Myth of the Aging Brain

There seems to be a commonly held belief in the consensus reality of our culture, that as we age our mind, i.e. brain, begins to decline in it's ability to function efficiently, quickly and accurately. Maybe this becomes true if we accept and also share this belief and therefore do not attend to our overall health and the health of our bodies which includes our brain. Reality is that we can grow new brain cells as adults, and create new neuropathways, stimulate previously unused areas of our brain and experience new connection and coordination between the left and right hemispheres in order to utilize "whole brain" cognitive and auto functioning. The more neruons and connections we have in our brain, the more ability for memory, attention and performance we gain.

Often, for some reason, many of us do not perceive that our brain is a part of our body and needs as much attention as any other part of our body. In fact, our brain is vital to the functioning of our entire body. Our brain is responsible for breathing, heart beat, hearing, touch, sight, smell, balance, digestion, movement, perception, pain response, thought, emotion, etc. Our brain is the most vital organ in our body and requires specific nutrients to function efficiently. Good natural healthy nutrition for our brains is vital not only for cognitive and emotional functioning, but also for the regulation and functioning of our entire body.

Our brain cells structure is composed of healthy fats. In order for our brains to function properly, our brain needs an abundant supply of healthy fats especially the "omegas". Supplying our brain and body with essential fatty acids e.g. omega 3, is vital for our brains to repair, grow new neurons and neuropathyways. The most efficient and abundant source of essential fatty acids, e.g. omega 3, can be found in flaxseed oil and fish oils which are available in natural supplement form, especially when they are lacking in our diet.

Vitamins and minerals e.g. vitamin B12, vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Iron, calcium, folic acid and others, are essential for our brains to function efficiently and effectively. The best way that we can be sure we are getting the kind and quantity of vitamins and minerals is by using natural multivitamin formulas. We can also use Vitamin C, B Complex and mineral formulas individually as well as using multivitimans. Various herbs such as ginkgo biloba, ginseng, and others can be used separately or in natural formulas and are very important contributors to our brain's health and function. These herbs and others are often included in natural multivitamin formulas along with vitamins and minerals.

Antioxidants are vital for attaching to "free radicals" in our blood stream and neutralizing them. Antioxidants e.g. CoQ 10, aangamic dmg, purple and red phytonutrients can be found in a variety of foods or, more conveniently and efficiently in natural supplements. Juices like mangosteen, gogi and pomergranate contain excellent antioxidants. Green foods like barley grass, wheat grass, spiralina, alfalfa and others contain powerful antioxidants and can be obtained in natural supplement form as well as in some multivitamin formulas. In addition to fighting "free radicals", antioxidants help our brain gain and maintain oxygen supply that is vital for memory, clarity and other brain functions.

Natural substances called neurotransmitters are the messengers that move brain signals from one neuron to another. It is very important that we have a good supply of these neurotransmitters. Our bodies produce these neurotransmitters, but not without the proper nutrition with which to produce them. Neurotransmitters are produced through various proteins. Examples of these are l-tyrosine, l-tyrosine, acetyl l-carnitine, dlph-phehylalanine, which can be obtained in natural supplement form.

Also available for us to insure that we experience good healthy natural brain function, are various natural formulas containing many combinations of the nutrients specifically needed by our brains. These formulas are designed to help us with memory, attention, and performance.

We need not resign ourselves to the popular belief of consensus reality that our brains decline in function and efficiency as we age. We have available to us many natural supplements which we can add to our diet to insure that our brain is receiving the nutrition it needs to regulate and maintain healthy body functioning, cognitive and emotional function and general feeling of health and well being.