Vitamins And Minerals For Healthy And Efficient Functioning Of The Brain

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.

The Antioxidant Vitamins

The antioxidant vitamins perform many essential tasks within the body. In recent years, a great deal of research has been done concerning the abilities of the antioxidant vitamins to prevent certain diseases, ranging from cancer to heart ailments. Many studies have shown promising results, and researchers continue their efforts at determining all of the ways that these powerful antioxidant vitamins protect our health and well being.

One of the many important tasks that antioxidant vitamins perform is that of bringing free radicals under control. A free radical is an unstable molecule, operating within the much larger context of a cell. What makes it unstable is that it is lacking an electron. Electrons are a part of the system that enables chemical reactions within the body. Chemical and electrical actions and reactions are the base of all operations of the body.

The free radical lacks an electron because it is the result of the splitting of a structure weakened by either one of the body’s natural metabolizing processes or by some external contaminant, such as pollution or cigarette smoke. The free radical attacks other molecules, seeking its missing part, which leads to its molecule victim becoming a free radical as well. When enough free radicals accumulate with a cell, the cell can be damaged, or worse.

Antioxidant vitamins have the power to bring these free radicals under control. They do this by meeting the free radicals’ most basic needs, by giving them the electrons they need to be stable. Thus, the antioxidant vitamins remove the free radicals’ motive for aggression and crime -- their motive to attack other molecules to steal their electrons, thereby creating still more free radicals -- and bring an end to the free radical crime wave that threatened the very existence of their world and restore social order and peace to their world, the cell, and perhaps even to their universe, the body.

The primary antioxidant vitamins are Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A. They do not become free radical themselves when they give an electron to the unstable molecule, because they have the special capacity to remain stable with or without the electron. It is through this interaction with the free radicals that the antioxidant vitamins are able to assist in the prevention of damage to tissues and cells that could lead to disease.

Numerous studies have found that the antioxidant vitamins may offer protection against a variety of cancers. Other studies have associated antioxidant vitamins with helping to lower blood pressure. Controlling free radicals, as the antioxidant vitamins do, is thought to be an important part of defending the body and the mind against the effects of aging.

In addition to continuous studies concerning antioxidant vitamins potential in preventing cancers, heart disease, and diabetes related conditions, researchers are also paying close attention to the possibilities antioxidant vitamins may hold for Alzheimer's disease.

Dietary supplements offer a safe and convenient means of meeting the suggested daily intake requirements of these powerful antioxidant vitamins, provided that the standard dosage recommendations are followed.

The chemical balance that allows the body to operate at peak performance can be seriously disrupted by taking too much of any supplement. A licensed nutritionist or your health care provider can best advise you on the dosage most suitable to your individual dietary needs and health goals.

Vitamin A Each Day Is An Essential Part Of Reaching Your Health Goals

Recent government surveys have found that most people do not consume enough Vitamin A in their daily diets. This is unfortunate, because Vitamin A is essential to good health. In fact, serious health problems can result from long-term, serious Vitamin A deficiencies.
Vitamin A is important from the very beginning of life. Pregnant women must be sure to consume sufficient amounts of Vitamin A, which will be more than they needed before pregnancy, because Vitamin A plays a great role in the proper physical development of a baby. It helps to promote proper cell differentiation, which is the specialization of cells upon division to take over certain tasks, meaning that cells for the heart take on their characteristics, those for the liver take on theirs, those for the brain take on their own characteristics and functions, and so on.
Vitamin A also serves in bone growth and development, as well as in the general growth and development of the body.
Vitamin A has a significant part in the quality and functioning of the body’s immune system. One facet of this functioning has to do with the skin and body’s mucus membranes. The skin and mucus membranes serve a very practical purpose for the body.
These operate as barriers against bacteria and viruses, protecting against infection and disease. Vitamin A helps to keep the skin and mucus membranes healthy and able to serve their primary purpose.
As we’ve all heard through the years, carrots are good for the eyes. That is because they are a good source of Vitamin A, which is essential to vision. In fact, a serious deficiency in Vitamin A can result in blindness. Many children living in poverty in developing nations throughout the world have become blind simply because of the lack of Vitamin A in their diets.
Vitamin A also serves to keep the surface linings of the intestinal, urinary and respiratory tracts healthy. This offers protection from bacteria, as well has promotes proper functioning.
One of the more common units of measure for Vitamin A found on packaging labels of food and dietary supplements is the International Unit, or IU. Adult and teenaged males should be sure to consume at total of 3,000 IU of Vitamin A per day.
Adult women and teenaged females should have 2,310 IU per day, 2,565 IU per day if pregnant and 4,300 IU per day if breastfeeding. For children ages 9 through 13, 2,000 IU is the recommended daily intake, with 1,320 IU being sufficient for those aged 4 through 8. From the first year through age 3, 1,000 IU is recommended.
Using dietary supplements to complete a healthy diet can ensure that the body receives the nutrients it needs for optimum performance. However, it is important to heed label and doctor recommendations for the best amount to be taken for your dietary needs.
Proper nutrition is essential to achieving and maintaining health. It is much better to avoid sickness than to recover from it. Taking steps to ensure that you are getting enough Vitamin A each day is an essential part of reaching your health goals.

Plant Oils Give Cholesterol-Lowering Medication a Boost

By Jane Hart, MD

Healthnotes Newswire (December 6, 2007)—Combining plant oils (sterols), sometimes called phytosterols, with a cholesterol-lowering medication (pravastatin, brand name Pravachol) may help lower cholesterol.
Plant sterols—chemicals found in small amounts in fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes—have a variety of health benefits including antioxidant and cholesterol-lowering activity and hold promise as a way to help lower cholesterol through dietary measures. Although the exact mechanism is not known, plant sterols may lower cholesterol by preventing cholesterol from being absorbed in the digestive tract.
In this study, which was published in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases, 61 people were randomly assigned to replace their usual cooking oil with one of three test oils for 12 weeks: diacylglycerol oil (which contains oleic acid and linoleic acid), diacylglycerol oil with plant sterols (beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, and brassicasterol), or a control oil that was not expected to have an effect (rapeseed and safflower oils). Participants were also taking 10 mg per day of the cholesterol-lowering medication pravastatin.
Total cholesterol and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol were significantly reduced in the group that used the diacylglycerol oil with plant sterols. These changes were not seen in the groups that used the diacylglycerol oil alone or the control oil. HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels were not affected.
“Despite low doses given [of phytosterols], a phytosterol-enriched diet fortified the potential cholesterol-lowering effect of pravastatin treatment,” said Masao Takeshita, lead author of the study and a researcher at the Kao Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, which produces the cooking oil. “Before increasing the normal dose of a statin, clinicians may consider the additional use of phytosterols as a therapeutic option.”
Some people cannot tolerate high doses of cholesterol-lowering medications due to side effects such as muscle cramps or liver damage. In such people, the use of plant sterols should be considered, Takeshita said. The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends the use of a mixture of phytosterols for people with high cholesterol levels and suggests that LDL cholesterol may be reduced by about 10% with the use of plant sterols, according to the study’s authors.
Although the cooking oil used in this study is currently available only in Japan, research in this area is emerging and may yield more widely available plant-based food options to help lower cholesterol. If you have high cholesterol, talk to your doctor about known dietary interventions that may help, and whether it makes sense to add more plant sterols to your diet.
(Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis 2007; doi:10.1016/j.numecd.2007.05.009)
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