Vitamins, minerals and other nutrients can play an important role in memory. Memory is far more than a practical process that allows us to remember where we left the house keys, how to delete those temporary files clogging the system or the password for the ATM card. It is place where we store that which is most precious to us, the cute baby phrases the children soon leave behind, where we were when we decided to get married, and the faces and voices of those beloved that have long since passed away.
Striving each day to reach the standard recommended daily intake levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients is an important way to make sure that our capacity for memory last a good long time.
The vitamins that make up the powerful Vitamin B complex are essential to the healthy and efficient functioning of the brain, not only in the sense of maintaining its physical structures, but also in the sense of its cognitive functions and feeling of mental well being. That is because the brain, how we think and what we feel, come from a variety of chemical and electrical interactions.
The success of these interactions depends a great deal upon the balance of chemicals in the brain, which is often a direct result of the nutritional content the brain has to work with. Very simply, it we don’t provide sufficient fuel, the brain will be unable to function at peak performance levels.
Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is necessary to the creation of the myelin sheath, which serves to protect the nerves and to speed up its electrical transmissions, which is part of how the brain communicates with itself and part of the production of cognition and emotion. Vitamin B12 is essential for memory and concentration. Vitamin B6, also known as pyridoxine, also serves to enable communication between nerves.
Vitamin B9, also called folic acid, has come to the attention of researchers as potentially yield some protection from Alzheimer’s disease. On every level, maintaining the standard daily amount of each of the vitamins in the Vitamin B complex is one of the best things you can do nutritionally to support both the physical structures and the mental functioning of the brain.
The antioxidant vitamins, Vitamin C, E, and A, offer vital protection for the brain by controlling damaging free radicals, which flourish in the brain as, in order to carry out its sophisticated functions, the brain requires a high degree of oxygenation. Selenium is a mineral that partners with Vitamin E, enhancing the work it does. The mineral zinc supports memory, as well, and iron serves to improve concentration. Nourishing the body undoubtedly nourishes the brain.