This Supplement Can Protect Your Brain From Aging, According To Science
And it’s easily available
Have you ever experienced a brain boost from doing any physical activity? I am sure everybody has felt that. I am a runner and I feel improvement in my mood after the run.
But why does this happen? Why do we feel good or experience a brain boost after exercising?
This question has puzzled scientists for decades. But finally, science has the answer to this question.
At the end of the 20th century, scientists found that running not only boosts your brain but also triggers the brain to make new neurons in the hippocampus — an area responsible for memory and learning.
They found that the new neurons were formed due to the release of certain molecules but they could not identify the molecules.
However, recent work by Walker and colleagues has found the answer. They found that a chemical element called ‘Selenium’ is the key.
During exercise, the hamster produces a protein that contains selenium and the protein helps the hamster’s brain to grow new neurons.
They found the protein by analyzing the blood plasma of hamsters after the exercise. They found 38 proteins in the blood plasma whose level increased after the exercise. One protein called ‘selenoprotein’ attracted their attention because its levels were more than twice after the exercise.
Selenoprotein transports selenium to the brain and stimulates the formation of new neurons.
They supported their discovery by injecting selenium into the hamsters and found that in 7 days, the neurons in the hippocampus tripled.
“I’ve been working on neurogenesis for almost 20 years … and we’ve never seen anything like that before,” Walker says.
This study has opened the door to treat cognitive decline and brain aging using selenium.
Effect of selenium on brain aging
Scientists have done preliminary work on hamsters to treat brain aging. They divided the hamsters into two groups — one group got selenium in their diet (selenium group) and the other did not (non-selenium group).
They found astounding results. The selenium group performed better at two memory tasks. In the first task, the selenium group learned quickly to avoid the place where they got a mild electric shock than the non-selenium group.
In the second task, the hamsters were given 32 holes to escape and only one hole was open to a dark chamber. The selenium group was able to escape twice as quickly as the non-selenium group.
Effect of selenium on cognitive decline
They also tested the power of selenium to slow down cognitive decline using hamsters. Hamsters were injected with molecules that destroyed neurons and hurt memory. Then one group of hamsters was given the selenium (selenium group) and the other did not (non-selenium group).
The selenium group performed just as well as the normal hamsters but the non-selenium group found it hard to remember the place where they got a mild shock.
It will be interesting to observe the effects of selenium on humans.
One thing is important, don’t take an overdose of selenium because it could be harmful to you. For young people, it is required to take 40–50 mg of selenium a day.
Start eating these foods if you want to protect your brain because these foods contain selenium:
- Brazil nuts
- Fish, ham, chicken, pork, beef, turkey
- Eggs
- Brown rice
- Mushrooms
- Oatmeal
- Spinach
- Milk and Spinach
- Cashew
- Banana