I just read this in a newsletter.Valuable Information for anybody, especially if you're pregnant or if you care about someone over 50.
Mental Rocket Fuel for Olympic Brainpower
February 24, 2009
By Jon Herring
The media is full of articles touting fish as brain food. And for once they've got it right. Fish really is brain food. And it's not just because of the omega-3s.
When it comes to "smart nutrients," dimethylaminoethanol - DMAE for short - is at the top of the list. And wild-caught, cold-water fish are chock full of it.
Why is it so good for you? Read on to find out.
The breakfast of champions
By the time an athlete has made it to the Olympics, his or her physical skills have been honed for years. But performance on game day challenges the brain as well. Mental agility is critical. The good news is you don't need to be an Olympic athlete to have Olympic brainpower.
Mental agility comes largely from acetylcholine, an important chemical messenger within the brain. Acetylcholine helps control learning, memory, attention, and general processing speed. It also sends out the signals that tell the body what to do.
The more acetylcholine you have, the faster those signals can go out. The faster the signals go out, the quicker you can think and react.1
So where does acetylcholine come from? Your brain makes it from choline, which is usually considered a B-complex vitamin.
Choline does many important things in the body in addition to its role in the brain. For example, it is vital for metabolism and cell signaling. Egg yolks are an excellent food source of choline, by the way.
Your brain is hungry for choline. While your brain accounts for only about 2% of your body weight, it is an energy hog. It gets first dibs on 20% of the calories you eat so that it can keep all systems alert and ready to respond.
And choline makes a big difference.
A supercharged beginning
Researchers at Duke University tested the benefits of choline in an unusual way. They gave choline supplements to pregnant rats to see if the supplements would make a difference in the brains of the offspring. The results? The brain cells of the offspring were larger and the electrical signals that create memories fired much faster than those of the control group.
Head researcher Dr. Qiang Li noted that previous studies had shown that animals given choline were smarter and learned things more quickly. But it was unclear if the brain was actually changed in the process.
After the study results came in, Dr. Li commented, "Choline didn't just change the general environment of the brain, it changed the fundamental building blocks of brain circuits - the cells themselves."3
This same research has been confirmed by other scientists around the country. As a result, choline now has the status of an "essential nutrient." It is especially important for pregnant and nursing women.
So why not just consume more choline? How does DMAE fit into this picture?
Mental Rocket Fuel for Olympic Brainpower
February 24, 2009
By Jon Herring
The media is full of articles touting fish as brain food. And for once they've got it right. Fish really is brain food. And it's not just because of the omega-3s.
When it comes to "smart nutrients," dimethylaminoethanol - DMAE for short - is at the top of the list. And wild-caught, cold-water fish are chock full of it.
Why is it so good for you? Read on to find out.
The breakfast of champions
By the time an athlete has made it to the Olympics, his or her physical skills have been honed for years. But performance on game day challenges the brain as well. Mental agility is critical. The good news is you don't need to be an Olympic athlete to have Olympic brainpower.
Mental agility comes largely from acetylcholine, an important chemical messenger within the brain. Acetylcholine helps control learning, memory, attention, and general processing speed. It also sends out the signals that tell the body what to do.
The more acetylcholine you have, the faster those signals can go out. The faster the signals go out, the quicker you can think and react.1
So where does acetylcholine come from? Your brain makes it from choline, which is usually considered a B-complex vitamin.
Choline does many important things in the body in addition to its role in the brain. For example, it is vital for metabolism and cell signaling. Egg yolks are an excellent food source of choline, by the way.
Your brain is hungry for choline. While your brain accounts for only about 2% of your body weight, it is an energy hog. It gets first dibs on 20% of the calories you eat so that it can keep all systems alert and ready to respond.
And choline makes a big difference.
A supercharged beginning
Researchers at Duke University tested the benefits of choline in an unusual way. They gave choline supplements to pregnant rats to see if the supplements would make a difference in the brains of the offspring. The results? The brain cells of the offspring were larger and the electrical signals that create memories fired much faster than those of the control group.
Head researcher Dr. Qiang Li noted that previous studies had shown that animals given choline were smarter and learned things more quickly. But it was unclear if the brain was actually changed in the process.
After the study results came in, Dr. Li commented, "Choline didn't just change the general environment of the brain, it changed the fundamental building blocks of brain circuits - the cells themselves."3
This same research has been confirmed by other scientists around the country. As a result, choline now has the status of an "essential nutrient." It is especially important for pregnant and nursing women.
So why not just consume more choline? How does DMAE fit into this picture?
Does Your CoQ10 Really Work?
If You're Taking the Wrong Kind, You May Be Wasting Your Money!
The many health benefits of taking Coenzyme Q10 are already well established... Yet many patients I talk to in my practice tell me they don't feel any different after they start taking CoQ10.
When they show me the bottle, I immediately know why.
As it happens, most of the CoQ10 they are taking never makes it to their cells where it can do the most good.
In fact, most people over 50 have a hard time converting CoQ10 into its usable form. The lion's share of the valuable CoQ10 enzyme disappears - making it impossible to give your cells the protection and nourishment they need.
Fortunately, I've found a simple way to solve this problem forever ...
Click HERE to get the most powerful, most effective form of CoQ10 on the planet - NOW!
Imports, exports, and on-site construction
The problem is that choline has a hard time getting into the brain. It gets there eventually. But it's almost always delayed in shipping.
When your brain doesn't get good quality fuel, it doesn't slow down your breathing or your heart rate. Instead it sacrifices mental clarity, leaving you feeling sluggish and unable to concentrate. Thinking is hard work, but it's low on the list of vital functions. That means that when the brain lacks fuel, thinking is the first thing to go.
Fortunately, there is a faster way to get your brain the choline it needs.
The answer is DMAE - the precursor to choline. DMAE is like rocket fuel for your brain, and it is able to cross the blood-brain barrier much faster than choline itself.2
By importing the raw materials, the brain can do its construction on-site. DMAE gets turned into choline. Choline gets made into acetylcholine. Acetylcholine lets your brain take off.
Get more DMAE
The best dietary sources of DMAE are wild Alaskan salmon, sardines, and anchovies. These fish are also known to be very low in pollutants like mercury and PCBs, which are common in many other fish species.
Since DMAE is so good for your brain, could eating fish actually prevent brain disease?
Researchers are currently trying to answer that question. In fact, there is a study of almost 15,000 people underway to determine whether the amount of fish they eat affects their risk of developing dementia.
The first round of the study surveyed 14,960 adults aged 65 or older living in China, India, and five different Latin American countries. Almost immediately it was discovered that those who ate fish two to three days a week were 19% less likely to develop dementia than those who never ate fish. And the incidence of dementia dropped another 19% among those who ate fish almost every day!
This connection between eating more fish and lowering the risk of dementia held true across all of the countries, despite the different backgrounds of the adults involved. In spite of large differences in income, education, and lifestyle habits like smoking, the results were the same. Follow-up studies will look at long-term data with these same participants.4
Clear head, calm mood
The known benefits of DMAE include:
Boosting memory and brainpower.
Reducing depression.
Improving athletic performance.
Increasing concentration in kids with attention problems.
Making skin appear more youthful.5
DMAE's potential for treating dementia is very promising. But why not prevent memory loss in the first place by making sure you've already got it in your diet? Protect your brain by giving it what it needs to function at optimal capacity.
One of the best things about DMAE is that it can give you mental energy with no crash-and-burn. Caffeine will give you a similar buzz, but it gives you the jitters too. The ups and downs caused by excess caffeine are hard on your body. Boosting choline with DMAE is a natural way to stay focused and alert without any nasty side effects.
I highly recommend making wild (NOT farm-raised) salmon and sardines a regular part of your diet to shore up your DMAE levels. If you don't care for fish, supplements may be a good idea. This is one nutrient you simply have to have. For Olympic-level mental clarity, give your brain the fuel it needs.
To Your Health,
Jon Herring
Total Health Breakthroughs
References:
Jope RS, Jenden DJ. "Dimethylaminoethanol (deanol) metabolism in rat brain and its effect on acetylcholine synthesis." J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 211.3 (1979):472-9.
Millington WR, McCall AL, Wurtman RJ. "Deanol acetamidobenzoate inhibits the blood-brain barrier transport of choline." Ann Neurol, 4.4 (1978):302-6.
Li Q, Guo-Ross S, Lewis DV, Turner D, White AM, Wilson WA, Swartzwelder HS. "Dietary Prenatal Choline Supplementation Alters Postnatal Hippocampal Structure and Function." J Neurophysiol, 91 (2004):1545-1555.
Albanese E, Dangour AD, Uauy R, Acosta D, Guerra M, Gallardo-Guerra SS, Huang Y, Jacob KS, de Rodriguez JL, Noriega LH, Salas A, Sosa AL, Sousa RM, Williams J, Ferri CP, Prince MJ. "Dietary fish and meat intake and dementia in Latin America, China, and India: a 10/66 Dementia Research Group population-based study." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 90.2 (2009):392-400.
Uhoda I, Faska N, Robert C, et al. "Split-face study on the cutaneous tensile effect of 2-dimethylaminoethanol (deanol) gel." Skin Res Technol, 8 (2002):164-7
How do You like that? I always appreciate it when something gets explained in simple words, so I can remember. Perhaps I need more DMAE too! Seriously, though, I do get overwhelmed with all the stuff I should be taking; all that Good for You Stuff. That's where a good, simple explanation of the why and how all these vitamins and nutritional supplements work is very helpful. At the health food store, too many times the staff just tries to 'sell you' but aren't able to answer my questions. Now I found a great on-line vitamin store. They have explanations with every one of there products and if I want to really go in depth, they have a full archive of every conceivable mineral, vitamin and combination supplements. I like to go there and take my time choosing the right nutritional supplements. And the prices are reasonable enough, too.
If you're interested you can check it out here.
Verena from: http://www.positivemindsovermatter.com
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