.
Although the hippocampus shrinks with age, physically fit seniors tend to have larger hippocampi.
In a study published in the Journal Hippocampus, hippocampus size in physically fit seniors accounts for 40% of their memory advantage.
This landmark study was the first to prove that exercise can affect hippocampus size in humans, a fact that had been previously established in numerous laboratory animal studies.
Participants in the study, 59 to 81 years of age, walked for thirty minutes 3 days a week.
The researchers, using MRI imaging, could see a difference in the structure of the hippocampus, and when the participants were tested there was a 15% improvement on memory and attention.
We are beginning to realize that the brain is constantly adapting and re-wiring self.
Even as we age, the brain is capable of growing.
Recommendations: A vast array of targeted nutrients is available to help preserve memory and cognitive function.
There is strong evidence that certain nutrients can improve the quality of life of older adults by targeting age-related cognitive decline.
These nutrients together with a healthy lifestyle choice are the basis of your cognitive health program.
Fundamental to a cognitive health plan is insuring your body has adequate amounts of key nutrients.
As one ages, digestive efficiency decreases and the body is less able to absorbs essential nutrients.
This can lead to sub-clinical nutritional deficiencies in the elderly.
If you do not currently use a daily multivitamin, you are leaving a gaping hole in your cognitive health program.
A multivitamin, mineral formula will moderate nutrient-depleted westernized diets so that your brain is not "running on empty".
There is overwhelming evidence an adequate supply of B vitamins, especially Folic Acid, helps support brain health.
Folic acid has been extensively researched for its brain protecting powers and has brought some impressive results.
I suggest a high-quality multivitamin formula like the recently reformulated Daily Essentials with Lycopene.
I developed this multivitamin formula to bridge the diet gap in the Standard American Diet (SAD).
Daily Essentials is a comprehensive formula containing more than forty nutrients.
Phosphatidylserine - Critical for Brain Structure An emerging superstar in neuro science is the naturally occurring phospholipid Phosphatidylserine (PS), pronounced (FOS-fuh-tie-dul-SEHR-een).
PS is a critical part of brain cell membranes.
Nearly 10% of every neuronal membrane is PS.
To highlight the importance of PS to the brain, the total amount of PS in the body is about 60 grams, 30 grams of which is in the brain.
However, as we age, the amount of available PS in the body begins to decline and recent research indicates that taking supplemental PS can help the aging brain.
In a body of more than 3,000 studies on PS, there is growing evidence that supplemental PS is essential to maintaining cognitive function.
When it comes to natural supplements and health claims, the FDA proceeds at a snail's pace; however even the FDA has taken notice of PS.
According to the FDA, "consumption of phosphatidylserine may reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive dysfunction in the elderly.
" They do, however, attach the caveat "limited and preliminary scientific research suggests that phosphatidylserine may help maintain cognitive function but there is still little scientific evidence supporting this claim.
" While the FDA looks for the conclusive evidence, I have decided to take 200mg of PS daily.
Antioxidants are Fundamental Overwhelming scientific evidence suggests that increased levels of oxidative stress and/or antioxidant deficiencies are risk factors for increasing cognitive decline.
This free-radical damage is usually prevented by the body's natural defenses, but these defenses decline with age and oxidative stress may contribute to cognitive decline.
Taking supplemental antioxidants is essential to maintaining cognitive health.
One antioxidant that keeps showing up in research papers is alpha lipoic acid (ALA).
Researchers call this semi-essential nutrient "the universal antioxidant" because it is both water and fat soluble.
However, what makes ALA such an exceptional antioxidant is its ability to regenerate other antioxidants like Vitamin C and Vitamin E, Glutathione, the master antioxidant and Co Enzyme Q10, which is so instrumental in the creation of energy from active muscle groups like the heart.
To maintain adequate antioxidant levels, take 200-600mg of alpha lipoic acid daily.
ALA and ALC A Dynamic Duo Taking acetyl L-Carnitine with alpha lipoic acid has a synergistic effect on cognitive health.
Acetyl L-Carnitine (ALC), a special form of the amino acid L-Carnitine, is well-suited for cognitive support.
ALC readily crosses the blood-brain barrier and a valuable byproduct of ALC is the key neuro-transmitter Acetyl Choline.
There is growing scientific interest in this combination since a landmark study published in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The study focused on the relationship between oxidative stress, mitochondrial function and memory.
Mitochondria, "little organs" found in virtually all cells in the human body, are the power plant of the cell.
For decades, researchers have called the mitochondria the "weak link in aging.
" According to co-author, Dr.
Troy Hagen, the combination of alpha lipoic acid and acetyl L-Carnitine "significantly reversed the decline in overall activity typical of aged rats to what you see in a middle-aged to young adult rat.
This is equivalent to making a 75- to the 80-year-old person act middle-aged.
We've shown short-term effects, but the results give us the rationale for looking at these things long term"(1).
I am an enormous fan of ALC; I take 1000mg daily.
ALC also has superb cardiovascular benefits.
Remember, the main function of L-Carnitine in the body is to mobilize fat and fat is your heart's #1 fuel of choice.
Maxogenol - Broad Spectrum Antioxidant Current research continues to verify the importance of dietary antioxidants for maintaining cognitive health.
Antioxidants found in deeply colored fruits and vegetables are nature's most powerful free radical scavengers, but can the diet alone provide the antioxidants needed to maintain cognitive health? The food supply no longer contains the nutrient content it once did.
When I was growing up back in the 1950's, a freshly picked peach had 40 times the antioxidant content of a peach picked today.
Only 10% of Americans consume the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables daily, but are they getting adequate antioxidant protection? The antioxidant I use and recommend is Maxogenol (max-OJ'-gen-ol), now in its third generation.
Recently reformulated, Maxogenol now contains an array of nature's most powerful antioxidants.
Maxogenol, a great-tasting, chewable antioxidant, contains standardized extracts of Blueberry, grape skin, grape seed, red grape, pine bark and pomegranate.
Two caplets provide the antioxidant equivalent of eating one serving of fruit.
Maxogenol is an excellent way to supplement a child's daily intake of antioxidants.
Omega III Essential Fatty Acid - DHA Omega III essential fatty acids is the number one deficiency in our westernized diet.
Unless you are eating fish several times per week, or taking supplemental fish oil supplements, you are not getting enough DHA (docosahexaenoic acid).
DHA is a principal component of brain tissue.
The brain uses DHA like a race car uses gasoline and inadequate levels of DHA in the brain is closely associated with cognitive decline.
I do not eat much fish, but I do take supplemental omega III fats in the form of fish oil capsules.
I get the same Omega III fats, but without the mercury and other environmental toxins found in conventionally farmed fish.
Hundreds of studies have shown that fish oil capsules are an effective way to increase your body's reserves of the essential Omega II derivatives, EPA, with its exceptional benefits to the cardiovascular system and DHA, the most abundant fat found in your brain.
If you are taking a fish oil capsule that has a "fishy after-taste", or is hard to digest and causes you to burp fish for hours, you are taking the wrong fish oil.
It took me some time, but I found the freshest, purest and most concentrated fish oil supplement, and it doesn't taste like fish.
Through a patented flavoring process, Nordic Naturals Pro DHA is enhanced with 100% natural strawberry flavoring in the oil and soft gelatin capsule.
Two capsules of Pro DHA contain 450mg of DHA, a perfect maintenance dose for your cognitive health program.
Nordic Naturals also makes the finest Arctic Cod Liver Oil, another excellent source of DHA.
It might seem hard to believe, but this is one great tasting Cod Liver Oil..
..
just ask my seven year old grandson.
Maintaining healthy cognitive function is essential if you are to enjoy your golden years.
While various factors threaten our cognitive health, there is much that we can do to prevent its decline.
Science has provided some remarkable discoveries within the last decade.
We now know that with intellectual stimulation and physical exercise, we can minimize what was once thought to be inevitable.
Researchers have identified targeted nutrients that can slow or even reverse age-related cognitive decline, and since antioxidants and cellular-building blocks like Omega III fats and phosphatidylserine play vital roles in other organ systems, maintaining your cognition will make your an overall healthier person.