How Supplements can Improve your Cognitive Health

What is one thing that is common across all adults?

Let us answer that for you; it’s ageing.

Something that we cannot avoid is getting older. In fact, 1 in 9 adults suffer from age related cognitive decline in the USA. In the UK, dementia can affect around 1 in 8 people over 80.

While we can’t stop ageing, we can reduce our decline rate by looking after our cognitive health.

But, the truth is cognitive decline can happen at any time, so before we know how to slow down the rate it happens, it’s important to know about it first and its signs.

What is cognitive decline?

Cognitive decline is a process that happens when you age. Normally cognitive decline happens around 70 years old and above, but it can occur during midlife for some.

It basically means your brain isn’t as swift and quick to respond as it used to. In fact, cognitive decline may have a major impact on your daily functioning, such as your relationships with friends and family. If you have it, it’s not always obvious unless you know the typical signs like:

• Forgetting important dates, events and appointments
• Getting lost easily
• Difficulty with recalling recent conversations
• Becoming more impulsive
• Being easily overwhelmed when it comes to plans and decisions
• Finding it difficult to organise tasks

How to slow down cognitive decline

If you’re reading this and are a bit concerned about cognitive decline, then keep calm; there are some methods you can use to slow it down. Even though it’s avoidable, you have the power to take action today and have a better quality of life for longer. Simply try the following:

Exercise

By simply undergoing 30-60 minutes of exercise a day, you can stimulate your body. In particular, it helps encourage more blood flow to go to your brain, lowering the chances of deterioration. It’s also believed to help your memory.

Research has shown that exercise has had a significant effect on recall with memory problems. It may also be beneficial for people who have the APOE4 gene variant, who are more at risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease.

Mediterranean Diet

If you’re not familiar with a Mediterranean diet, it’s a diet containing lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, olive oil, fish, poultry and more. The only major factor is there’s no red meat or very little. This type of diet has been widely recognised by many, helping improve cardiovascular health and reducing the risk of potential cancers and cognitive decline. It’s also believed to reduce dementia onset in some individuals.

Sleep

Having around 7-8 hours of good sleep every night can reduce the rate of cognitive decline. If you have less sleep each night, there’s a risk of you suffering from conditions like sleep apnoea and insomnia, causing problems with memory recall and learning. Plus, if this happens consistently, there is a risk of cognitive decline happening earlier to you.

Social contacts

If you have strong social interactions with others like your friends and family, it may be beneficial to your memory. There is research that indicates that great social connections can be as beneficial as a physical activity and a healthy diet. Plus, people who are well connected are less likely to get depressed.

After all, depression links with loneliness, and if that happens, it’s likely cognitive decline could happen to you a lot faster. Therefore you must have a lot of supportive people around you to lower your cortisol levels and engage in social activities.

Supplements to support brain health

If you can’t get it from your diet and lifestyle, you can also take supplements to help support your brain health. To help give your brain a boost, you might want to try the following:

Lion’s Mane

Lion’s Mane is a supplement that comes in capsule form. The supplement itself is vegan friendly and comes from a mushroom species. The reason why it’s called Lion’s Mane because the mushroom has a similar structure to a mane of a Lion.

One of the main benefits of this supplement is that it helps slow down cognitive function. It does this by increasing a unique compound in your brain known as nerve growth factor (NGF). When taken, this compound helps stimulate your brain to produce new cells, replacing former ones that were lost.

If taken regularly, this process can have a significant effect on delaying cognitive decline. It also helps your brain receiver faster from other brain injuries like chronic stress, oxidative damage and traumatic head injuries.

Choline Bitartrate

Choline Bitartrate is an affordable supplement that is vegan friendly. Once consumed, it’s broken down through the gut into two raw components, choline and tartaric acid. Tartaric acid helps transport choline to the brain, optimising its health.

Once in the brain, it helps support the production of an essential neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Acetylcholine helps you form and retrieve memories easily. Therefore helping you learn and grow mentally in day to day life. This neurotransmitter also helps with your attention, motivation, balance, coordination and critical thinking.

Bacopa Monnieri

Bacopa Monnieri is a petite herbal flower with a rich history in ayurvedic medicine, acting as an adaptogen and brain tonic. This capsule based supplement is beneficial as it helps support the production of your body’s essential neurotransmitters dopamine, acetylcholine, serotonin and more. If there are any problems with these neurotransmitters, there may be a significant impact on your short term and long term memory.

Bacopa Monnieri also has a rich anti-inflammatory and antioxidant profile. It helps your brain by neutralising free radicals reducing oxidative damage to your skin. Moreover, it’s considered an adaptogenic herb allowing your body to recover and resist different types of stress at a quicker rate.

Final thoughts

Overall, cognitive decline is something we can’t avoid as we age. But you have the power to slow down the rate it happens to you by making simple lifestyle changes. Such changes you might want to incorporate is undergoing more exercise, having a Mediterranean diet, a healthy sleep pattern and social interactions.

In addition to this, you might want to try supplements that can support your brain health and lower your symptoms in the long run. Plus, brain health is so important to us; if you buy supplements with us, 10% of every profit goes toward The Alzheimer’s Society.