Memory loss is often associated with old age however a new British study1 has confirmed that young people have senior moments too! The study of 124 healthy adults aged 18 to 59 found they often forgot where they put their keys or where they parked their car and more than half often struggled to find the right word.
This may sound worrying but such absentmindedness is normal and not a cause for concern. Author Laura McWhirter, Neuropsychiatrist, quizzed the healthy adults on how good they thought their memory was. Just 13 per cent rated it as 'excellent'. And 56 per cent were scared of developing dementia. Half of the volunteers, who had an average age of 27, said they forget why they have entered a room at least once a week and 40 per cent misplace their phone at least weekly.
Some 48 per cent forget to buy items on their shopping list at least once a week, 21 per cent can't find their keys and 18 per cent have a mental blank over their PIN number. An absent-minded 33 per cent can't remember where they've left their car or bike once a month or more.
Dr McWhirter says, “A lot of people will be surprised at how frequent the memory lapses were. I think people think that if you starting to forget things - something like misplacing your keys - that it is something to worry about but it is normal... It is just a function of how the brain works and how attention works. You can only remember something if you properly attend to it. If you are doing lots of different things and not concentrating when you get in and just put your keys down somewhere, you may well forget where you have put them.”
As we get older, it's easy to think that we are losing it but although it is harder to form new memories, forgetting things doesn't necessarily mean we are on the road to dementia.
Exercising your heart, muscles and lungs can boost brain chemicals that can help boost memory. Older adults who did aerobic exercise (such as running or cycling) three times a week for a year grew larger hippocampi (the hippocampus is a brain area intimately involved in memory), and performed better in tests of memory, according to a 2011 study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Meanwhile, a good night’s sleep can help clear out potentially damaging brain gunk each night allowing you to focus better on day to day activities.
Supplementing your diet with certain vitamins, minerals and herbs has also proven effective in improving cognitive function and memory. You can find all of these memory boosting ingredients in Manuka Plus Forget-Bee-Not supplement.
B12 & Folic Acid
B vitamins work together to perform essential roles in our bodies, particularly brain function. A surprising number of us could be lacking, particularly in vitamin B12 so in order to ensure our brain function is working to the best if its ability, top up with a B12 supplement, like Forget-Bee-Not.
Iron, Zinc & Iodine
Certain trace elements are essential for brain growth and function. From a human health perspective, the elements of greatest importance are iodine, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, mercury and lead.2
Micronutrient deficiencies, especially those related to iodine and iron, are linked to attention span, intelligence, and sensory perception functions, as well as those associated with emotions and behaviour.3
Zinc is essential for the activity of many enzymes. Impairments in activities of these and other enzymes by zinc deficiency may account for some of the effects of zinc deficiency on the brain.4
Royal Jelly
Royal jelly, a wonderful substance produced by worker honeybees, has shown significant neuroprotective actions.5 Queen bees are fed their whole life with Royal Jelly and worker bees receive this food for a short period during the larval stage of life. Queen bees live for 1–5 years, but worker bees only for 3–6 weeks. When administered orally, data suggests that Royal Jelly may be a promising tool for improving memory and cognition. While there is currently no known cure for Alzheimers or ways to significantly enhance learning and memory, Royal Jelly may be able to increase the sharpness of your mind and memory ability.6
DHA
According to a study by Dr Martha Morris and colleagues at Chicago’s Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, eating fish once a week reduces your risk of developing Alzheimer’s by 60 per cent. The researchers followed 815 people for seven years and found that dietary intake of fish was strongly linked to Alzheimer’s risk. They found that the strongest link was the amount of DHA, a form of omega 3-fat. The higher a person’s DHA, the lower their risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Studies suggest that DHA may help prevent cognitive decline before the development of Alzheimer’s.7
Sources:
1. The frequency and framing of cognitive lapses in healthy adults. January 2021. CNS Spectrums. University of Edinburgh.
2. NUTRITION AND BRAIN FUNCTION: TRACE ELEMENTS Harold H. Sandstead, M. D.
3. Iron deficiency and cognitive functions. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2014; 10: 2087–2095.
4. D.B. McCormick, J. Biol. Chem. 237: 959-962, 1962
5. Oral treatment with royal jelly improves memory and presents neuroprotective effects on icv-STZ rat model of sporadic Alzheimer's disease. Heliyon. Volume 6, Issue 2, February 2020.
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurotrophic factors
7. M. Morris, et al.. Consumption of fish and n-3 fatty acids and risk of incident Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol, vol 60, pp. 940-946 (2003)
