Tag Archives: supplements

5 Ways to stay calm during the holiday season . . . and all year long

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A man is dealing with intense work rush hour traffic jam stress by getting relief doing yoga on top of his car in this humorous scene that shows PEACE on the license plate of the car he is sitting on.

I recently drove to Denver to give a book talk and got stuck in unexpected, late-morning bumper-to-bumper traffic. Even though I left plenty of time to reach my destination, I realized I was going to be late when it took 30 minutes to basically crawl 1/2 mile on the highway. I considered the ways I could react: cry, pound on the dashboard, or call a friend to whine. I decided to take the advice in my book Calmer Waters: The Caregiver’s Through Alzheimer’s and Dementia and to breathe slowly and deeply. Then I listened to Grieg’s gorgeous piano concerto. I finally called the venue and said I didn’t know if I’d make it. Ten minutes later I called again and said I would, but I’d  be a little late. I parked the car, ran a block, and arrived out of breath. It worked out in the end, and the talk went well.

Stress in America

According to the American Psychological Association’s “2015 Stress in America” report, almost one-third of adults report that stress has a very strong or strong impact on their body/physical health and mental health (31 and 32 percent in 2015, compared to 25 and 28 percent in 2014, respectively). Unfortunately, younger people are feeling more stressed than Baby Boomers, mostly because of financial and family obligations.

And now, because of post-election stress and the pressures of the holiday season, many people are going to feel even more stressed out. But there are specific things we can do to feel less anxious and calmer. Here are some ways that have been shown to work, both anecdotally and scientifically.

  1. Magnolia extract-–When I was taking care of my husband, who died from younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease, I often got stressed out, to put it mildly. One of the things I relied on was the nutritional supplement magnolia extract to relieve anxiety and to help me sleep. Magnolia bark (Magnolia officinalis) is a traditional Chinese medicine that has been used for thousands of years to treat “stagnation of qi” (low energy), and help ease asthma, digestive problems, and emotional distress. Even though the extract has been part of the classical Chinese pharmocopeia for centuries, scientists are just discovering the amazing benefits offered by its two phytochemicals, honokiol and magnolol.

One of the most impressive benefits is their ability to alleviate stress while producing a calming effect.  Dozens of animal studies have shown that they act as a non-addictive, non-sedating anxiolytic (anti-anxiety and anti-stress) agent at low doses. That means a small dose of Magnolia extract can help calm your nerves and alleviate anxiety, without making you sleepy.  The beauty of these two phytochemicals is that honokiol exerts a somewhat stronger anti-anxiety effect, and magnolol exerts a stronger antidepressant effect  … so that when you take Magnolia extract, you’re really “killing two birds with one stone”—anxiety and depression—in order to feel better mentally and emotionally. Caution: Do not use this nutritional supplement with an anti-anxiety medication. Look for Magnolia extract in your local health food store or online.

2. Passionflower is well documented as a safe and effective way to treat anxiety.

Passionflower Extract (4% Flavones) is a medicinal herb that is approved by the German Commission E in the treatment of insomnia and nervousness. Passionflower is a nervine relaxant that is beneficial for anxiety, insomnia, tension headaches, and irritability.

Researchers don’t know exactly how passionflower works, but they theorize that the flavonoids and alkaloids regulate neurotransmitters that reduce anxiety. Neurotransmitters are the brain chemicals that communicate information throughout your brain and body. The brain uses neurotransmitters to tell your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, and your stomach to digest. They can also affect mood, sleep, concentration, weight, and can cause adverse symptoms when they are out of balance. Passionflower is available as an herbal tea or nutritional supplement.

3. L-Theanine is another outstanding treatment for anxiety. This unique amino acid is found almost solely in tea plants and is the main chemical constituent in green tea.

L-theanine is an ideal nutritional aid for stress because it produces alpha-wave activity that leads to deep relaxation and mental alertness. This is especially important because in order to mitigate stressful situations, it’s important to remain calm and alert. Theanine also stimulates the release of the neurotransmitters GABA, serotonin and dopamine, which help us feel happy, motivated and calm.

Research with human volunteers has shown that L-theanine stimulates production of alpha brain waves, resulting in a deep relaxed state, much like the state achieved during meditation. In human volunteers, α-waves were generated on the occipital and parietal regions of the brain surface within 40 minutes after the oral administration of theanine (50–200 mg), signifying relaxation without causing drowsiness. In another study, theanine was given to participants taking a mental arithmetic task. The results showed that when the participants took L-theanine their heart rate was reduced, as well. Green tea contains L-theanine but you’d have to drink a whole lot of cups to reap the full benefits. It’s available as a nutritional supplement, which might be easier and quicker to take, and it’ll save you a lot of trips to the bathroom.

4. Snacks that might calm you down

According to Dr. Andrew Saul from the Food Matters film, two handfuls of cashews (make that a small handful, please; one ounce of cashews contain 157 calories.) provide the equivalent mood-boosting effect as a therapeutic dose of Prozac because they are one of the highest natural sources of tryptophan, the precursor for serotonin, the feel-good neurotransmitter.

Dark chocolate reduces cortisol, the stress hormone that causes anxiety symptoms. Just a couple of pieces should do the trick. These two snacks can help when you’re stuck in traffic and they might even prevent you from swearing at the driver who just cut you off.

 

5. Music is the universal language, and it is also the universal stress reliever. Whether it’s jazz, classical, or hard rock that makes you feel better, by all means, play it loud, play it soft, dance to it, drive to it, go to sleep to it. It will definitely help.

If you, or someone you care about, tend to suffer from stress, anxiety, or depression, these recommendations might just “take the edge off” and improve your quality of life … without the risk of side effects. May the holiday season begin!

8 Ways to Train Your Brain

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Intelligence of the human brain

Intelligence of the human brain

National Train Your Brain Day is observed annually on October 13. The observance was created to encourage all of us to exercise our brain and improve our cognitive skills. Doing word puzzles and number games, playing Bridge and reading are every-day activities that are good for the brain. But there are many other things you can do.

  1. Dance as though no one is watching. My book “Calmer Waters: The Caregiver’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s and Dementia” includes a 21-year-long study that was summarized in an article that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003. The study found that when compared to 11 other activities including team sports, swimming and bicycling, dancing is the best activity for supporting cognition and staving off mental decline. In fact, the more complex the dance, the better it is for enhancing problem-solving skills and memory. You don’t have to be a great dancer. Just put on your favorite dance music and let loose in your living room. Or, find a dance partner and learn how to salsa, tango, or swing.
  2. Play an instrument. Numerous studies have indicated that listening to music and playing an instrument can reduce anxiety and depression and support cognitive functioning. Playing an instrument sharpens your concentration, boosts listening skills, and supports your time management and organizational skills. The efficacy of music therapy A Study done at the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and led by Nina Kraus, shows that musicians suffer less from aging-related memory and hearing losses than non-musicians. It is believed to be the first study to provide biological evidence that lifelong musical experience has a good impact on the aging process. Kraus says the research shows that playing an instrument helps hearing and memory, which is among the most common complaints from normal aging.
  3. Exercise! Dr. Monika Fleshner, researcher/professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and contributor to “Calmer Waters,” has spent her career showing that exercise is vital to reducing stress and supporting healthy mental function. “Physically active individuals are stress robust,” says Fleshner. “They demonstrate both stress resistance and stress resilience.” Exercise seems to buffer many of the deleterious consequences of stress, including poor memory. Scientists have also found that exercise encourages the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus, the area that is crucial to memory and learning.
  4. Say it out loud. When I meet someone for the first time, I inevitably look in the person’s eyes and don’t even listen to their spoken name. As a result, I rarely remember the person’s name. Next time, I will heed the expert advice of repeating the person’s name. This is considered the easiest way to remember everything from where you put your keys to your grocery list. Say it out loud to yourself, or mouth the words, in order to remember quickly.
  5. Get a good night’s sleep. According to a study published in the journal Neuroscience (June 30, 2005) sound sleep triggers changes in the brain that help to improve memory. New memories are formed within the brain when a person engages with information to be learned (for example, memorizing a list of words or mastering a piano concerto). However, these memories are initially fragile. In order to “stick” they must be solidified and improved. This process of “memory consolidation” occurs when connections between brain cells as well as between different brain regions are strengthened, and for many years was believed to develop merely as a passage of time. More recently, however, it has been demonstrated that time spent asleep also plays a key role in preserving memory. So, do your best to work on sleep hygiene. Unplug at least an hour before bed, soak in tub filled with Epsom salts, play soothing music, make sure the room is not too warm, etc. And, never go to bed mad.
  6. Doodle. In memory tests, doodlers performed 29% better than non-doodlers when asked to recall names and places, Experts say doodling doesn’t tax the mind and allows us to concentrate on the task at hand. It stops us daydreaming, too, which is distracting. The same theory holds for coloring in the beautiful new adult coloring books that have become popular the past several years.
  7. Learn something before bed. If you want to consolidate a memory go through the information right before you fall asleep. You’ll have few, if any, interfering memories so you’ll remember it the next day.
  8. Feed your neurotransmitters. These are the chemicals that allow your neurons to talk to one another. They are vital to memory, focus, learning, energy and happiness. Acetylcholine is the primary carrier of thought and memory, and if you don’t have enough of this important neurotransmitter, you will probably have memory and cognitive problems. For healthy acetylcholine production, make sure you’re getting the nutrients that it is made from. Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa, author of Brain Longevity (Warner Books, Inc. 1997) and the president and medical director of the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation in Tucson, Arizona, suggests supplementing with choline, which is present in high amounts in lecithin. Lecithin is available in capsule, granule, liquid, tablet and powder form. The recommended therapeutic dose is 2500 to 3000 mg. four times a day, for a total daily dose of 10,000 to 12,000 mg. In addition, it’s important to take 1000 mg. vitamin C, three times a day, along with 100 mg. of B5, which are needed to transform lecithin into acetylcholine. It’s also advisable to take B6 and zinc, which help in the synthesis of acetylcholine. The nutrient DMAE (dimethylaminoethanol) helps build acetylcholine levels. It is present in your brain in small quantities, and is also found in seafoods, including sardines. Since it is stimulating to the central nervous system, Dr. Khalsa suggests starting out with a low dose of about 40 mg. twice a day, and building up to 200 mg. daily, if you don’t feel overstimulated. 

 

 

 

 

 

Vitamin E Slows Functional Decline in Patients with Alzheimer’s

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Vitamin E Slows Functional Decline in Patients with Alzheimer’s.

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First we heard that it helps and then not long ago we heard that vitamin E does not help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.1 The newest research suggests that a daily dose of 2000 IU per day of vitamin E might help to slow functional decline for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s, and that it could help reduce the amount of care these patients require by two hours a day.

 

Most studies of vitamin E, including this new one, have focused on alpha-tocopherol, a synthetic form of vitamin E. This is extremely significant because in its natural form vitamin E consists of many compounds—including d-alpha tocopherol, high gamma tocopherol, mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols—that have been proven safe and beneficial. If the natural form of vitamin E had been used in this study, the outcome might have been even better. And if it had been used in the countless studies done over the years, many of which were negative, the results might have come out very different.

 

In the current study, researchers followed 613 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, all of whom were taking an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (Aricept, Exelon, Razadyne). Of these patients, 155 received 20 mg a day of memantine – a class of drugs used to treat Alzheimer’s – while 152 patients received 2,000 international units a day (IU/day) of vitamin E, 154 received a combination of both and 152 took a placebo. The patients who took the vitamin E had a 19% reduction in their functional decline, compared with the patients who received the placebo. The researchers said that this was equivalent to approximately 6.2 months in time over the 2.3 year follow-up period.

 

They also noted that memantine and a combination of both memantine and vitamin E demonstrated no clinical benefit for the patients.

The researchers pointed out that functional decline as a result of Alzheimer’s disease is increasingly recognized as having a significant impact on a patient quality of life, as well as putting a strain on social and economic costs. But they said their findings suggest that vitamin E could combat these factors.

 

What you should know

Vitamin E is naturally found in a variety of foods including eggs, fortified cereals, meat, nuts, poultry, some fruits and vegetables (green, leafy vegetables, avocados, asparagus, kiwi, broccoli, pumpkin, sweet potato, mangos, tomatoes, papayas), wheat germ, sunflower and safflower oils.

 

Taking a high dosage of alpha-tocopherol alone has been shown to deplete the body of other forms of vitamin E, which are much more powerful antioxidants and have been proven to have unique health properties. And taking a single form of vitamin E, such as synthetic alpha-tocopherol, denies the very fact that nature offers seven different forms of tocopherols and tocotrienols for a reason.

 

In order to get the full protective benefits of vitamin E, it’s important to make sure you’re taking a supplement that contains a full spectrum of vitamin E compounds—including d-alpha tocopherol, high gamma tocopherol, mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols.

 

The bottom line is this: Based on the large body of scientific evidence that’s been published over the past several decades, we should all be taking a wholesome full spectrum vitamin E … because full spectrum vitamin E is safe and good for your heart, your brain, your overall health, and as a protectant against cancer and degenerative diseases.

 

References

  1. Isaac MG, Quinn R, Tabet N. “Vitamin E for Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment.” Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jul 16;(3):CD002854. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002854.pub2.
  2. Dysken Mw, et al. “Effect of vitamin E and memantine on functional decline in Alzheimer disease: the TEAM-AD VA cooperative randomized trial.” JAMA. 2014 Jan 1;311(1):33-44. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.282834.