There is nothing quite as scary as finding out your brain isn’t working properly. It is not an overstatement to say that many of us feel our brains house our identity, our mind, our personality. While we like to reassure ourselves that our thoughts and behavior are fully under our conscious control, having a brain disorder will quickly prove our vulnerability to brain changes. Damage to the hippocampus and short-term memory is impaired. Damage to the frontal lobe can impair decision making and problem solving. Damage to Broca’s interferes with language capability.
Dealing with brain diseases and injury can be quite complicated because of all the factors involved, including mood, judgement and thinking. For example, did you know that people with Parkinson’s disease are at greater risk for gambling addictions? Their brain is starved for dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in reward and pleasure. Guess what can boost dopamine levels? Gambling. Did you know that about 30 percent of people who survive a cerebral vascular accident, often called a CVA or a stroke, develop profound depression? This is not sadness because of pain or loss of function, it is a disruption of brain activity, and much higher levels of inflammation caused by the stroke damage.
Neurological diseases are often multifactorial and there is not often a one-size-fits-all solution. I think this group of disorders is especially responsive to the use of dietary supplements, because the activity of the compound is broad spectrum and flips a multitude of switches that can be beneficial. Here are a few supplements that are effective tools for addressing brain health issues.
Coenzyme Q10 or CoQ10
You may have only heard of this excellent supplement with regard to its cardiovascular benefits, which are many. However, it has incredible applications for brain health as well.
CoQ10, also called ubiquinone, is a cofactor in cellular energy production and an antioxidant. Our body makes CoQ10, mostly in the liver. CoQ10 then becomes a part of every cell in our bodies. Any damage to the liver, whether age, diabetes, infectious disease, fatty liver, drug or alcohol use, diminishes CoQ10 production. Also, a class of cholesterol lowering drugs called statins (some examples are Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor) seriously reduce CoQ10 in the body, because CoQ10 is made by the same liver machinery that makes cholesterol. So, by slowing down that machine, you make less cholesterol, but also less CoQ10. Low levels of CoQ10 leaves people at great risk for many diseases, including neurological problems.
Twenty years ago, research began on this important nutrient and Parkinson’s. High doses of CoQ10 slowed the progression of early-stage Parkinson’s disease, reported Clifford Shults, MD, at the annual meeting of the American Neurological Association.
Shults reported that people who took CoQ10 at the dose level of 1,200 mg per day for 16 months, subsequently scored 44 percent better on standardized measures of Parkinson’s progression than those receiving a placebo. That is a 44 percent reduction in progression of symptoms! The individuals taking CoQ10 had less disability overall.
That trial was the first major placebo-controlled trial of CoQ10 in neurology and was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). It was a big deal and embraced by many integrative practitioners, but lack of funding stalled research despite such amazing benefits.
The high dose can be expensive and a lot of capsules to swallow. I think it is easier to replicate this trial by using enhanced absorption CoQ10 utilizing gamma cyclodextrin, a natural plant compound shown to boost absorption about 800 percent. It is a much more economical method of achieving high serum levels of this important coenzyme.
Another neurological issue that responds to CoQ10 is migraine headache. A clinical study showed that around 300 mg of CoQ10 daily can cut migraine occurrence as much as 50 percent.
CoQ10 has also been studied in many neurological diseases such as Huntington´s disease, Alzheimer´s disease, CVA (stroke), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), Friedreich´s ataxia and multiple sclerosis. In fact, there are over 400 studies listed in the electronic database of the NIH (called PubMed) specifically on CoQ10 and brain issues.
Curcumin
Based on the literature that I have reviewed, I believe curcumin to be the best and most broad-spectrum, anti-inflammatory herb on the planet. However, neither turmeric nor curcumin are well absorbed. I consider turmeric an awesome food, but never a medicine. Plain curcumin can be used for medical applications, but some studies had to use more than 20 capsules a day to see any significant increase in serum (blood) levels. When used as a natural medicine, the best option is boosted-absorption curcumin. The form with the most human clinical studies is curcumin complexed in a patented system using turmeric essential oil, which is also less problematic than some other systems that have a great deal of drug interactions.
There are three problems, or sources of damage, that are common to virtually all neurological diseases: chronic inflammation, chronic oxidative stress and toxic exposure. I hate to keep picking on Parkinson’s disease, but that disorder is a poster child for these three types of damage. First, in this disease, the problems originate in the substantia nigra, which is responsible for voluntary movement and reward systems. The cells start to die off prematurely because of oxidative stress, and this causes an inflammatory reaction. Toxic exposure often gets the damage going in the first place. It has been shown that exposure to dangerous farming and gardening chemicals can increase Parkinson’s incidence by 250 percent or more. Studies have shown that, at present, 15 different pesticides/herbicides have been correlationally linked to PD occurrence.
There are numerous studies on the use of curcumin for neurological diseases and mental health concerns. There are studies on improving recovery after a stroke, addressing the symptoms of ALS, reducing the disability of multiple sclerosis and ameliorating major depressive disorder as well as anti-depressant drugs. There are even studies of curcumin and brain cancer.
Because of its effectiveness at improving brain health and reducing both inflammation and oxidative stress, enhanced absorption curcumin deserves a place in virtually any neurological protocol.
Vitamin D
Who knew something as commonplace as vitamin D could have such a profound effect on neurological problems?
As we age, and in the presence of many illnesses, our cognitive, or thinking function can decline. In study after study, researchers have found a connection between sub-optimal vitamin D levels and brain health. In fact, low levels of vitamin D are considered a significant risk factor for multiple sclerosis.
Vitamin D plays an important role in clearing plaques, associated with the development of Alzheimer’s disease, from the brain. Vitamin D is required for neuroplasticity, the ability of our brain to pivot and change as circumstances demand. Many researchers believe that vitamin D can preserve memory and brain function over time.
If you choose to supplement, make sure you get cholecalciferol form of vitamin D, which is much better used by the body than the ergocalciferol form. The dose can vary widely, with many practitioners comfortable with about 5,000 IU per day. However, this number can change greatly, depending on health issues and the detection of any genetic impediments to proper vitamin D utilization.
Last But Not Least . . . Glutathione
This last one is difficult, because while it is profoundly powerful for all things neurological, getting it into your body in the right form can be highly problematic.
Our bodies only make two antioxidants, and the rest we have to get from our healthy, rainbow-colored diets. Those two compounds are superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione. And while both are crucially important, it is the glutathione that has more far-reaching activities in our bodies.
First, it is a super potent antioxidant that will neutralize certain kinds of oxidative stress and damage that no other antioxidant will touch. Second, it is required for both phase one and phase two glucuronidation, the backbone of the way our liver gets toxic compounds out of our bodies. Third, it serves as a protective function to prevent cellular damage.
As we age, and with any decrease in liver function, our ability to make glutathione decreases. In fact, by age 65, most of us are only making about half the glutathione we were able to make as a sprightly youth. Perhaps that is why the onset and progression of neurological diseases and cancer accelerates after this age.
Also, glutathione depletion is seen in any chronic infection: long COVID, Epstein Barr, Lyme’s disease, and more. Some researchers wonder if some of the neurological aspects of these infections are related to lack of adequate glutathione.
Glutathione is another basic that should be considered for anyone with any type of neurological disease. It can only help to build our stores of glutathione up to more youthful levels.
The majority of health research on glutathione is on the intravenous (IV) form. Because this is invasive, it has to be done in a clinic, hospital, or medical office. IV is the preferred form because glutathione can be active or inactive. Active is amazing, but inactive is an oxidative stressor. When administering IV, the active form is used, and it goes directly into the blood stream. However, if taken orally, active glutathione converts to the inactive form via the digestive and absorption process, even if it is enteric coated. This is not nearly as useful or effective. There is a sublingual form that originated in France that has a great study on bypassing the digestive process and absorbing in the mouth, showing much better active glutathione levels after 10 to 14 days of use.
Summary
These may be some basics, but the list is certainly not all inclusive. The herbs Bacopa monnieri and Sideritis scardica (Greek mountain tea) have excellent research on cognitive function. Saffron, long known for its antidepressant activity, is emerging as a powerful neuroprotective herb as well. Red sage extract boosts nitric oxide and vasodilation, which is great at getting better blood flow and oxygen to the brain. The B vitamins are clearly linked to better brain function. There are many options when putting together a better brain protocol.VR
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Cheryl Myers is an integrative health nurse, author, and an expert on natural medicine. She is a nationally recognized speaker who has been interviewed by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Prevention magazine. Her many articles have been published in such diverse journals as Aesthetic Surgery Journal and Nutrition in Complementary Care, and her research on botanicals has been presented at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the North American Menopause Society. Myers is the head of scientific affairs and education for EuroPharma, Inc.
