Regain Your Memory Now

by Gary Null

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People may joke about “senior moments”—those times when their memory suddenly fails, and they are unable to come up with the name of their boss or the time they are supposed to meet for dinner. The truth is that throughout our lives there are always times when our memory fails us. But because we have been taught that memory decline is a natural consequence of aging, and because we fear the onset of serious mental conditions often related to advancing age, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, lapses in short-term mem­ory as we age can result in ongoing stress or worry.

Ironically, stress and worry are two factors that contribute to continued lapses in memory. The fact is, bouts of forgetfulness are usually unrelated to Alzheimer’s disease, and there are simple and natural ways to prevent and impact memory loss and even maximize your mem­ory as you age.

Understanding Memory Loss

Let’s begin by taking a look at how our brains collect memories.

How Memories are Acquired

The roots of memory have been studied and debated for centuries, yet many questions remain as to how the brain performs this basic function. What is known is that memories are constructed through a series of interactive steps triggered by exposure to new information.

Paul Scheele, the founder of Learning Strategies Corporation— a company involved in providing self-empowerment, educational, and health programs—points out that memory is not something that is retained in a particular part of your brain.[i] Unlike a computer, which can store information on a hard drive and return to access that specific information, your brain constructs memory from input from the entire neural network in your body. Memory is nonlocal. Each time you remember something, your brain is literally rebuild­ing an original construction. In other words, you can’t remember something you don’t already know.

The practice of construction and reconstruction is critical to memory. Scheele refers to this ongoing process as “mental hygiene.”[ii] Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa, president and medical director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Foundation International in Tucson, Arizona, stresses the same thing when he talks about how important it is to “maintain the brain.”[iii]

Remembering something, whether it’s the name of your mother-in-law’s poodle or how to dance the cha-cha, is a process that involves much of your brain. The two primary types of memory are: declarative and procedural.

The brain’s medial temporal lobes, particularly the hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex are responsible for maintaining declarative memory. Sometimes called explicit memories, these include facts, people, places, and things that we encounter frequently. The capacity to learn skills or procedures, including new motor skills, is governed by our non declarative, or implicit, memory. This memory function is governed by brain structures outside the medial temporal lobes, including the amygdala, cerebellum, and motor cortex.

How Memories are Lost

Scientists are unclear as to the specific reasons for age-related mem­ory loss. It may be that our brain becomes less agile as it ages, or that imbalances in the system of neurotransmitters that communicate within the brain cause memory loss, or that other types of chemical imbalances in our bodies, such as changing hormone levels, impact our ability to remember things. What is known is that it is normal for anyone at any age to have lapses of memory, but that older indi­viduals may face a higher incidence of memory loss.

Difficulty Learning

Studies suggest that the reason we have trouble remembering things as we age is that it becomes more difficult to learn new information in the first place. Memory studies have shown that about one-third of otherwise healthy older adults have difficulty with declarative memory. However, a substantial number of eighty-year-olds perform as well as people in their twenties on difficult memory tests. Furthermore, all age groups retain newly learned information equally well, although it may take the older group longer to learn the information.[iv]

Brain Circuitry

Brain researchers are not sure what exactly causes memory to be affected by aging, but for years they have speculated that changes may result from the subtly changing environment in the brain as it ages. Particular focus has been on the loss of brain cells and physi­cal deterioration of the brain itself. But the role of an imbalance in the delicate systems of neurotransmitters that conduct all commu­nication in the brain has been an area of recent study in relation to memory loss and brain function in aging.

A study in the September 2000 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience asserts that defective brain circuits could be more responsible for memory problems than the loss of brain cells.[v] Researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine conducted a study that examined the synapses in the brains of rats and discovered that the ability of neurons to carry a signal was lessened in older rats whose learning ability was impaired. This reduced neuron activity was not cor­related to age, but rather related to each rat’s degree of learning impairment.

The Blood–Brain Barrier

It is important to understand the importance of the entire body’s circulatory system in relation to the health of the brain. Blood car­ries nutrients to every part of the body, but the delicate tissues of the brain require a specialized security system. This tightly woven net of endothelial cells is called the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and acts as a filter, permitting only certain substances to travel from the blood to the brain. The BBB is responsible for providing neurons with glucose and other nutrients and also maintaining proper neurotransmitter balance.

The function of the blood–brain barrier is crucial, as it protects the brain from foreign substances in the blood that may be toxic to the brain, maintains a constant environment for the brain, and protects the brain from hormones and neurotransmitters in the rest of the brain.

The blood–brain barrier can be weakened in several ways, includ­ing high blood pressure; hyperosmolality (or high concentration of a particular substance in the blood); microwave exposure; radia­tion exposure; infection or exposure to infectious agents; as well as trauma, ischemia, inflammation, pressure, or injury to the brain.

Age-Related Alterations in the Blood–Brain Barrier

Studies have shown age-related alterations in the blood–brain bar­rier transport function, including a decrease in choline transport and a decrease in brain glucose influx.6 Choline, one of the B vitamins, is critical in the manufacture of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Glucose is the primary fuel for the brain and supports many of the cognitive functions of the brain.

It is important, therefore, that the blood circulating throughout your body and brain is nutrient-rich and full of antioxidants, such as NADH or N-acetylcysteine, and amino acids, such as acetylcholine.

As Dr. James LaValle says,[vi] “When you restrict blood flow you restrict oxygen delivery to a very vital area in the brain.” Problems with our circulatory system start to surface when we have a defi­cit of blood and nutrients going to the brain because the arteries are clogged, due often to eating foods that are not promoting proper circulation or not exercising enough which also promotes proper circulation. According to Dr. Martin Feldman, “The improvement of circulation to the brain can actually make the brain more efficient and even reverse some of the potential problems we associate with aging of the brain.”[vii]

The Role of Hormones

Though memory loss affects both genders, it can be particularly devastating to women during and around menopause. In the book Female and Forgetful: A Six-Step Program to Help Restore Your Memory and Sharpen Your Mind, authors Elisa Lottor, PhD, ND, and Nancy Bruning explore the uncharted waters that link memory loss to menopause.[viii] Estrogen has a powerful influence on the brain, playing an important role in functions such as mem­ory, language skills, moods, and attention. The authors describe case studies of women who, in the beginning of menopause, sud­denly cannot remember simple things, such as their social secu­rity or phone numbers. The authors posit that the sharp decline in hormonal levels during menopause wreak havoc on memory. Fortunately, as the reported incidences of menopause-linked memory loss increase in scientific literature, so do the reported efficacies of treatment.

Diagnosing Memory Loss

It is difficult to know exactly when memory failure is a simple lapse on the part of your brain in processing known information, and when it is indicative of a more serious condition, such as dementia (chapter 13) or Alzheimer’s disease (chapter 8). It is this uncertainty, perhaps, that makes these episodes of forgetfulness so stressful to the older population.

Let’s start with the important distinction doctors make between normal, age-associated mental impairment and conditions such as dementia that signal a disease process. Not all memory difficulties or cognitive complaints indicate the presence of Alzheimer’s disease or other mental disorders. Many changes in memory or cognitive func­tion in older adults are temporary and are linked to environmental factors, such as stress or poor nutrition, rather than to physiological processes.

A doctor evaluating a patient who complains of memory loss will have to consider underlying factors, such as illness or medications, head injury or trauma, the possibility of stroke or heart disease, or drug or alcohol abuse. These factors can make it unclear whether their patient is suffering the “inevitable” memory decline associated with aging, or experiencing symptoms that indicate the onset of a serious condition such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.

Your doctor should also consider:

• essential fatty acid deficiencies

• chronic inflammation of the brain, which can damage cere­bral blood vessels or neurons

• nutrient deficiencies

• hormone imbalances, especially decreased levels of DHEA, thyroid, and testosterone

• poor health habits, such as smoking, or drug or alcohol use, which can shortchange the amount of oxygen the brain receives

• atherosclerosis or heart disease, which can affect the amount of oxygen the brain receives

• brain neurotransmitter levels

• adverse side effects of prescription medications

Generally speaking, a memory problem is serious when it affects your daily functioning. If you sometimes forget names, you should not be worried, and there is much you can do to correct this tendency. In fact, researchers suggest that people who are aware of their memory loss probably do not have a serious problem.

If you have trouble remembering how to do things you have done many times before, or a place you visit often, or difficulty in understanding the order in which to do things (e.g., following a rec­ipe), your doctor should be notified.

Combating Memory Loss Naturally

The good news is that the birth of new nerve cells in the brain is an ongoing process throughout our lifespans. Rejuvenating your mem­ory or preventing decline in cognitive functions in the first place requires a holistic approach to a healthy lifestyle that considers proper nutrition and beneficial supplementation, mental and physi­cal exercise, and stress management.

We must reject the notion that memory decline is a natural con­sequence of aging. A person’s memory should function at optimal levels well into old age. Simple memory deficits, if not addressed, can worsen over time. We must act now to keep our minds sharp.

Mental maintenance is a “use it or lose it” proposition. You must make a commitment to continually learn new information, to under­take new physical challenges, and to endeavor to remain open to new experiences. In the Reboot Your Brain program for preventing memory loss that follows, you will find the most important nutrients for your brain, the best ways to challenge your mental muscles, and the most effective ways to reduce the stress that can adversely affect your memory.

Lifestyle

As I said earlier in this chapter, we cannot underestimate the impor­tance of the mind–body connection in maintaining mental sharpness. We need nourishment in all areas of our lives—physical, spiritual, and emotional—to prevent or reverse impairments of the mind. By con­centrating on therapies and behaviors that improve circulation to the brain, rejuvenate brain cell metabolism, suppress free radical damage, and strengthen our mental muscles, we can boost neurological func­tion and expect to maintain robust memory even as we age.

Exercise

The brain is nourished by blood, so it should come as no surprise that physical activity that promotes circulation is beneficial in pre­venting memory loss and mental fogginess. Changes in the body can adversely affect the brain, as one study involving male twins demon­strated. Tests showed that high blood pressure in men during midlife was a clear marker for increased brain aging, and led to an elevated chance of stroke later in life. The male twins with high blood pres­sure, when assessed twenty-five years later, had smaller brain vol­umes and increased strokes when compared to their twin brothers with normal blood pressure.

The hippocampus section of the brain is vital for acquiring new memories. It is one of the select few areas in the adult mamma­lian brain that can grow new nerve cells. One study demonstrated that voluntary exercise increases neurogenesis in the hippocampus.[ix] This was the first study indicating that neurogenesis can occur with­out learning enhancement.

Aerobic exercise, such as walking, gardening, swimming, tai chi, or dancing, has also been shown to sharpen memory skills.

Stress

Chronic stress—those day-to-day, irritating occurrences that con­tinue to build up in our bodies—causes the body to release cortisol into the bloodstream. Cortisol then travels through the circulatory system to the brain, where it begins wreaking havoc on the hippo­campus.

As we age, our bodies find it more difficult to signal to the adrenal gland that it should stop producing cortisol. Prolonged exposure to stress then leads to the loss of brain cells in the memory center. Dr. Sonia Lupien at McGill University has shown that the higher our cortisol levels are as we age, the higher the incidence of severe memory loss we suffer.

Music

Exposure to certain types of music, especially classical music, pro­duces transient increases in cognitive performance. One report examined a group of healthy elderly people and Alzheimer’s dis­ease patients to determine the effects of listening to an excerpt of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The results of the study showed that listening to music enhanced the patients’ ability to pay attention.[x]

Mental Exercise

The best way to keep your memory skills strong is to use them. Memorizing dates, lists, and even telephone numbers can help keep your mind sharp as you age. The practice of construction and reconstruction of knowledge is critical to memory, so learning new skills stimulates your brain, too. A study in the January 2004 issue of Nature followed twenty-three healthy people (average age: twenty-two) who learned how to juggle. After three months, MRI scans showed enlargement of the gray matter—the part that drives higher mental functions—in their brains. Learning a new skill had actually made their brains grow. When the study partici­pants stopped juggling, their brains shrank again.[xi]

Keep your brain entertained and engaged by practicing cross­word or jigsaw puzzles, doing word search and brainteaser puzzles, or playing board games or card games. Learn a second language, take up a musical instrument, or take a college course online.

Providing your brain with a healthy body, good nutrients, and a stress-free environment is important. Challenging your memory and continuing the lifelong process of learning is critical to prevent short-term memory loss as you age.

Learning and storing new information may help prevent memory decline. Practice memory skills to enhance learning and improve your recall.

• Relax: Tension and stress cause short-term memory failure.

• Concentrate: Pay attention as you are receiving new infor­mation; you’ll be surprised at how much more you retain.

• Focus: Reduce distractions when you are involved in new undertakings that require concentration.

• Slow down: It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to learn something; it’s the acquisition of new information, not the speed with which you acquire it, that’s important.

• Follow a routine: Put important items, such as keys, in the same place each time.

• Organize: Knowing where important information is can reduce stress; storing vital information in a visible place may be enough to trigger your memory without even having to look.

• Write it down: Write down important things; keep lists.

• Repeat: Repetition improves recall; use it, especially when learning names.

• Visualize: A strong link to a visual clue can improve mem­ory; use landmarks to help you find places.

Foods and Memory Loss

The nutrients present in the food you eat are the building blocks for neurotransmitters, the main network of communication in your brain. It’s an easy correlation to make: If you don’t nourish your brain with the proper foods, the health of the neurotransmitters will be compromised. When your mind suddenly goes blank, it may be that your lack of attention to diet has negatively impacted your brain’s ability to do its job. It’s a classic case of the domino effect, a perfect illustration of cause and effect.

A good maxim to remember is “What works for the heart, works for the head.” When planning a brain-healthy diet, remember that, like your heart, your brain needs oxygen, it needs to be blood-rich in anti­oxidants and vital nutrients, and it needs glucose for energy. Processed sugars, simple carbohydrates, fast foods, alcohol, and artery-clogging saturated fats are as bad for your mind as they are for your body.

Foods rich in the omega-3 fatty acids found in green leafy vegeta­bles, walnuts, chia seeds, and flax seeds, as well as unrefined complex carbohydrates, high-quality proteins, and fruits rich in antioxidants, such as blueberries, blackberries, and prunes, are the basic ingredients for a diet that promotes a healthy body and a healthy mind.

The Latest Research

Research presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in April 2012 by scientists at Mayo Clinic Study of Aging illuminated the association between overeating and memory loss. Measuring mild cognitive impairment among 1,233 seniors ages seventy and above, the researchers discovered that those seniors who consumed between 2,143 and 6,000 calories per day more than doubled their risk of suffering from memory loss and other manifestations of mild cognitive impairment compared to those who consumed 600 to 1,526 calories daily.[xii]

Sugar intake and brain function were the subject of a recent study by scientists at UCLA. The researchers found that rats given a diet high in fructose performed poorly in tests using mazes that were designed to assess memory and learning.[xiii] In addition to being fed a fructose-enriched diet, some rats were fed omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); this group completed the tests much more quickly than did the rats not given omega-3s, suggesting that healthy fats may counteract the harmful effects of sugar on brain health.

The benefits of consuming berries were examined in a 2012 article appearing in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The article noted that fruits including blueberries, blackberries, strawberries have been shown extensively in the scientific literature to help boost brain health in a number of ways. The authors noted that the high quantities of antioxidant compounds found in berries effectively prevent inflammation in the brain from damage by neutralizing free radicals.[xiv] Further, they explain that berries can positively impact neural signaling pathways of communication in the brain, helping to stave of inflammation and boost cognition.[xv]

In an article published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 2011, researchers from the University of Iowa reviewed more than one hundred studies that investigated how aerobic and resistance training exercise influences brain fitness. The group found that aer­obic exercise corresponds with improved ability to multitask and maintaining concentration over extended periods of time, while resistance exercise is associated with greater ability to focus in the face of distractions.[xvi] Discussing her team’s findings in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, lead researcher Michelle Voss stated that the hippocampus, a part of the brain crucial to memory forma­tion, tends to shrink by 1 percent or 2 percent annually once we reach age sixty, but in the case of seniors who are physically active, it increases in size by approximately 1 percent or 2 percent.[xvii]

In an article appearing in the journal Biological Psychiatry in 2011, scientists at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, gathered compelling evidence demonstrating that lead­ing a mentally active lifestyle may slow or prevent dementia and its symptoms, which include memory loss, in previously unidentified ways. In addition to showing that mental activity helps preserve the integrity of brain circuits, the team discovered that cognitive stimulation also improves our mental health through preserving blood flow to the brain and increasing neuron density.[xviii]

The relationship between a mentally active lifestyle and cognitive decline were the focus of a review published by the prestigious Cochrane Collaboration in early 2012. Analyzing the results of fifteen studies involving more than seven hundred patients with mild to moderate dementia, the authors found that those patients who participated in cognitive stimulation intervention programs performed significantly better on thinking and memory tests than did the individuals who did not undergo treatment.[xix] The benefits of the programs were observed to last at least one to three months after treatment ended. The patients evaluated in the review engaged in a variety of mentally stimulating activities, including discussion of past and present events, word games, puzzles, music, baking, and indoor gardening.

Supplements

Vitamins and Minerals

Certain vitamins and minerals may provide protection against mem­ory loss.

Vitamin E. In one study, researchers examined the possibility that vitamin E and other antioxidants could protect against neurodegen­erative diseases.[xx] The longitudinal study was conducted on 2,889 community residents, between the ages of 65 and 102 years.

Those monitored had their cognitive function measured by being told a long and detailed story and then being asked to recall items that were paired together. Those in the survey who had taken the highest amounts of vitamin E performed best on the cognitive tests. Based on the results of specific tests given the study’s participants, the report concluded that vitamin E intake from foods or supple­ments is associated with less cognitive decline with age. I recommend increasing your daily vitamin E supplement from 268 milligrams to 536 milligrams. Do not exceed 536 milligrams daily.

Vitamin C. A powerful antioxidant, vitamin C plays a key role in maintaining healthy nerve cells in the brain. Vitamin C can reduce and reverse oxidative damage to tissues caused by free radicals, and vitamin C’s immune system–enhancing capabilities are also well known. It has the ability to regenerate oxidized levels of vitamin E in the body, thus enhancing the potency of that vitamin. I recom­mend a daily dosage of 1,000 to 5,000 milligrams, taken twice daily.

Folate (Vitamin B9). A recent nationwide health and nutrition survey reported that grain products fortified with the B vitamin folate could help reduce memory loss in the over-sixty age group. A study linking the level of homocysteine (an amino acid found in the blood) with the level of B vitamin intake demonstrated that older adults with low vitamin B intake (in particular, folate) showed ele­vated blood homocysteine levels and suffered from a greater degree of memory loss than those with sufficient vitamin B intake. In fact, the participants in the study who had proper folate levels appeared to be immune to memory loss, even when their homocysteine levels were elevated.

In another study, researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston looked at the correlation between high homocysteine levels and memory loss. The subjects whose blood folate levels were highest seemed immune to memory loss, even though their homocysteine levels were elevated. The report suggested that consuming grain products fortified with folate may reduce memory loss in people over sixty,[xxi] although it makes more sense to consume large amounts of vegetables, which naturally contain abundant amounts of folate.

I recommend that your daily B-complex vitamin contain at least 800 micrograms of folic acid.

Lecithin and Choline. Lecithin is manufactured in the body and found in many animal- and plant-based foods, such as eggs, liver, pea­nuts, soybeans, wheat germ, and brewer’s yeast. It is often found as an additive in processed foods, such as ice cream and salad dressing.

Lecithin is a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and has a positive effect on cerebral and memory functions. Double-blind, placebo-controlled studies have shown that patients with mild cognitive disorders showed clear improvement when lecithin was given to them.[xxii]

A key component of lecithin, phosphatidylcholine, is broken down in the body and becomes choline, a building block of ace­tylcholine, a key neurotransmitter that plays an important role in memory. Levels of acetylcholine are known to decline with age, and studies have shown that supplementation with choline— which can also be found in liver, egg yolks, peanuts, cauliflower, soybeans, cabbage, and grape juice—can improve memory and learning. I recommend increasing your daily lecithin supplement from 1 gram to 2.5 grams for men and 2 grams for women. Take in two divided doses, and do not exceed a daily supplement of 2.5 grams for men or 2 grams for women.

Iron. Studies have shown that iron deficiency may be linked to prob­lems with short-term memory. Iron is crucial in building brain neu­rotransmitter activity, and can be found in foods and supplements. Iron should be taken with vitamin C to improve absorption. Consult with your doctor about adding iron supplements to your daily regimen.

Smart Drugs and Nutrients

A number of other naturally occurring nutrients may have beneficial impacts on memory loss.

DMAE (Dimethylaminoethanol). This nutrient, found in sardines, is a powerful stimulant that increases acetylcholine levels. Acetylcholine is an important neurotransmitter in the brain. It plays a role in mem­ory, concentration, and focus. I recommend increasing your daily.

DMAE supplement from 150 milligrams to 300 milligrams. Consult your physician before taking heavy doses of DMAE.

N-acetylcysteine (NAC). This amino acid protects the brain from damaging free radicals by boosting quantities of glutathione, one of the body’s most powerful antioxidants. I recommend a supplement of 500 milligrams taken three times daily.

Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NADH). An enzyme that helps improve neurotransmitter function, NADH is present in all living cells and plays a critical role in energy production. It helps prevent cellular degeneration and may increase concentration and memory capacity. I recommend a supplement of 2.5 milligrams taken twice a day for two or three days of the week.

Phosphatidylserine (PS). PS helps the brain use fuel more effi­ciently. By boosting neuronal metabolism and stimulating produc­tion of acetylcholine, PS may be able to improve the condition of patients in cognitive decline. Studies have revealed that supplement­ing with phosphatidylserine slows down and even reverses declining memory and concentration, or age-related cognitive impairment, in middle-aged and elderly subjects.[xxiii]

As we grow older, aging slows the body’s manufacturing of phosphatidylserine to levels that are detrimental to our functioning at our full mental capacity. For impact on memory loss, I recom­mend increasing your daily PS supplement from 300 milligrams to 400 milligrams. Do not exceed a daily supplement of 400 milligrams.

For nearly four decades, Gary Null has been one of the foremost advocates of alternative medicine and natural healing. A multi award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Null has written over 70 books on nutrition, self-empowerment and public health issues, including his most recent, Power Aging. His syndicated public radio show, Natural Living with Gary Null, earned 21 Silver Microphone Awards and is the longest-running, continuously aired health program in America (38 years). Currently, The Gary Null Show can be heard on PRN from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm ET.

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