We have all learned a great deal about how our diet affects our risks of developing diseases such as heart disease and cancer. This should come as no surprise. The diseases mentioned have been the main focus of health concerns and research for the last 50 years. The dietary advice wasn’t entirely unexpected. ” It seems that our mothers were right when they said to finish our fruits and vegetables. This advice is often given in health reports.
At some point in the 1980s, Americans became more focused on the diseases that occur in old age, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. An affliction that increases in frequency by 100% every ten years after the age of 50 was certainly something that caused us to worry, but this was not the only disease that we paid attention to. Alzheimer’s Disease is a brain disease that slowly deteriorates the function of the brain. The possibility that diet is part of the explanation is high. Scientists have only recently started to ask if nutrition plays a role in preventing neurodegenerative illnesses. We only know a little about the role of nutrition in preventing these illnesses, mostly due to the effects of vitamin deficiencies.
Why is the aging human brain more susceptible to neurodegenerative diseases? Though we can see a reduction in neuron communication with age in healthy brains, it is gradual. While micronutrients are crucial for prenatal and postnatal brain development, they do not prevent the negative effects of aging or the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases. What are the things that make aging happen in the brain? And can nutrition help to quench them?
The Age Connection
If you were to ask someone to describe an elderly person, they might mention physical attributes such as gray hair or wrinkles. They might also mention how elderly people can have trouble moving or remembering things. As we age, we lose both motor and cognitive function, on average. The motor skills which can be affected by decline include balance, muscle strength, and coordination. Whereas cognitive skills such as spatial learning and memory are examples of tasks that can be more difficult to perform. Both types of declines occur in animals as well as in humans. The report found that deficits in social cognition are found in a variety of animals, including primates, canines, and rodents.
The striatum is a region of the brain that deteriorates with age, causing problems with movement and spatial orientation. This is due to changes in the levels of the chemical dopamine, which is an important neurotransmitter. The receptor cells for dopamine and another neurotransmitter, muscarine, in the striatum appear to be especially vulnerable and develop a loss of sensitivity to stimulation. The cerebellum, which is responsible for movement control, also experiences changes in both structure and function as we age. In addition, the number of norepinephrine receptors decreases as we get older. When we look at memory declines in aging, they seem to mostly happen in the secondary memory systems, which store newly learned information. There are several areas in the brain that are responsible for different functions; for example, the hippocampus is responsible for learning about places, and the prefrontal cortex is responsible for acquiring the rules that govern performance on particular tasks.
Many studies have suggested that age-related deficits might be due to the loss of brain cells as we age. Recent and more sophisticated cell-counting techniques have revealed that there is not a lot of loss of brain cells in the cerebellum or striatum with aging. This is also seen in diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
What might be causing the changes if cells are not being lost in areas that handle motor and memory function during regular aging? Research over the past several years points to two possible factors:
- Losses of sensitivity in the receptors for neurotransmitters and their associated second messengers (molecules that help move the signal further along into the neuron) and resulting in declines in calcium activation, and
- Alterations in complicated age- and calcium-sensitive signaling agents associated with memory, especially with converting short-term memories to long-term memories.
We could say that the reason some old neurons stop talking to each other as much is because they are like long-married couples. The deficits in neuronal communication could lead to declines in motor and cognitive skills. Imagine you are trying to make a phone call on your cell phone. When you try to make a call on your phone, and it says “call failed,” it’s probably because there’s something wrong with the signal being sent from your phone to the tower to the satellite and so on until it reaches the other person’s phone. If there is a flaw in any part of the “signaling pathway,” the phone call will not go through. The recent TV commercial is an example of how often this happens in the older brain.
Neuroregeneration – Once Thought to be Impossible
Not so long ago, scientists thought that it was not possible for adult brain tissue to regenerate itself. It was believed that the loss of brain cells and brain function was permanent. Neurologists say that when your brain is done growing, losing brain cells is just a normal part of getting older.
Despite what was previously thought, molecular science is now revealing that the brain has the ability to heal itself. Scientists have found that the brain can regenerate the neurons involved in brain remodeling (plasticity). The brain’s ability to change and adapt is known as plasticity. This ability allows brain cells to reorganize and restructure their connections in order to form new memories and facilitate learning.
The scientists found that the orchid extract helps to stimulate neuro-regenerative processes. Extracts from the Gastrodia orchid have been shown to improve the brain’s plasticity and regrowth. Gastrodin has been shown to improve brain function by activating certain aspects of brain regeneration.
If you don’t want your brain to shrink and your thoughts, feelings, and memories to become constricted, your brain cells have natural, self-healing systems that can help. Gastrodin can turn on and activate these regenerative mechanisms. This text is discussing a method that may be powerful for preventing brain function loss at any age.
Brain Blood Flow
One of the main reasons why brains age, and the many issues that come with it, is because there is a decrease in blood flow to the brain. This is because blood flow affects how well the brain utilizes glucose, the primary fuel for the brain. The brain becomes deprived of oxygen and fuel over time, causing reduced blood flow and poor cognition. Gastrodin has been shown to increase brain blood flow in laboratory animals and human patients.
In rats that had strokes, a traditional gastrodin-based preparation improved blood flow when given 30 minutes after the stroke. The formula based on gastrodin was able to normalize brain blood flow even at a relatively low dose.
Human studies are just as dramatic. In a study of 202 patients, gastrodin was found to improve brain blood flow in 96% of cases involving stroke and other brain injuries. A study involving patients with impaired circulation to the rear portions of their brains found that 95% of those given gastrodin plus betahistine showed improved blood flow, while only 70% of betahistine control patients showed improvement.
Elevated blood sugar levels can also reduce brain blood flow. The result of not staying mentally active is often memory impairment and an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease. A recent study found that gastrodin can improve insulin sensitivity, helping to remove excess glucose from the blood and reduce body fat.
Memory Loss
The greatest fear of getting older for many people is the threat of memory loss. Having a condition where you can’t recognize your loved ones or even remember your own name is really devastating. Gastrodin can help improve memory by countering the key processes that lead to memory loss, according to studies.
When rats are given drugs that damage their memory, they take longer to complete familiar tasks and have difficulty rescuing themselves from hazardous situations. The stress of dangerous situations also affects memory in a negative way, just as it does in humans.
The drug gastrodin helps animals with memory impairments to remember things they had already stored away. Even though exposure to aluminum is thought to be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease, similar improvements in memory preservation were obtained in rats without a reduction in brain aluminum levels.
Neurotransmitter imbalance is a major problem that pharmaceutical companies are spending a lot of money on research and developing drugs to control. The approach of these scientists has not been to create balance but to simply suppress excitation. Although they offer Namenda®, it has shown to be ineffective in treating neurodegenerative diseases and has had no impact on the heightened brain activity seen following low blood-flow conditions such as surgery and anesthesia.
Improved GABA Levels
The term “burnout” is often used to describe a state of extreme fatigue, but it is actually a condition that occurs in your brain as a result of too much stimulation. Most people’s neurotransmitters are out of balance because of the fast pace of life and the constant influx of information.
Your brain is constantly working to maintain a balance between the cells that create electrical activity and those that reduce or calm brain activity.
The brain releases different neurotransmitters to either excite or calm the brain. When the brain is resting or calm, it uses a neurotransmitter called GABA to maintain that state.
Can We Quench the Fire with Supplements?
Vitamin E
The antioxidant vitamin E is widely studied in relation to brain aging. Results have been mixed. It seems that vitamin E does have a positive effect on overall health, and research has shown that a lack of vitamin E can lead to increased damage to the brain from oxidative stress. A study conducted by Harbans Lal and colleagues at the University of North Texas found that vitamin E deprivation leads to nutrition-related characteristics of central nervous system aging in both young and aged rats. Animals lacking Vitamin E had more of the “age pigment” lipofuscin, as well as increased levels of oxidative stress in the hippocampus. This suggests that the effects of Vitamin E deficiency compound the effects of aging. A different study that looked at vitamin E deficiency found that there was more oxidative stress present, and when samples of brain tissue were taken from the animals affected by the deficiency, they were more responsive to inducing oxidative stress.
Vitamin C
There is no agreement on the minimum daily requirement for vitamin C despite it being studied for many years. The benefits of vitamin C for cognitive function in aging may depend on its ability to protect blood vessels through its antioxidant effects. We know that the blood vessels are involved in diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and studies have shown that cognitive performance in the elderly might be affected by vitamin C. For example, M.
Other studies have found that vitamin C can help prevent cognitive decline and stroke by protecting the brain from damage. It has also been suggested that vitamin C can have a direct effect on the brain by helping to break down damaged proteins. Vitamin C may help the brain to get rid of damaged or changed proteins.
Summary
Your brain is constantly under attack by forces that cause it to age. Even “normal” aging causes multiple problems that lead to memory loss, slower learning, and an increased risk for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
People who have a stroke, head injury, or heart surgery can have their brain age reduced by years in a few minutes.
Scientists have made significant advances in understanding the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in recent years. Scientists have discovered that there are systems in the brain that can heal silently, waiting to be activated.
Gastrodin, which is derived from a traditional Chinese medicinal orchid, can activate self-healing programs that are dormant in your brain.
Gastrodin has been shown to fight brain aging at multiple levels by restoring brain blood flow to more youthful levels and preventing memory loss and other cognitive changes.
The protective and self-healing effects of this combination may help to slow down natural brain aging whilst reducing the risk of slow-onset disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Gastrodin has similar mechanisms to slow or reverse the damage done by acute events, such as strokes.
Gastrodin can help people suffering from seizures, migraines, and diabetic neuropathy by rebalancing their bodies.
The brain can now be protected against daily wear and potential catastrophes by taking gastrodin daily.
