Skip to content
Wellness Blog
5 of the Best Ways to Help Prevent Memory Loss
Do you frequently misplace your keys or phone? Are you forgetting appointments? Do you often wonder why you entered a room? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may be experiencing memory loss. If your memory problems have become a serious concern, it might be time to seek out professional help. Unfortunately, many healthcare professionals perpetuate a myth about memory loss. Memory Loss Myth When you visit your primary care physician or local neurologist, they’ll typically ask you a few questions, give you some short tests, and order an MRI. Based on your results, these medical professionals will often tell you this myth about memory loss: “Everyone has memory problems with age. It’s normal.” Despite what many healthcare practitioners would have you believe, losing your memory in your 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, or even 80s isn’t normal. It’s a sign of trouble. Many things can lead to memory loss. Here are just a few… Factors that May Cause Memory Loss Poor Diet According to a recent study published by Royal Society Open Science, consuming the Western-style or standard American diet (SAD) diet for just one week may decrease learning and increase the desire to munch on junk food. For this trial, volunteers spent one week splurging on high-fat foods and sweet treats with high amounts of added sugar. The SAD diet led to worse performance on memory tests and an increased desire to overeat junk food after they’d finished consuming a meal. The researchers suggest that the SAD diet – consisting of high-glycemic foods like waffles and high-fat fare like milkshakes – can rapidly impair function in the region of the brain called the hippocampus. One of the brain’s major memory centers, the hippocampus is also involved in appetite regulation. Dysfunction in this area is associated with memory issues and troubles with appetite control. This study is just the latest to confirm the strong relationship between what you put in your mouth and the moment-by-moment functioning of your brain. Its findings suggest a vicious cycle where eating junk food impairs hippocampal function and appetite control, which leads to craving more junk food, and so on. It helps explain why the SAD diet is contributing to widespread weight problems in America where approximately 70% of the population is overweight, and 40% fall into the obese category. Medications New research in the journal Neurology reveals that taking a certain class of drugs called anticholinergics has been linked to problems with thinking and memory. There are about 100 types of anticholinergics, which are commonly used to treat high blood pressure, overactive bladder, motion sickness, and even the common cold. Unfortunately, anticholinergics aren’t the only medications that have been associated with memory problems. Many commonly used prescription and over-the-counter drugs are linked to memory loss, as well. These include: Anti-anxiety drugs (Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin) Cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) Antidepressants (Prozac, Celexa, Lexapro) Diabetes drugs (Glucophage, Metformin) Opioid painkillers (Oxycontin, Vicodin) Sleep aids (Ambien, Lunesta) General anesthesia Toxic Exposure Toxic exposures can come from many sources other than medications, most notably self-inflicted “lifestyle” toxins (smoking, including cannabis and vaping; amphetamines; ecstasy and other recreational drugs; and alcohol), pesticides and herbicides in foods, medical treatments such as chemotherapy, and environmental exposures to carbon monoxide or mold. It can be difficult to know if you’re being affected by one of these toxins unless you know specifically what to look for. Toxic exposure can damage the brain and result in decreased neurological function including memory loss, sudden personality changes, and difficulty concentrating. It’s important to realize that toxic exposure and its effects on the internal structure of your brain may trigger both short- and long-term effects. Gum Health A growing body of research has shown that periodontal (gum) problems are a risk factor for serious cognitive and memory issues. Gum challenges are associated with an unhealthy inflammatory balance, which has been linked to an increased risk for long-term memory problems. A study found that people who keep their teeth and gums healthy with regular dental health behaviors may have a lower risk of developing memory issues later in life. Researchers at the University of California followed nearly 5,500 elderly people over an 18-year-period and found that those who reported brushing their teeth less than once a day were up to 65 percent more likely to develop serious memory problems than those who brushed daily. Menopause Researchers from the University of Illinois and Northwestern University in Chicago tested 68 women, ages 44 to 62, who had at least 35 hot flashes per week. Those women who reported struggles with memory, negative emotions, and more troublesome hot flashes were the ones who did the worst on tests that measured memory. Intense menopause can translate to intense memory issues. The menopausal brain can be subjected to enormous hormonal changes, and memory can be a casualty. Such perimenopausal memory loss can be due to decreases in progesterone, which can affect sleep patterns and increase anxiousness. It also can be due to a decrease in DHEA, a precursor hormone to estrogen and testosterone that’s highly protective in the brain, particularly its major learning and memory centers. Healthy memory depends on healthy hormonal balance, and a good endocrinologist may be able to help by prescribing bioidentical hormones. Brain Fitness Since the brain is a muscle, it’s important to exercise it every day. In fact, keeping your brain fit is a great way to support cognition and memory throughout your life. If you’re looking to improve your brain fitness, here are 5 helpful and fun ways to protect your memory and improve your mental well-being… 5 Ways to Help Prevent Memory Loss 1. Brain Games Brain games can be helpful for preserving memory and other cognitive functions, especially for older adults. Spending a minimum of 15 minutes a day on games – such as crossword puzzles, chess, sudoku, and jigsaw puzzles – may help improve concentration. There are various online sites where you can do mental exercises to improve your cognitive skills. No matter your age, mental exercise can have an overall positive effect on your brain. Cognitive skills tend to dip after graduation from school/college and after retirement from work, so don’t stop challenging your brain daily! 2. Physical Activity Physical activity increases blood flow to your whole body, including your brain. Exercise delivers extra oxygen and other nutrients to your brain cells. Walking can help clear your mind, improve your mood, and burn some calories all at the same time. Aerobic activity – sweating for at least 30 minutes 4 to 5 times a week – also can increase BDNF, a “growth factor” that promotes nerve cell maturation and overall brain efficiency. Both blood flow and BDNF are major brain influences to help keep your memory sharp. 3. New Learning Brain researchers have discovered that the “use it or lose it” principle applies to the brain’s trillions of connections (synapses). These tend to increase in number when the brain is being challenged to learn. When the brain stops learning, the synapses can decrease and memory can start fading, so be intentional about learning new things. Set aside sometime each day to learn something new. Take a class, learn a new language or musical instrument, try square-dancing, chess, tai chi, yoga, or sculpture. Einstein said if someone spends 15 minutes a day learning something new, they’ll be an expert in a year! 4. Memory Aids Memory aids are a great way to boost your brain while developing a system to remember things. When memorizing a list, associate each item with the most humorous or ridiculous image you can think of to help you recall it later. No one sees the image in your mind, so be creative and have fun with it. To help you remember names, repeat a person’s name once or twice in conversation. Visualize the name as a picture (perhaps on the person’s forehead) and use their name when saying good-bye. 5. Strong Connections Social connections can significantly affect your brain, mood, memory, and overall well-being. Building and maintaining healthy relationships may help you feel understood and cared for. When you care for others and feel cared for, your brain releases oxytocin, the “bonding” hormone, which can counteract some of the negative effects of stress. The health habits of the people you spend time with can have a dramatic impact on your own health. Surround yourself with people who are happy, upbeat, kind, and who challenge you to be the best version of yourself. Remember This Memory loss isn’t inevitable. If you’re experiencing memory problems, early intervention may be the key to long-term prevention. Now is always the best time to get serious about brain health. One of the best ways to prevent premature memory loss is with proper nutrition, especially using highly purified nutraceutical ingredients that are specifically designed to keep your mind sharp and efficient. Since your memory is what allows you to treasure and revisit the most special moments in your life, be sure to protect and fortify your brain with the nutritional, positive lifestyle, and fitness strategies that can help strengthen it. At BrainMD, we’re dedicated to providing the highest quality supplements to improve your physical health and overall well-being. For more information about our full list of brain healthy supplements, please visit us at BrainMD. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This content is for informational purposes only. It is not meant to substitute for medical or healthcare advice from a physician, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before beginning a new health regimen.
Learn more
Folic Acid vs. Folate: Everything You Need to Know
Did you know that there are 13 vitamins that are vital — essential — to your survival? Among them is the lineup of B vitamins with names like thiamin (for vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), and niacin (vitamin B3). Then there's folate, incredibly important for our health no matter our stage of life. The folate vitamin group is most active when converted into methylfolate (MF). What is Folate? Folate is a group of chemically complicated substances that supply the body with chemically simple methyl groups. The body needs folates but can’t make them from scratch and therefore must get from foods or dietary supplements. Folate is vital at every life stage, from early development in the womb through birth and all the way through adulthood. But for many people lifestyle factors, popularly used medications or common gene mutations deplete their folate stores. For these individuals AND for the rest of us, methylfolate is the best dietary form of folate. Methylfolate (technically methyltetrahydrofolate) is the body's most active form of folate. ALL our cells need MF to drive specialized enzymes that make the DNA, genes, and chromosomes. All our cells also need MF to repair damage to their DNA (which is occurring all the time, even in healthy cells). Methyl coming mainly from folate is also very important for epigenetics — turning genes on and off using methyl — as well as to enable cells to grow, maintain their structure and make new cells. Our 200 billion brain cells need MF for all these reasons. But also, they need MF to enable them to make nerve cells' electrical insulation, important neurotransmitters, even a major hormone. Yet MF is not commonly found in foods and very rarely provided by dietary supplements. BrainMD has made methylfolate a priority ingredient in our brain-directed dietary supplements. Lifestyle, Medications Deplete the Body's Folate Supply The body's stores of MF and other methyl resources are in danger of depletion by alcohol abuse, smoking, and by high usage of drugs such as antacids, antibiotics, painkillers, certain diuretics, estrogen replacement therapy, oral contraceptives, anticonvulsants, and SSRI psychotherapeutics. Poor diet, poor digestive and absorptive function, and suboptimal kidney function all can deplete the body's folate stores. During pregnancy, the demand for folate becomes greatly increased due to the needs of the developing baby. Supplementing with Methylfolate from BrainMD Health helps provide your brain and body with optimized folate, to improve your chances of maintaining health and well-being. What’s the Difference Between Folate, Folic Acid, and Methylfolate? Many foods are being "fortified" with folic acid (FA) to help consumers maintain good nutritional folate status. Also, dietary supplements that include folate typically provide it as FA. Yet this substance is a manufactured folate that is known to be poorly utilized by the body's folate enzyme system. The body has to use an enzyme to make FA usable, and this enzyme's conversion capacity is limited. Consequently, many people have unconverted FA in their bloodstream, which studies have linked to negative health effects. Methylfolate is the folate form most naturally preferred by the body, so much so that the intestinal lining has "transport proteins" that bind to it and selectively absorb it into the blood. Similar proteins also move MF from the circulation into the brain tissue. But MF utilization can be blocked by the FA coming from fortified foods or poorly formulated dietary supplements. Folic acid is not just poorly effective — it actually interferes with the enzymes that are tasked with using MF and the other folates coming from our foods. Folic acid consumption is a serious health issue. Bottom line: always choose supplements with methylfolate instead of folic acid. Methylfolate Bypasses Common Folate Mutations Unlike folic acid (FA), methylfolate, when consumed, does not have to be converted into active folate—being already the body's most active folate form, it can be immediately used by our folate enzyme systems. One of the most common human gene mutations is the C677T mutation in the enzyme MTHFR (Methylene Tetrahydrofolate Reductase), whose function is to produce MF. More than 40 percent of individuals in some ethnic groups have this mutation, which is associated with impaired folate utilization. Taking MF by mouth bypasses this mutation: as premade authentic MF it doesn't need to be produced by MTHFR. For people with C677T or various other, less common MTHFR mutations MF is a health breakthrough! What Are the Benefits of Methylfolate Here are a few of the numerous health benefits of MF: Fundamental to the growth, renewal, and total functioning of our cells, tissues and organs. Clinically proven for healthy mood, memory and other cognitive functions, and behavior. Enhances the clinically proven mood benefits of SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine). Essential for the brain to make the key neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Promotes the brain's healthy production of melatonin, our major sleep hormone. Enhances the body's regulation of homocysteine, a potentially toxic human metabolic product. Promotes healthy pregnancy and birth outcomes. Best Prenatal Vitamin With Methylfolate Whether you’re pregnant or planning to have a baby, it’s vital that you get proper nutrition, and you especially have to ensure you're getting sufficient usable folate. Getting MF from a state-of-the-art prenatal supplement like Smart Prenatal helps ensure you can meet your growing baby's nutritional needs — and yours, as well.* The baby's heart and brain are already forming just 6 weeks after conception, a woman who is low on folate and becomes pregnant may be at a health disadvantage for her pregnancy before she even knows she's pregnant. Since MF is essential for fetal development, it’s recommended for all women of reproductive age to take Smart Prenatal before, during and after pregnancy.* This supplement and others from BrainMD also provide methyl-vitamin B12, a necessary complement to MF: these two vitamins work as a team. Crucial from the Beginning Folate is the most researched nutrient for pregnancy, yet most prenatal vitamins and other multivitamins continue to provide synthetic folic acid. The methyl groups coming from the MF in Smart Prenatal is absolutely critical for the proper development of the baby’s heart AND nervous system AND all the other organs.* Methyl from MF is needed from the moment of fertilization of the human egg, through the development of the brain, heart and other organs, to birth, and throughout a person’s lifetime. Methylfolate Crucial After Pregnancy After birth, MF continues to be extremely crucial for an infant’s development. As the mother’s body works at its utmost to maintain sufficient levels of breast milk, her methyl and folate reserves are in danger of becoming depleted, which makes both infant and mother vulnerable to all the problems that come with folate deficiency. By continuing to supplement with MF, which happens to be the predominant folate in breast milk, a mother can be confident she's supporting her infant’s ongoing growth while protecting her own mood and well-being. Smart Prenatal with MF avoids the uncertainties and limitations associated with the use of folic acid in prenatal supplements.* Better nourished mothers have healthier babies with well-developed brains.* Children of mothers who are well-nourished and breastfeed have substantially better chances for optimal health as they mature into adults.* FAQs About Methylfolate 1. Do I really need Methylfolate? Yes, you need it, and way more than you need folic acid! And your brain really needs it! Clinical research has confirmed that taking MF as a supplement can effectively improve the brain and total body's folate status, and especially promotes positive mood. MF also promotes healthy memory, behavior, the entire range of healthy brain functions, and a huge array of functions in the bone marrow, liver, and other organs. MF is the best commercially available dietary supplement for correcting confirmed folate deficiency and for any other situation where folate supplementation is recommended. 2. How safe is Methylfolate? What is the recommended dosage range? MF’s safety is well documented, and it has been used safely as a dietary supplement for many years, with remarkable success. In multiples such as BrainMD's NeuroVite Plus Multivitamin, an effective dose of MF is 400 micrograms (mcg) and up. Higher doses are needed during pregnancy, so our Smart Prenatal supplies 1000 mcg per day.* People with mood challenges or with any of the known folate gene mutations can benefit from even higher amounts, and Methylfolate is very safe to take.* BrainMD's high-potency Methylfolate supplies 5000 mcg (5 milligrams) of MF. This level of daily dosing and higher has been proven safe from clinical research at Harvard and other research institutions.* When under a physician’s supervision, up to 3 caps of Methylfolate (15 mg) can be taken daily without concern. 3. Will Methylfolate cause problems for those taking methotrexate? We advise anyone taking methotrexate to consult a nutritionally-informed physician before taking Methylfolate. 4. Can vegans and vegetarians take Methylfolate? Yes, it’s fully suitable for anyone not wanting exposure to animal-based foods or supplements. 5. Is Methylfolate compatible with other dietary supplements? Yes, MF is very safe, very well tolerated and fully compatible with multiple vitamin/mineral supplements, fish oils, herbals, and other responsibly-formulated dietary supplements.* Further, MF’s multiple methyl actions tend to reinforce the benefits of other dietary supplements.* For example, taking MF along with BrainMD's SAMe Mood & Movement 400 and Betaine TMG can make a big difference for maintaining a healthy mood.* Taking folate as Methyfolate is well-proven nutritional health insurance for mood, memory, the other cognitive functions, behavior, and overall brain and body health.* For more information about Methylfolate, and our full line of brain-healthy supplements, visit us at BrainMD. At BrainMD, we’re dedicated to providing the highest quality supplements to improve your physical health and overall well-being. For more information about Smart Prenatal and our full list of brain healthy supplements, please visit us at BrainMD. *These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This content is for informational purposes only. It is not meant to substitute for medical or healthcare advice from a physician, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before beginning a new health regimen.
Learn more