Your brain is the organ responsible for memory, movement, emotion,sexuality. It’s also dependent on a steady supply of essential vitamins.
Whole foods are the best way to get enough of these important nutrients but supplements can be beneficial for some people: Best Brain Vitamins: Vitamin D is one of the best vitamins for focus. Vitamin C for memory and thinking. Vitamin E for mental performance. Vitamin B6 for brain health and function. Folate (or Folate) is effective as one of the natural cures for depression. These vitamins for the brain are good brain health supplements that may help prevent Alzheimers and senile dementia.
1. Vitamin D
Known as the ‘sunshine vitamin’, it boosts memory and concentration, while also seeming to protect against the progression to dementia, so far as Alzheimer’s disease is concerned.
Vitamin D metabolism also plays a vital role in improving cognitive function and promoting psychological balance, as demonstrated in the study ‘Di Somma et al.’ (2012). Beyond its anti-inflammatory role in the body, Vitamin D also prevents neurodegeneration – it plays a pivotal rule in driving neurotransmitter changes, both on a broad and localised scale.
But taking Vitamin D together with omega-3, vitamins C and E and folic acid provides optimal support for normal brain and mental performance. Neuromind Plus is a nutrient-rich ‘smorgasbord’ of micronutrients, providing individuals with the full recommended daily allowance of Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) together with small doses of the minerals iron, zinc and iodine, as well as an ultra-pure omega-3 capsule.
2. Vitamin C
Vitamin C (or ascorbate) participates in building the protein collagen, essential for maintaining the health of brain cells and generating blood vessels to feed the brain, all vital for proper mental function. Blood levels of vitamin C are inversely related to cognitive impairment.
Vitamin B6 (which you’ll often see called pyridoxine) helps maintain the proper function of your neurotransmitters. Folate (folic acid) reduces oxidative stress and maintains normal DNA function. Get plenty of these vitamins from dark, leafy greens, avocado, berries and nuts.
3. Vitamin E
Vitamin E staves off free radicals, agents that can cause damage to brain cells. In mega doses (more than 200 IUs daily), vitamin E has not fared well in large trials of its effects on mental function in healthy adults. But there’s evidence that those at risk for Alzheimer’s disease can delay onset of the disease by taking 2,000 IUs a day of vitamin E.
You can get vitamin E by eating an assortment of foods that include almonds, olive oil, spinach and sunflower seeds. If you decide to supplement, look for a product that carries the USP Verified Mark, which ensures that it was produced safely and contains the ingredients listed on the label.
4. Vitamin B12
Brain-healthy vitamins include the B-complex vitamin, vitamin B12, which contributes to normal mental performance, as does vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid). Other minerals that contribute to brain health include iron, zinc and iodine.
It helps to break down homocysteine, which is associated with an elevated risk of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s, and it helps to create DNA and certain types of neurotransmitters. It is found in eggs, milk, beef and green leafy vegetables, and is added to enriched grain products.
5. Vitamin B6
Vitamin B6 has a high rate of penetration of the blood-brain barrier and passes into neuronal as well as glial brain cells. Mild vitamin B6 deficiency immediately elicits a multitude of biochemical changes that affect cognitive functioning.
Folate is also beneficial for brain health because it boosts neurotransmitter production – the chemicals that carry brain signals around the body. You can also find it in greens, legumes and whole grains.
6. Biotin
Hundreds of supplements, in fact, claim to improve brain health – and the science on many of them is poor.
Biotin is a B vitamin required for the function of five carboxylases that are essential for the following metabolic processes: fatty acid synthesis; glucose synthesis; amino acid catabolism.
It’s also found in berries, citrus fruits and cruciferous vegetables, in which case you are invariably better off just eating a healthful diet than taking an antioxidant supplement.
7. Folate
Vitamin B6, B9 (folate) and B12 are needed to help methylation reactions – enzymes that lower blood levels of homocysteine, a risk factor for dementia and depression – as well as for neurotransmitter synthesis.
A folate- and leafy green vegetables-rich diet can improve cognition. The same holds for supplementing with folate: it will lower blood homocysteine levels and lessen the beta-amyloid plaques; a hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Supplementing with the bioactive form of folate – 5-methyltetrahydrofolate – circumvents enzyme defects and delivers the body what it needs.
8. Iron
Although eating a balanced diet is still the best way to obtain brain-boosting nutrients, supplementation can help in specific situations. If you want to try a supplement to improve your ability to think and be attentive, experts encourage you to seek out one that has third-party testing. It’s also beneficial to work with a registered dietitian nutritionist or your healthcare practitioner to make sure you’re getting a high-quality product.
A few supplements can be explained by future cognitive function studies, such as Gingko Biloba, bacopa and omega-3 fatty acids. B-complex vitamins, in particular vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin), is beneficial as it is needed to create myelin, the protective covering of the neurons.