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PILLAR 1: DIET & SUPPLEMENTS

Your brain is a flesh and blood organ and needs the proper fuel to function well. Building a better
memory, preventing memory loss, and impacting what are the causes of Alzheimers disease all
depend on your lifestyle. Your diet is critical to your brains health. And with the proper diet, you
can actually influence the health of your genes. Thats rightprevention is within your reach and
it starts with the foods you put in your body!

Discover the Alzheimers Prevention Diet


One of the best ways you can feed your brain for better memory is by avoiding a diet high in
trans-fat and saturated fat. These fats, such as those from animal products (especially red meats),
can cause inflammation as well as produce free radicals. As you probably know, free radicals are
a normal by-product of your metabolism, but in high quantities, they can damage and even kill
your valuable brain cells.
Eating foods that are high in antioxidants like vitamins C and E is a wonderful natural way to
eliminate free radicals from your body. In a similar way, scientists believe that a vast intake of
fruits and vegetables, eating fish rich in omega-3 oils and vegetarian protein substitutes (such as
soy) are protective against memory loss.
In addition to your renewed diet, read on to find out more about the best vitamins and nutrients
to aid your memory and avoid Alzheimers disease early symptoms.
The ideal prevention diet breaks down like this:

20% good fats. Items in this group include extra virgin olive oil, avocado, and flax seed
oil
40% lean proteins. Look to include fish, chicken, turkey, and soy on a daily basis.

40% complex carbohydrates. Discover the rewards of a rainbow of fresh vegetables,


whole grains, legumes, and fresh fruits.

Superfoods for the brain - as much as you want! These superfoods, including blueberries,
spinach, and seaweed, have fabulous antioxidant properties preventing causes of
Alzheimers.

Be Sure to Take Your Vitamins and Memory-Specific


Nutrients
If youre serious about the prevention of memory loss, and improving memory loss, you should
definitely take a high potency multiple vitamin and mineral capsule. Be sure the vitamin formula
you choose contains folic acid and vitamin C. Folic acid reduces homocysteine levelshigh
homocysteine levels put you at risk for both heart disease and memory loss. Vitamin C has been

shown to reduce your risk of Alzheimers disease by 20% when taken with vitamin E. To take
advantage of its fullest benefits, you should take a dose of 2,000 mg of vitamin C per day.
When you create a balanced diet that puts your overall wellbeing at the forefront, youre not only
doing good for your body, but youre also supporting and enhancing your memory as well.
Consider including the following memory-specific nutrients in your daily vitamin plan:

coenzyme Q10
alpha lipoic acid

ginkgo biloba

phosphatidylserine

DHA (an omega-3 oil)

acetyl-L-carnitine

Two additional nutrients are recommended only for people who have moderate to severe memory
loss:

huperzine-A
vinpocetine

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Learn about Pillar 2 - Stress Management

References
Clin Nutr. 2012 Aug 31. pii: S0261-5614(12)00169-0. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2012.08.002.
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Fart C, Samieri C, Barberger-Gateau P.

Oyama Y, Chikahisa L, Ueha T, Kanemaru K, Noda K. Ginkgo biloba extract protects brain
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Oken BS, Storzbach DM, Kaye JA. The efficacy of Ginkgo biloba on cognitive function in
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plant extract, on the brain of dementia patients in comparison with tacrine. Psychopharmacol
Bull 1998;34:391-7.

PHOSPHATIDYL SERINE
Crook TH, Tinklenberg J, Yesavage J, Petrie W, Nunzi MG, Massari DC. Effects of
phosphatidylserine in age-associated memory impairment. Neurology 1991;41:644-9.
Swanson D, Block R, Mousa SA. Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA: health benefits throughout
life. Adv Nutr. 2012 Jan;3(1):1-7. doi: 10.3945/an.111.000893. Epub 2012 Jan 5.
Palmieri G, Palmieri R, Inzoli MR, et al. Double-blind controlled trial of phosphatidylserine in
patients with senile mental deterioration. Clin Trials J 1987;24:73-83.
Funfgeld EW, Baggen M, Nedwidek P, et al. Double-blind study with phosphatidylserine (PS) in
parkinsonian patients with senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT). Prog Clin Biol Res
1989;317:1235-46.

OMEGA 3
Miyanaga K, Ynoemura K, Takagi T, et al. Clinical effects of DHA in demented patients. J Clin
Ther Med 1995;11:881-901.
Conquer JA, Tierney MC, Zecevic J, Bettger WJ, Fisher RH. Fatty acid analysis of blood
plasma of patients with Alzheimer's disease, other types of dementia, and cognitive impairment.
Lipids 2000;35:1305-12.
Kalmijn S, Feskens EJ, Launer LJ, Kromhout D. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, and
cognitive function in very old men. Am J Epidemiol 1997;145:33-41.
Simopolous AP, Leaf A, Salem N Jr. Essentiality of and recommended dietary intakes for omega6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Ann Nutr Metab 1999;43: 127-130.

CO-Q10
Beyer RE. The role of ascorbate in antioxidant protection of biomembranes: Interaction with
vitamin E and coenzyme Q. J Bioenerg Biomembr 1994;26:349-358.

Chen H, Tappel AL. Vitamin E, selenium, trolox C, ascorbic acid palmitate, acetylcysteine,
coenzyme Q, b-carotene, canthaxanthin, and (+)-catechin protect against oxidative damage to
kidney, heart, lung and spleen. Free Radic Res 1995;22:177-186.
Ernster L, Dallner G. Biochemical, physiological and medical aspects of ubiquinone function.
Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 1995;1271:195-204.
Folkers K, Littarru GP, Yamagami Y, Eds. Biochemical and Clinical Aspects of Coenzyme Q10,
Vol 6. Elsevier Science Publishers, 1991.

ALPHA LIPOIC ACID


Nagamatsu M, Nickander KK, Schmelzer JD, et al. Lipoic acid improves nerve blood flow,
reduces oxidative stress, and improves distal nerve conduction in experimental diabetic
neuropathy. Diabetes Care 1995;18:1160-1167.
Ou P, Tritschler HJ, Wolff SP. Thioctic (lipoic) acid: A therapeutic metalchelating antioxidant.
Biochem Pharmacol 1995;50:123-126.
Packer L, Witt EH, Tritschler HJ. Alpha-lipoic acid as a biological antioxidant. Free Radic Biol
Med 1995;19:227-250.

VINPOCETINE
Wollschlaeger B. Efficacy of vinpocetine in the management of cognitive impairment and
memory loss. JANA. 2001;4:25-30.
Szatmari SZ, Whitehouse PJ. Vinpocetine for cognitive impairment and dementia. Cochrane
Database Syst Rev. 2003;1:CD003119.
Balestreri R, Fontana L, Astengo F. A double-blind placebo controlled evaluation of the safety
and efficacy of Vinpocetine in the treatment of patients with chronic vascular senile cerebral
dysfunction. J Am Geriatr Soc 1987;35:425-430.

HUPERZINE A
National Institute on Aging; Georgetown University Medical Center. A multi-center, doubleblind, placebo-controlled, therapeutic trial to determine whether natural Huperzine A improves
cognitive function. ClinicalTrials.gov. Washington (D.C.): 2008 Feb [cited 2010 Jan 4].
Li J, Wu HM, Zhou RL, et al. Huperzine A for Alzheimers disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev.
2008 Apr 16;(2):CD005592.
Zhang Z, Wang X, Chen Q, et al. Clinical efficacy and safety of huperzine Alpha in treatment of
mild to moderate Alzheimer disease, a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized trial.
Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2002 Jul 25;82(14):941-4.

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