jog your memory

Today, I thought I would continue with more brain function facts and tips, since the brain is quite important, in my book.

Memory is something we all probably get frustrated with, well, me anyway. I sometimes go downstairs intending to get something, and by the time I reach the bottom step I've forgotten what I was going to look for. Jeesh! It sure is annoying at times, when that happens!

If some days you have no problem with memory and other days you have a problem, check your diet. According to Toronto nutritionist Aileen Burford-Mason, a number of vitamins and minerals are involved in making acetycholine, the memory chemical in the brain, but you can't make it at all without choline, a fatty B vitamin. We really only have a few rich sources of choline-- egg yolks and liver-- foods that we have demonized. If you like liver (my hand is not raised) its best to buy organic or naturally raised. Also, full-fat tofu. We've all got so paranoid about fat, but the brain is virtually entirely fat, so a low-fat diet is a recipe for disaster. If you don't eat any of these, you need to take a daily choline supplement. The supplement to take is phosphatidylcholine, or lecithin. Other B vitamins like B-12 are involved in memory. It's best to take any supplement with a good-quality multi-vitamin.

Three major herbs have been proven to increase cognitive function, so says Celina Ainsworth, a Toronto herbalist. Gotu kola, rosemary and ginkgo biloba. Research has led to ginkgo being recommended for early symptoms of Alzheimer's. These three can be combined in equal parts in a tea, drunk two or three times a day. You can also use basil essential oil as aromatherapy. Combine it with rosemary and peppermint essential oils and put into an aromatherapy burner or spritz into the air.

Well, personally, I may not go run to my pharmacy or the health store to fetch some Gotu kola or gingko biloba, but I think I'm more apt to pick up that supplement for choline, lecithin. I don't eat liver (ever!) and I only eat eggs once or twice per week, so I think I'll add lecithin to my vitamin list. I remember as a child, my mother trying to get me to eat liver, and after getting frustrated with a child that wouldn't open her mouth, she tried to convince me that it was steak and not liver. Well, I can't remember if I fell for that line (no pun intended) but I do think I'll eat eggs a bit more often. I think I'll make myself a mexican style omelette tomorrow for lunch....lots of salsa and some cheese, onions and jalapenos. Yum!