Certain vitamins may improve your thinking ability.
A balanced diet promotes overall good health, but some vitamins are more essential for brain health and thinking than others. Vitamins B, C and E are critical nutrients for healthy brains and maintaining peak cognitive function. These vitamins may also prevent cell damage because of their ability to combine with and neutralize free radicals in the brain, according the research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
B Vitamins
B vitamins provides many health benefits, including the breakdown of homocysteine, which is an amino acid that can damage nerve cells. These vitamins are associated with memory and improved cognitive function. According to Dr. Glenn Smith, a Mayo Clinic clinical neuropsychologist, vitamin B-12 may help prevent or slow memory loss, especially in older people, and also improves cognitive functioning. Vitamin B-12 helps maintain the health of nerve cells throughout the body, and a deficiency of this vitamin can result in memory loss, according to Dr. Glenn Smith at the Mayo Clinic. According to the website Brain FX, Dr. Patsi Krakoff states that vitamin B6 boosts memory.
Vitamin E
According to WebMD.com, a deficiency in vitamin E has been linked to reduced cognitive decline as people age. In addition to cognitive decline, those who suffer from depression as well as age-related tend to have low levels of vitamin E in the body. Taking supplements and eating a healthy diet that includes leafy green vegetables may increase vitamin E levels and improve cognitive function. Vitamin E has also been found to improve cognitive function for those suffering from Alzheimer's disease and works to improve cognitive function, because it has a strong antioxidant effect in the brain, according to an article titled, "Foods that Fight Alzheimer's," published on the website Web MD.
Vitamin C
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Mary N. Haan of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan claims that participants in studies who were taking vitamin C scored higher on short-term verbal memory tests, especially women. Vitamin C is an important nutrient for the production of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter. The brain cannot function properly without minimum levels of neurotransmitters. Low levels of norepinephrine are known to affect a person's mood.
A report by the Linus Pauling Institute notes that elderly Japanese-American men who took vitamin C and E supplements had an 88 percent decrease in the frequency of vascular dementia when compared to men who did not take vitamin supplements. The effects were greater in men who had been taking the supplements long term. Vitamin C is so imperative to brain function that the brain has the priority for the storage of the vitamin in the human body, because it is very efficient in preventing damage to neurons by free radicals.
According to the Franklin Institute, vitamin C concentration may be as much as 100 times higher in the fluid around brain cells than anywhere else in the body. Because of the role of vitamin C in the production of neurotransmitters and the prevention of injury to brain cells by free radicals, the Franklin Institute also says that vitamin C is critical to cognitive functions and helps improve memory.
Tags: cognitive function, cognitive decline, free radicals, improve cognitive, improve cognitive function, American Journal