I consider a supplement as something you can’t get from your normal food diet. For many years the only supplement I took was glucosamine for my overused joints. Now that I’m covering all bases on my Brain Health Checklist, Cindy and I both take a variety of other supplements. Some of these will be short term, like the vitamins. Studies have questioned the effectiveness of loading up on vitamin supplements over long term, but I aim to fix any initial imbalance we may have at the start before relying more on diet alone for the nutrients needed. After that there are a few supplements we will continue to take that focus on brain health.
Mind you I’m not a doctor or nutritionist. Mind you everybody is different. I’m not recommending a particular suite of supplements for anyone else, just sharing what I think works best for Cindy and me. With that in mind there are four supplements for a diet that, If I was a nutritionist and If someone else was just like me, I would recommend.
The first is fish or krill oil, a source of Omega 3 fatty acids. The problem with the traditional diet is the abundance of Omega 6 fatty acids found in things like vegetable oil. Omega 6 fatty acids provide essential health benefits, but are also inflammatory. Omega 3 fatty acids provide an anti-inflammatory counterbalance to Omega 6, but we get far less of these in the normal diet. If you eat a lot of fish, organic eggs or nuts you could possibly get enough Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet alone. Still, for me this is one area where I’ll go with a supplement to be on the safe side.
We have been using coconut oil for awhile now. In the spirit of full disclosure, I don’t believe coconut oil has helped Cindy. The brain is complicated and the sources of Cindy’s mental health problems are different from the benefits that coconut oil can provide. Yet coconut oil is a source of medium chain triglycerides (MCT) that has proven benefits for the brain. They serve as an alternative, better energy source for the brain than glucose. Better, because MCTs may actually help repair neurons as well as fuel the brain. Actually, there is an MCT supplement extracted from coconut oil that targets brain health in particular. Coconut oil provides more generic benefits and, depending upon its use, could be part of your diet rather than a supplement.
Bacopa monnieri is one of two Indian herbs with potential brain benefits. A study has linked this herb to improved memory function. The working hypothesis right now is that this herb stimulates the production of helpful brain chemicals and protects the brain from others.
There are no clinical studies yet to prove the value of another Indian herb, ashwaghanda, nor are there ones to disprove the alleged impacts. There is some evidence to show that the herb reduces blood sugar, cholesterol and stress levels. Stress, not diet, was the likely trigger for Cindy’s Alzheimer’s which promotes the value of this supplement in my view, even considering the lack of clinical studies to date.
The complications from these two herbs are few, but need to be considered as with all supplements. There is a site I recommend for checking out both the potential benefits and side effects of supplements, WebMD. Here are their respective pages for Bacopa monnieri and ashwaghanda.
Once again, the benefits of supplements are highly individualized. Don’t believe anything you read on the Internet along the lines of “this helps everyone” or “works all the time.” For example, we are taking Vitamin D3 now in winter months, but stop when we are getting plenty of sun through our outdoor activities. In general, you should get what your body and brain needs through diet first, using supplements only as a necessary back up.
