Three "B" vitamins help with memory retention: B6, B11, and B12.
You can take one of three different "B" vitamins and each will help improve your memory: B6, B11, and B12. Your need for one will increase with age, your benefit from another is better when the daily recommended dosage is doubled, and one of them is needed more if you restrict your diet considerably of animal products.
Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 is important as it affects as many as 100 enzymes within your body, according to The Oregon State University. The daily recommended dosage for this particular memory-impacting vitamin increases in men (from 1.3 to 1.7 mg/day) and in women (1.3 to 1.5 mg/day) once they reach the age of 51.
According to OSU, decline in cognitive ability has been attributed in a couple of studies due to a deficiency of vitamin B6 and, in fact, one study showed memory actually improved when higher plasma levels of vitamin B6 were present. That study was conducted by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and looked at the relation between several B vitamins--including B6--and homocysteine. Additional research was recommended to better understand the role between homocysteine and the B vitamins.
Vitamin B11 (Folic Acid)
Folic acid, also known as vitamin B11, helps your body to keep down homocysteine levels. This is important, since high homocysteine levels have been shown to contribute to a number of health problems, according to Stanford University. One such problem is damage to nerve cells due to oxidative damage, and those nerve cells can be in the brain. Another problem that can result due to homocysteine is actual cell death.
Vitamin B11, then, helps to stop the destruction of high homocysteine levels, which can affect brain cells. In addition, according to a study cited by Stanford, of healthy adults ranging in age from 50 to 70 years old, taking twice the daily recommended dosage of this vitamin (800 mcg instead of 400 mcg) not only improved the participants' memory it also slowed down declines in the participants' ability to process information.
Vitamin B12
Vegetarians and older adults are more likely to be deficient in vitamin B12 than meat eaters and younger adults. And having a deficiency in vitamin B12 can result in memory loss, according to the Mayo Clinic. Take this supplement to improve your memory retention, regardless of adult age.
While vitamin B12 can help the average person's memory retention, it cannot, however reverse the dementia experienced by those with Alzheimer's disease, according to Mayo.
Tags: daily recommended, daily recommended dosage, homocysteine levels, recommended dosage, according Mayo, deficiency vitamin
