Saturday January 29, 2025

Sidewalk Sale event in Downtown Livermore

Come out and find some great deals from Van’s and other Downtown merchants.

See you there!

Brain Supplements

Brain Supplements to Aid in Depression

People with major depressive disorder often don’t tolerate or respond well to antidepressant drugs, and also may have low levels of SAM-e, doctors in this study said. Fifty-five people with major depressive disorder who were not responding well to antidepressants added 800mg of SAM-e twice per day, or a placebo, while continuing to take serotonin re-uptake inhibitor drugs.

SAM-e Brain Supplements

After six weeks, compared to placebo, twice as many people in the SAM-e group had improved depressive symptoms or had gone into remission. Doctors believe that SAM-e helps synthesize nerve-signaling chemicals such as serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, which may help make antidepressants more effective.

Reference: American Journal of Psychiatry; 2010, Vol. 167, 942-8.

From the January 2011 newsletter
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End of Brain Supplements article

Sharper Minds

Nutrients protect brain function and help slow mental decline

Chromium improved memory

Recent research has linked Alzheimer’s disease to glucose metabolism in the brain, doctors in this study said. Twenty-six older men and women with early signs of memory decline took 1,000 mcg of chromium picolinate, or a placebo. After 12 weeks, while the placebo group had not changed, the chromium group had improved learning, recall, and performed better in memory recognition tasks and had fewer memory errors than at the start of the study. Using a magnetic resonance brain scan, researchers also found the chromium group had greater activity in several parts of the brain.

Vitamin E may reduce chances of dementia

Doctors in this study said that in dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease, beta amyloid plaques build up in the brain, stimulating inflammatory free radicals. Researchers thought that vitamin E, a fat-soluble antioxidant, might inhibit this disease process. Scientists measured the diets of 5,395 people who were disease-free at the start of the study. After 10 years of follow up, compared to those who consumed the least vitamin E, those who consumed the most vitamin E were 25 percent less likely to have developed dementia.

Vitamin E reduced chances of Alzheimer’s disease

There are eight naturally occurring forms of vitamin E, and in this study, researchers measured all eight forms in 232 people over age 80 that were dementia-free. After six years of follow up, compared to those with lower levels, doctors found that those with the highest levels of all forms of vitamin E were about half as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers concluded that a balanced presence of the eight forms of vitamin E can protect the brain.

Reference: Nutritional Neuroscience; 2010, Vol. 13, No. 3, 116-22

From the January 2011 newsletter

Nutrients to Help Prevent Osteoporosis

Nutrients help postmenopausal women, astronauts, and the bedridden

In this bone study, 35 postmenopausal women, aged 55 to 65 years, took dairy products fortified with 1,200 mg of calcium plus 300 IU of vitamin D per day for the first 12 months, then calcium plus 900 IU of vitamin D per day for the next 18 months, along with dietary counseling. A similar group of 31 women got neither supplements nor dietary counseling. After 30 months, compared to the non-supplement group, the calcium-vitamin D group had better bone mineral density in the arm, total spine, and total body.

The weightlessness of space flight and weightlessness effects of bed rest both can trigger a type of inflammatory immune response that speeds bone loss and may lead to osteoporosis. The immune inflammatory factor, called NFkB, can weaken muscle and bone. Researchers in this review analyzed four types of studies; short-flight space shuttle crews, cell culture, bed rest, and long-term space station crews.

In astronauts returning from short space shuttle flights, researchers drew blood at landing and found NFkB activity was elevated and remained elevated for two weeks, evidence that the body adapts to zero gravity through inflammatory processes.

In the cell culture studies, omega-3 fatty acids slowed NFkB activity.

Bed rest mimics some of the effects of weightlessness and in this study doctors found that, among people bedridden for 60 days, those who consumed less omega-3 fatty acids had more bone loss compared to those who consumed more omega-3s.

In the final study, researchers measured bone mineral loss in astronauts who were in space for four to six months. Those who consumed less fish during flight lost more bone mineral than those who ate more fish.

Reference: British Journal of Nutrition; 2010, Vol. 104, No.1, 100-7

From the December 2010 newsletter