How to reverse cognitive decline
Next time some holier-than-thou vegan starts blabbering about how man wasn’t designed to eat meat, ask him if he knows what powers the human brain.
The answer ain’t tofu.
Your brain was specifically designed to function on a diet of the fats and nutrients you can only get from meat and fish.
Studies have consistently found that low levels of B12 lead to the highest brain problems — and that boosting your levels can prevent or even reverse that damage.
The latest research adds even more proof.
One study found that seniors with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 had the highest risk of cognitive shortcomings, including low scores on thought, reason, and memory tests. And it’s no wonder! Low levels of B12 can literally cause your brain to shrink.
Sound like fun? Of course not — but that’s exactly what you’re in for if you stick to a plant-based diet, because you won’t find B12 in leaves, roots, and fungi. You’ll find it in meats — especially organ meats — as well as fish and dairy.
But if low levels of B12 will turn a mind to mush, high levels can actually save it. Megadoses of B vitamins can slow or even stop brain shrinkage and reverse the cognitive slide linked to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
British researchers put 271 seniors suffering from mild cognitive impairment onto either a daily placebo or a supplement regimen of 0.5mg of B12, 0.8mg of folic acid, and 20mg of B6.
After two years, the seniors who got their B vitamins did 70 percent better on memory tests than those who got the placebos — with some of them actually showing improvements over their initial scores.
They got older… and their minds got BETTER with age. Imagine that!
But wait, there’s more: The patients on the B vitamins had slower rates of brain shrinkage — in one case by 500 percent.
Now, any reason to eat a steak is a good one to me, but these kinds of results won’t come from diet alone. For the best brain boost, invest in a good, quality supplement.
If you’re getting up there in years, no excuses — you need a B complex, and you need one now. That, and steak.
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
Home care counselors at Safe at Home Healthcare are available to talk with you about your in-home care needs including how to reduce caregiver stress while providing better, affordable care, including live-in care. We are an elder care agency providing Home Care in Darien.
