Mental Health
Here’s How These 7 Nutrients Can Enhance Cognitive Health and Performance.
Review of essential micronutrients with beneficial effects on cognitive health for the aging population based on personal experience
Purpose of the Article
This article introduces the benefits of seven micronutrients on cognitive health and performance with a specific focus on the aging population.
I summarize the functions of these nutrients from foods or supplements. This post does not include health advice. Instead, it is for information, inspiration, and awareness purposes.
Inspiration for the Post
Subscribers reading my reviews on some micronutrients showed interest in understanding specific ones for improving cognitive health and performance, especially for the aging population prone to cognitive decline.
As cognitive health and performance are my passion, and I have been researching the field for decades, I thought posting a short article summarizing my reviews and experience would be helpful for my readers.
There are many nutrients for improving cognitive health and performance. To make this post practical, I only focussed on the seven most important ones that significantly affected my cognitive health and performance.
First, I’d like to give a brief background on cognitive health and performance concepts so that my points in subsequent sections make sense.
What do cognitive health and performance comprise?
According to NIH (National Health Insitute), “Cognitive health — the ability to clearly think, learn, and remember — is an important component of performing everyday activities. Cognitive health is just one aspect of overall brain health.”
Even though cognitive health is vital at any age, it is more critical for the aging population because as we get older, we experience cognitive decline. We also get more anxious as we age.
Some neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and mental health disorders such as anxiety or depression might be caused by a cognitive decline, as I documented in an article titled These Five Mental Health Conditions Causes Memory Disorders.
In my experience, any function related to the neo-cortex (thinking brain) relates to cognitive health. Critical cognitive functions include focus, attention, memory, task switching, and problem-solving. They are essential for our survival and well-being.
Cognitive performance refers to improving cognitive functions and creating cognitive reserves to reduce decline effects as we age. There are numerous ways of enhancing cognitive functions, such as exercise, meditation, fasting, ketosis, and nutrition.
I covered some cognitive performance subjects in previous articles. Interested readers might check the attached links.
Here’s How I Activated Neurogenesis and Transformed My Depressive Mind into a Joyful One in 5 Steps.
Six Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Lower the Risks of Mental Disorders
In this post, I only focus on specific nutrients listed in the subsequent sections.
Here’s why I believe these molecules might improve our cognitive health and make us smarter.
In this section, I summarize seven nutrients that we can get from foods or supplements to improve our cognitive health and boost four mental performance.
Restoring or maintaining cognitive health is critical to surviving and enjoying life. Boosting cognitive performance can improve the quality of life.
I monitor my cognitive health via blood tests ordered and analyzed by my specialist healthcare professionals. I also pay for special tests not covered by Medicare as a health investment.
In addition, I use proprietary tools to measure my cognitive performance. After ingesting these micronutrients from food or supplements, I also record my subjective feelings and collaborate with biohacking communities.
I only focus on the key points. I linked relevant articles I posted for details. Listed below are seven nutrients that enhanced my cognitive performance and health.
1 — Omega 3 Fatty Acids
Two-thirds of our brain is made up of fats. All healthy fats are important for the functioning of the brain. However, omega-3 fatty acids require special attention. For the brain, one of the essential fatty acids is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
The body cannot synthesize omega-3 fatty acids. Therefore, we need to get them from food or supplements. Mainly fish or seafood includes omega-3 fatty acids.
It is also possible to get them from plant seeds such as chia and flaxseed. However, the body needs to convert the plant source from ALA to DHA, whose conversion rate appears to be low and slow.
I summarized my research on this nutrient in an article titled Here Are the Reasons to Get Enough Omega-3 Fatty Acids for the Body and Brain.
2 — Creatine
Creatine has been the most researched molecule in the literature since the early 1900s. While investigating this nutrient, I came across over 60 thousand scientific reports. Educators believe that creatine can make us smarter. Considering its effects on the brain, I agree with their assertion.
I mainly focussed on the cognitive benefits as part of my studies. Most of my findings revealed that creatine could address cognitive dysfunction for neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and multiple sclerosis.
This review paper confirmed that cognitive processing, which is either experimentally or naturally impaired, can be improved with creatine supplementation.
Review studies confirmed that evidence of the effectiveness of creatine supplementation in improving several clinical conditions is now substantial. Two of the conditions were brain energy shortage and mental fatigue, as documented in this paper.
One of the reasons I paid attention to this nutrient was its risk reduction capability against the neurodegenerative effects mentioned in this study.
Creatine is only found in animal products. Therefore, plant eaters, especially athletes, usually supplement with it. However, our liver and kidneys can produce some creatine, so deficiency is not believed to be an issue.
I summarized my research on this nutrient in an article titled Creatine: Remarkable Health Benefits of the Most Researched Fitness Supplement.
3 — Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Even though the public knows Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALCAR) as a weight loss supplement and athletes use it for fat metabolism and muscle building, my focus is on the cognitive effects of this molecule.
Numerous studies depict the benefits of ALCAR in reversing cognitive decline, especially in neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
For example, a double-blind, parallel-design pilot study of Acetyl Levocarnitine in patients with Alzheimer’s disease published in JAMA Neurology suggests that ALCAR might stop the deterioration in some cognitive areas in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and stress.
An animal study published in the Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science pointed out that ALCAR significantly attenuated spatial learning and memory impairment on the Morris maze-water behavioral task and, importantly, reduced degeneration in the size and number of cholinergic cells in the basal forebrain.
Carnitine is only found in animal-based food. However, like creatine, the body can produce it as a critical molecule for energy metabolism. Our mitochondria need carnitine to metabolize fat.
However, the acetyl version of carnitine can pass the brain-blood barrier and, thus, can contribute to energy metabolism in the brain. Therefore, I supplement with this nootropic in a small dose as it boosts my cognitive abilities.
I summarized my research on this nutrient in an article titled Here’s Why Acetyl-L-Carnitine Is Considered a Weight Loss, Fitness, & Nootropic Supplement.
4 — Choline
I paid particular attention to choline as I had its deficiency in my younger years when I was on strict plant-based diets. Deficiency caused me brain fog and anxiety.
Supplementation solved my deficiency problem on those days. However, in animal-based diets, I don’t have any deficiencies. Therefore I don’t need to supplement it anymore.
A clinical trial in 1991 mentioned that “Healthy humans consuming a choline-deficient diet for three weeks had depleted stores of choline in tissues and developed signs of incipient liver dysfunction.”
Literature indicates that choline is a precursor for synthesizing the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Choline is an important source of labile methyl groups playing a critical role in fat, carb, and protein metabolism.
As informed by NIH, “People with Alzheimer’s disease have lower levels of the enzyme that converts choline into acetylcholine in the brain. Because phosphatidylcholine can serve as a phospholipid precursor, it might help support the structural integrity of neurons and thus might promote cognitive function in elderly adults.”
I summarized my research on this nutrient in an article titled Here’s Why and How to Address Choline Deficiency.
5 — Taurine
Taurine has various roles in the body and the brain covering cellular, metabolic, cardiovascular, and neurological health.
From my perspective, the most critical aspect of taurine is its role as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator in the brain. Taurine supports the central nervous system and protects against neuropathy.
As a therapeutic agent, taurine can antagonize neurotransmitter receptors of GABAA, glycine, and NMDA, as informed in this paper.
As an anti-oxidant, “taurine was shown to be effective against oxidative stress,” as mentioned in this paper. Oxidative stress is the root cause of multiple neurological and mental health conditions.
In addition, taurine is a helpful nutrient in the brain, especially for eye health. This paper in CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics discusses taurine and oxidative stress in retinal health and disease.
Taurine is also mainly available in animal products. Plant eaters usually supplement with it for athletic reasons. However, as the body can produce it, its deficiency does not seem to be a problem.
I summarized my research on this nutrient in an article titled Here’s What I Know About Taurine and Why It Matters.
6 — Lithium Orotate
Like creatine, lithium is another molecule extensively studied and well-documented in the literature. I came across over 66 thousand scientific reports on lithium.
My interest in lithium developed when I learned about its mood-improving and stabilizing effect. I investigated its neuroprotective properties.
Most of the literature touched on its medical use for treating bipolar disorder and suicide prevention for depressed individuals.
For example, this paper in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry mentioned that “The massive evidence showing a reduction in morbidity on lithium treatment suggests that systematic long-term lithium treatment of unipolar depression could considerably lower the suicide rate.”
I also tried lithium even though I did not have bipolar disease. Its stress reduction effect was evident within a few weeks. I summarized my research on this nutrient in an article titled Here’s How Lithium Orotate Helped Elaine Defeat Bipolar Disorder.
7 — B Vitamins
All B vitamins, including B1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 12, are critical for the brain playing various metabolic roles, including the nervous system, DNA, and red blood cells.
For me, the most important one was B12, as its deficiency caused severe health issues when I was on strict plant-based diets in my younger years. It is critical to understand that the deficiency of B12 has neurological to psychiatric effects at any age.
As documented in this source, “a severe vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to deep depression, paranoia and delusions, memory loss, incontinence, loss of taste and smell, and more”.
Vitamin B12 is essential as our body cannot make it. Therefore, we need to get it from food or supplements. Initially, I supplemented to address severe deficiency issues. However, after starting an animal-based diet, deficiency never occurred.
I summarized my research on this nutrient in an article titled Here’s Why and How to Fix Vitamin B12 Deficiency. I also wrote about vitamin B1 titled Dementia: Korsakoff’s Syndrome Due to Vitamin B1 Deficiency. I plan to post my review of other B vitamins in another article soon.
As I eat red meat and organ meats like beef liver, I don’t have any deficiency of B vitamins. Some people get them from eggs. I also re-started eating eggs to increase B vitamins and Cholin.
My neurological and mental health significantly increased after eating organ meats which include a substantial amount of B vitamins. In addition, egg yolks cover all these nutrients mentioned in this article.
Conclusion and Takeaways
Some micronutrients are critical for neurological and mental health. The brain needs them in an adequate amount. The body can create most of these nutrients, but it cannot produce some of them, like DHA and vitamin B12.
We need to get these nutrients from food. If our diets do not provide an adequate amount of these essential nutrients, we might need to supplement them with support from qualified healthcare professionals.
While deficiency is an obvious problem, overconsumption of some nutrients, especially from supplements, can be a problem too. Therefore, before starting a supplement, we need guidance from our family doctors or specialists who have access to our medical history.
These seven nutrients played a critical role in my cognitive health and performance. I also read a lot about them from credible sources and heard from others in biohacking communities who used them for healing or performance improvement.
There is a significant focus on nootropics related to cognitive performance. However, the research on these supplements is still at the nascent stage. I documented my reviews and perspectives in an article titled Let’s Talk About Nootropics, Transparently.
I reviewed numerous nutrients and documented some of them in article format by simplifying them for the public. I also introduce Six Important Nutrients We Can’t Get from Vegetables or Fruits Adequately.
You might check out the ones I posted in the following links. I will post more reviews soon.
Here is the latest one.
I aim to increase the hormonal intelligence of my readers and write about neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.
One of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.
To raise awareness about health issues, I have written several articles that present my holistic health findings from research, personal observations, and unique experiences. Below are links to these articles for easy access.
Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, and Major Diseases.
I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.
Disclaimer: Please note that my posts do not include professional or health advice. I document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives only to provide information and create awareness.
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Sample Humorous Stories
Finally, After Burning Her House, Georgia Found Enlightenment
Hilarious Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Keep the Gray Matter Giggling
8 Psychological Points I Had to Unlearn and Relearn the Opposite
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