Are You Getting the Best Nutrients in Your Multi-vitamin?, Part 2

Brain Health, Ingredients, Science Made Simple

Are You Getting the Best Nutrients in Your Multi-vitamin?, Part 2

In Part 1, we looked at the high-quality vitamins contained in BrainMD’s premier multiple vitamin-mineral supplement, NeuroVite Plus. In addition to NeuroVite Plus’ potent vitamins, this robust multiple also offers many essential minerals needed for optimal brain and body health.

The Essential Minerals of NeuroVite Plus

Certain minerals are built into the structures of enzymes and are essential for their activity. These are the essential minerals, of which NV supplies all but two. Iron can be dangerous when combined with other nutrients so must be taken separately. Copper also has this capability and is rarely deficient since it is relatively abundant in the diet. NV’s mineral ingredients are carefully selected for both safety and optimal health benefit.

Magnesium and Calcium are both essential for health, and they have a yin-yang relationship by which each helps balance the actions of the other. This formula supplies calcium and magnesium in forms that are most readily absorbed and best tolerated. Unlike other multiples, NV avoids using oxide forms since these are very poorly absorbed.

Calcium is needed only in small amounts in the brain, heart and other “soft” organs, is relatively abundant in the diet, and high intakes can pose a safety risk. Magnesium helps counterbalance any negative effects from calcium, and is needed wherever calcium is needed (including in the formation of bone), so that calcium supplements should always include magnesium.

Magnesium is required by practically all the body’s 300 energy-related enzymes so is needed for our cells to make energy. Yet the surveys consistently find at least 1 in 2 Americans may be deficient in this mineral. Magnesium is fundamental to the brain’s electrical activity via the nerve cell synapse connections. It is also crucial for many other functions including healthy heart rhythm and other muscle functions.

Iodine is essential for the thyroid gland to make hormones that control our metabolic thermostats for energy generation and overall activity levels, all through life. Thyroid hormones are crucial for the brain and body to develop, and iodine deficiency is the greatest cause of mental retardation worldwide.

In the U.S. and other countries, declines in consumption of dairy, eggs and iodized salt and exposures to environmental pollutants are linked to widespread iodine deficiency in women of reproductive age with potential catastrophic consequences once they become pregnant.

Zinc is essential for at least 100 enzymes, and for healthy development of the brain and other organs. All our cells need zinc to maintain the structure of their DNA and the actions of their genes. Zinc is structurally built into the enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD), which is our first line of defense against free radical toxins. This mineral is also urgently needed during pregnancy and for childhood development, sexual maturation, and male fertility.

Selenium is required by at least 25 enzymes and other selenium proteins, which are foundational to life and are important for brain development. Selenium enzymes also provide antioxidant defense against toxins. Selenium enzymes help keep our genes working optimally, regulate production of the thyroid hormones that help control our energy levels, and also regulate muscle development, heart muscle function, and immunity.

Manganese is needed for the major antioxidant enzyme SOD2 (superoxide dismutase 2), localized within the mitochondria to help control potentially harmful oxygen free radicals. This mineral works along with selenium in enzymes that are our cells’ primary defense against toxins. All our organs need manganese in order to process cholesterol, carbohydrates, and amino acids, and to produce tissue matrix components called proteoglycans.

Chromium is essential for healthy blood sugar metabolism. This formula provides it as chromium picolinate, which is very well absorbed, helps in coping with carbohydrate cravings, and supports healthy mood management. In a clinical trial by Krikorian and colleagues, this chromium ingredient even improved brain activity in older adults.

Molybdenum is required by at least five detoxifying enzymes that work closely with the antioxidant enzymes. Among their other functions, molybdenum enzymes help neutralize sulfites and bisulfites, potentially toxic substances generated by the body’s normal sulfur metabolism. Molybdenum enzymes also help detoxify the sulfites and bisulfites that are often sprayed onto foods as preservatives, and added into wines, vinegars, even medical products.

The Proprietary Brain Boosting Blend

This blend’s hefty 575 milligram daily allowance provides:

PhosphatidylSerine (PS), the only nutrient granted two Qualified Health Claims by the U.S. FDA, related to its brain benefits. PS has over 35 double-blind clinical trials and is proven useful for attention in children as well as for memory in adults.
Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC, aka acetyl l carnitine), fuels energy generation by the mitochondria, and supplies acetyl groups for the brain to make the important neurotransmitter acetylcholine. ALC’s acetyl groups to help regulate their gene activity.
Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA), a conditionally-essential nutrient vital for energy. ALA is a structural component of three of our most major energy enzymes. ALA is also a powerful antioxidant. Clinical trials indicate it enhances nerve cell energy, maintenance and repair.
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ), another conditionally essential nutrient vital for energy, and also a powerful antioxidant. CoQ is an essential cofactor and protectant for the mitochondria of our cells, which generate over 90 percent of all our energy.

Additional Important Nutrients

Choline is an essential nutrient and source of vital methyl groups. Choline’s methyl groups back up the methyls from dietary methylfolate and methyl B12. Choline readily enters the brain to promote the production of acetylcholine, our most abundant nerve transmitter. As a methyl backup, choline helps ensure healthy gene functions and is crucial for liver functions.

Lutein and Zeaxanthin are carotenoid nutrients essential for vision and eye health, and recent research indicates they also can enhance brain function. Very few multiples provide them. They are mostly present in leafy-green and yellow-red vegetables, and surveys indicate many people aren’t getting enough from their foods. These nutrients are practically vitamins, since the body can’t make them and we have to get them from our diet.

NeuroVite Plus also is designed to promote healthy blood flow to the brain. The brain needs very substantial blood flow to provide it with sufficient oxygen and the other nutrients it needs. Resveratrol is a plant polyphenol clinically found to promote blood flow. Pterostilbene is chemically related to resveratrol and complements its actions. Hesperidin Flavonoid Complex provides antioxidants that protect the delicate blood vessel walls.

Boron is likely an essential mineral and is known to support healthy brain function. It also supports the body’s utilization of vitamin D and magnesium, both very important for maintenance of brain health.

Silicon supports renewal of the connective tissues that build the tissue matrix glue in the brain and other organs.

The Organic Fruit and Vegetable Blend

Individuals who don’t manage to consume the optimal amounts of fruits and veggies every day – that’s practically all of us – get help from this formulation. It provides the antioxidant and numerous other health benefits of wild blueberries, broccoli sprouts, tomatoes, spinach, acai, carrots, strawberries, and alfalfa sprouts.

The Digestive Enzyme Blend

This plant-derived enzyme blend includes lipase, amylase, lactase, cellulase and protease, which are all able to tolerate chemical stresses while helping us digest our foods.

NeuroVite Plus provides vitamins for memory – and a whole lot more, including mood, attention, learning, behavior, and the functioning of all our organs. BrainMD monitors ongoing research to ensure NV’s ingredients are optimal for individuals of all ages. NV is essential to overall health and well-being.

Key Scientific References

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 8th Edition. 2015: https://health.gov (accessed 20 May 2019).
Blumberg JB, others. Contribution of dietary supplements to nutritional adequacy by socioeconomic subgroups in adults of the United States. Nutrients 10, 4; doi:10.3390/ nu10010004 (2018).
Ames BN. Low micronutrient intake may accelerate the degenerative diseases of aging through allocation of scarce micronutrients by triage. PNAS (Proceedings National Academy of Sciences US) 103 (47):17589-17594 (2006).
Harrison FE, May JM. Vitamin C function in the brain. Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine 46 (6): 719-730 (2009).
Pilz S, others. Vitamin D and mortality. Anticancer Research 26:1379-1388 (2016).
Douaud G, others. Preventing Alzheimer’s disease-related gray matter atrophy by B-vitamin treatment. PNAS (Proceedings National Academy of Sciences US) 110 (23):9523-9528 (2013).
Reynolds EH. Methylfolate as adjunctive treatment in major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry 170(5), 560 (2013).
Botto LD, Yang Q. 5, 10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene variants and congenital anomalies: a HuGE review. American Journal of Epidemiology 151:862-877 (2000).
Wallace TC, others. Choline: The underconsumed and underappreciated essential nutrient. Nutrition Today 53(6):240-253 (2018).
Kidd P. Magnesium: cornerstone of nutritional health insurance. Natural Products Insider 2019 Mar 20:7 pages. https://www.naturalproductsinsider.com/vitamins-minerals/magnesium-cornerstone-nutritionalhealth-insurance.
Gower-Winter SD, Levenson CW. Zinc in the central nervous system: From molecules to behavior. Biofactors 38(3):186-193 (2012).
Krikorian R, others. Improved cognitive-cerebral function in older adults with chromium supplementation. Nutritional Neuroscience 13(3):116-122 (2010).
Panth P, others. A review of iodine status of women of reproductive age in the USA. Biological Trace Element Research 188:208-220 (2019).
Renzi-Hammond LM, others. Effects of a lutein and zeaxanthin intervention on cognitive function: a randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial of younger healthy adults. Nutrients 9, 1246: doi:10.3390/nu9111246 (2017).
Kidd P. The most proven nutrient for memory and brain health: phosphatidylserine (PS). https://www.brainmd.com > HOME > BRAIN HEALTH blog, Nov 21, 2018.
Di Stefano G, others. Acetyl-l-carnitine in painful peripheral neuropathy: A systematic review. Journal of Pain Research 12:1341-1351 (2019).
Tibullo D, others. Biochemical and clinical relevance of alpha lipoic acid: antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity, molecular pathways and therapeutic potential. Inflammation Research DOI 10.1007/s00011-017-1079-6 (2017).
Qu H, others. Effects of coenzyme Q10 on statin-induced myopathy; an updated meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Journal of the American Heart Association 2018: e009835 (2018).