Last time I told you some excellent ways to enhance your brainpower through exercise, intermittent fasting, and cognitive enhancing exercise (keeping the brain fit through puzzles, writing, etcetera).
Today, we’re going to talk about how nutrition can help us enhance neurogenesis, protect our brain’s health and also protect us from neurodegenerative diseases of all kinds.
The key with neurogenesis, as we discussed in the last article, is to keep in mind that everyone grows new neurons all the time. Exercise can increase the output of neurons your brain produces, but then it’s your job to keep them with mental exercise. You have to exercise the new neurons to keep them, basically.
Since my last article, I wanted to add, as I’ve kept reading about how to grow more brain cells/neurons and keep them—I’ve learned one thing I want to share about the kind of cognitive exercises to make sure to include in any other brain work you do to assure you keep your new neurons– 3-D type of puzzles, such as 3 D video games and 3-D puzzles (think castles you build from the ground up – you can get these online and at hobby stores) have shown to especially enhance neurogenesis and assure you keep your new neurons.
So this is a great, fun way to increase and keep those new neurons.
Exercise + 3D Video Games = Get Wicked Smart
As the researchers note:
For their research, Craig Stark and Dane Clemenson of UCI’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory had students play either a 3-d or 2-d video game. In this study, used Super Mario 3-D World. What happened was
Students playing the 3-D video game improved their scores on the memory test, while the 2-D gamers did not. The boost was not small either. Memory performance increased by about 12 percent, the same amount it normally decreases between the ages of 45 and 70.
You can read more about this here. And the Mario 3-D study here.
There are all kinds of other 3-D games for every platform and device imaginable. Just Google the “Top Ten 3 D Games for Mac, PC, PlayStation, WII U, etcetera.
The scientists are still unclear why this type of video game helps enhance neurogenesis, they just know that it does:
“First, the 3-D games have a few things the 2-D ones do not,” Stark explains, “They’ve got a lot more spatial information in there to explore. Second, they’re much more complex, with a lot more information to learn. Either way, we know this kind of learning and memory not only stimulates but requires the hippocampus.”
But Stark adds that it is still “unclear whether the overall amount of information and complexity in the 3-D game or the spatial relationships and exploration is stimulating the hippocampus.”
Sounds like a fun way to get smarter doesn’t it?
So remember, after eating for neurogenesis, exercising to stimulate new neuron growth, and protecting our brains through healthy behaviors, many neurons WILL DIE unless you engage in mental activities.
Some can be fun, like 3-D puzzles (on Amazon, they have some of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and other landmarks) and video games, as I discussed above. But you can push yourself with math, science, crosswords, Sudoku and reading challenging texts as well. Writing works so many areas of the brain at once it has to be neuron promoting.
I have a friend working his way through math workbooks just to keep himself sharp and he says his short and long term memory are now like a steel trap! He started with Algebra I books he bought off Amazon, gradually working his way up to calculus II.
Now, onward and forward.
Real Brain Food to Enhance Neurogenesis Beyond Belief
Today, we’re going to talk about how nutrition and natural supplements can enhance neurogenesis.
There are numerous foods, spices and compounds that have proven to enhance neurogenesis and stimulate BDNF (brain derived nootropic factor) and Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) in the brain. Both BDNF and NGF are crucial neurotrophins – they’re 2 of 4 we have (the others are neutrophin-3 and -4, NT-3 and NT-4, respectively).
BDFN is crucial both for the growth and maintenance of new neurons, while NGF is crucial for the survival and maintenance of sympathetic and sensory neurons. Both are important.
In fact, brain derived neurotrophic factor is crucial to make us smart, healthy humans in all kinds of ways, especially in enhancing the plasticity of our brains, which is that quality I mentioned last time we all want.
Neuroplasticity refers to how our brain changes and improves, grows smarter and faster, as we continue to grow new neurons and learn because every time we learn something, we form new connections between neurons.
We need a healthy brain, however, to grow and maintain new neuron growth. Our brains are mostly fat you know, and certain fats and other compounds like phenols and phytochemicals are also highly neuro-generative.
So what we want, ideally, are foods and supplements that promote and protect new neuron growth and to keep our brain healthy, neuroprotective brain foods that keep our neurons firing at a rapid clip as well.
Remember—the brain has millions of starving mitochondria that need to be fed properly to keep our mood up and the ideas flowing. And mitochondria are the lifeblood and energy engines of all of our cells.
This is why we HAVE to eat strategically and this is also why you pay a heavy, heavy price cognitively and physically with constant calorie restriction and not eating nutrient dense.
First, let’s talk about Big 6 for Neurogenesis:
I put blueberries first for a reason. You’re going to have to trust me on this because if there is any neurogenesis powerhouse it is in blueberries.
I have only included the minutest fraction of the extant research on what blueberries do for
I know after everything I’ve read I’m googling “best climates to grow your own blueberry bushes.” Really I knew they were neuroprotective but not all this . . .
Okay, Jackson, share what you’ve learned with them already, right?
The reason blueberries are so beneficial for neurogenesis is are full of compounds which literally flood the hippocampal region with health and nutrients.
The hippocampus is an important area of the brain where new neuron growth happens.
See, one thing you’re going to start seeing a lot in nutrient science is the whole study of polyphenols, phytonutrients and other bitter compounds. See, plants have evolved protective mechanisms for staying alive. Often these have a bitter taste – not sweet. These “poisons” are like manna to us—nourishing our systems with their evolved protective mechanisms, yielding protective mechanisms in us as well.
Perhaps this is why blueberries are so neuroprotective and enhance neurogenesis and transduction between neurons (the firing mechanism, communication between neurons).
Blueberries are packed with polyphenols, especially flavonoids called anthocyanins that stimulate neurogenesis. In fact, as Dr. Bryant Cortright, author of The Neurogenesis: Diet and Lifestyle notes that “Blueberries are packed with polyphenols, especially flavonoids called anthocyanins that stimulate neurogenesis.” More specifically the anthocyanin dye, which causes the dark blue color, crosses the blood-brain barrier to stimulate neurogenesis.
Numerous studies show adding blueberries to the daily neurogenesis diet of rats increases neurogenesis significantly. Study, study.
In this important study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, each of three groups of rats, equivalent in age to 63-year-old humans, was fed a different high-antioxidant extract of strawberries, blueberries, or spinach. After 8 weeks—equivalent to about 10 years in humans—the rats’ performance levels were measured.
The rats fed the spinach, strawberry, or blueberry extracts effectively reversed age-related deficits in neuronal and cognitive function – but, the blueberry-fed group far outperformed their peers while traversing a rotating rod to test balance and coordination.
“Despite their status as ‘senior citizens,’ those rats showed remarkable stamina on neuromotor function tests,” notes Barbara Shukitt-Hale who worked on the study. The researchers added,
“We suspected that the combined antioxidant potency of compounds in blueberry extract may have reduced inflammatory compounds in the brains of these older animals. Inflammation ordinarily contributes to neuronal and behavioral shortfalls during aging.”
Aside from increasing neurogenesis, blueberries allow better communication among neurons, something called signal transduction. Study, study.
Blueberries also protect the brain against cognitive decline, inflammation, brain injury, stroke, certain neurotoxins, excitotoxicity, and may help individuals with Parkinson’s, MS, and other neurodegenerative diseases as well.
Blueberries have been shown to reverse cognitive decline in both humans and animals. Mice bred to develop Alzheimer’s showed improvements in memory when fed blueberries, and two neuroprotective chemicals were higher in these mice.
In this study on humans, individuals already suffering from cognitive decline showed improvements after consuming blueberries daily.
To summarize many of the neurogenesis and neuroprotective effects of blueberries, I’ve included this paragraph from a review of studies published in 2014—more studies have been published since, of course.
A preclinical study has demonstrated that blueberry supplementation enhances motor and memory performance in aged animals (Youdim et al., 2000; Casadesus et al., 2004). Changes in brain-derived neurotrophic factor-mediated protein synthesis, such as Arc/Arg3.1, are directly related to blueberry consumption. Inhibition of CREB/brain-derived neurotrophic factor pathway effectively blocks the changes in spatial memory in the blueberry-supplemented animals (Williams et al., 2008). Following blueberry feeding, anthocyanins have been identified in the specific cerebral regions responsible for cognitive function, including the hippocampus and neocortex (Andres-Lacueva et al., 2005).
Furthermore, anthocyanins distribution in the hippocampus might be related to increased neuronal signaling in this region (Casadesus et al., 2000). Barros et al. (2006) conducted a study involving psychopharmacological screening to evaluate potential effects of a lyophilized extract of different cultivars from Vaccinium ashei, Reade (Ericaceae) berries, which are commonly known as rabbit eye blueberries and are shown to have memory-enhancing, anxiolytic and locomotion increasing properties in mice, as well as the protective effects against free radical-induced DNA damage in the brain. These results are reliable with the hypothesis that flavonoids (including anthocyanins) can show beneficial effects on cell signaling and decrease oxidative damage. These results also suggest that flavonoids might directly act on cognitive function, which may help prevent age-related and pathological degenerative processes in the brain.
Consuming about a cup a day of blueberries is the equivalent human portion that animal studies have suggested. For ultimate neurogenesis – consume one cup a day several times a week or more. As Bryant Cortright says, “A cup of blueberries a day may keep cognitive decline away.”
It’s funny. I learned the other day that kidney beans, which are perfectly shaped like kidneys, are actually really good for your kidneys. Lion’s mane mushroom, is really good for your brain. And one might say it looks a bit like one.
Today, lion’s mane has become a popular nootropic that has been proven to stimulate the production of NGF, one of the vital neurotrophins we need to stimulate neurogenesis and keep our brains smart.
Lion’s mane mushroom has been a favorite in Chinese medicine for millennia. What they know that we didn’t know is how smart you can get by getting some of this mushroom into your diet.
The first thing that lion’s mane does that benefits the brain is that it stimulates the production of NGF synthesis in the brain – NGF synthesis triggers the birth of new neurons and nerve cells. NGF does something else as well, it stimulates the differentiation and re-myelination of neurons. This highly explanatory article is like a How Neurons Grow: 101 kind of course, if you’re interested.
Lion’s mane actually contains two kinds of NGFs that stimulate neuron growth—hericenones and erinacines, both of which are believed by scientists to be highly neuroprotective.
In a Japanese study published in Phototherapy Research, participants ranging in age from 50 to 80 with mild cognitive impairment took 1,000 mg of Lion’s Mane three times daily for 16 weeks. After four months, they improved their scores on cognitive tests significantly.
A recent (2013) study on human brain cells, did confirm its neurogenetic but not neuroprotective capabilities. As researchers discovered
The extract contained neuroactive compounds that induced the secretion of extracellular NGF in NG108-15 cells, thereby promoting neurite outgrowth activity. However, the H. erinaceus extract failed to protect NG108-15 cells subjected to oxidative stress when applied in pre-treatment and co-treatment modes. In conclusion, the aqueous extract of H. erinaceus contained neuroactive compounds which induced NGF-synthesis and promoted neurite outgrowth in NG108-15 cells. The extract also enhanced the neurite outgrowth stimulation activity of NGF when applied in combination. The aqueous preparation of H. erinaceus had neurotrophic but not neuroprotective activities.
So, lion’s mane can help you get those new neurons and stimulate NGF so that you can use them as well—it’s up to you to keep them!
Dosage
I got all the following information from Braintropic’s page on Lion’s Mane Mushroom, as theirs is the most informed on the quality to buy and quantity to take:
The dosage recommendations of Lion’s Mane depend on the potency of the extract. For a commonly available 10:1 extract (30% polysaccharide content), a typical dosage to experience its effects ranges from 500-3000 mg per day.
Dosing higher should not cause any adverse effects, but there is no evidence that quantities over 3 g per day will result in any further benefits.
When choosing a Lion’s Mane supplement, make sure that it uses a combination of both hot water and alcohol extraction to ensure that all the desirable medicinal compounds are successfully extracted from the mushroom. This type of dual extraction ensures that you reap the whole spectrum of natural benefits from Lion’s Mane such as stimulating the synthesis of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) and promoting neuroprotection.
I put Omega 3 Fatty Acids number three, but I should have put it number one. Either way, none of the supplements on this list will do you any good at all if you’re not getting enough Omega 3s in the form of DHA and EPA into your diet to nourish the brain, period.
Omega 3 fats contain two components we need called DHA and EPA. These are the compounds in there we need and I believe we need to get them in their purest form whenever we can. Trouble is—they’re only found in fish and shellfish.
The brain beneficial compounds in Omega 3s are EPA and DHA.
DHA and EPA are extremely healthy for a list of about 50 reasons, and this is one of the healthiest, most effective supplements (I have notes below on how to select a good, high quality, DHA/EPA rich fish oil supplement) you can take to keep both the brain and the body healthy.
Omega-3 fatty acids can enhance neurogenesis in adults but it’s really the DHA and EPA that do this, research proves.
EPA and DHA are both linked to all kinds of neuroprotective and cognitive enhancement. EPA and DHA are important for increasing neuron growth and enhancing neuron activity.
Any compound that is stored in the body, like EPA and DHA are, is a good sign we need to make a concentrated effort to put it in the diet –often. And EPA and DHA are not only stored in the body, they are stored in the brain itself.
In a highly informative and researched article on the importance of DHA and EPAs for brain health, Dr. Julius Goepp explains
“Approximately 8% of the brain’s weight is comprised of omega-3 fatty acids3—the building block for an estimated 100 billion neurons.4 Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) play a host of vital roles in neuronal structure and function, protecting them from oxidative damage, inflammation, and the cumulative destruction inflicted by other chronic insults.
He adds that
“Recent research has opened up a new horizon in our understanding of omega-3s’ profound ability to halt age-related decline and pathology, shattering the long-held medical belief that brain shrinkage and nerve cell death is progressive and irreversible. Omega-3s have been shown to possess antidepressant and neuroprotective properties. One recent landmark study found that aging humans who consumed more omega-3s had increased gray matter brain volume and that most new tissue development was observed in the part of the brain associated with happiness.”
This last study Goepp mentions can be read here.
In another groundbreaking study groundbreaking study which is changing the way we prioritize getting more healthy fat into the diet, scientists followed 12,000 pregnant women and their diets before and after they gave birth. They found that children of those who consumed the least omega-3 were 48% more likely to score in the lowest quartile on IQ tests.
The problem is that EPA and DHA are very hard to get into the diet adequately enough to protect the brain. Even better canned tuna has minimal Omega 3s in the form of DHA and EPA.
So I want to spend some time giving you some suggestions for getting high quality sources of DHA and EPA in the diet.
First, how much DHA and EPA do you need daily? Although Dr. Mercola, who also acknowledges that no one has yet set this in stone, advises anywhere from 250 to 500 mg. of DHA and EPA, I would rather err on the side of caution and advise 500 mgs. Why? Because they are so important to so many systems in the body, especially for brain, joins, and cardiovascular health.
How to Get More DHA and EPA in Your Diet (p.s. It Takes Some Work)
The human body is able to turn ALA into usable DHA and EPA to some degree – but you cannot completely count on this transformation for your DHA and EPA RDA. Period. We need more fish or high quality fish oil supplements in our diet if we want to be healthy of mind and body. I cannot stress this enough.
It’s one reason why nutrition experts recommend consuming wild-caught fish several times per week, since many kinds of seafood – and just about only seafood– are naturally high in DHA and EPA. Fish, crustaceans, and mollusks are about the only place to get solid DHA and EPA without having to convert them from ALA, which, like I’ve explained, is not idea.
The only place to get EPA and DHA directly, is fish—in fact, a lot of fish we don’t eat daily—or even yearly.
Here is a table for you – then I’m going to tell you about how to get your EPA DHA in supplements the best way.
Table courtesy of the DHA/EPA Omega-3 Institute
Table 3: Fish and Seafood Sources of DHA plus EPA
| Source (100 g portion) |
DHA + EPA (g) |
| Fish | |
| Anchovy, European, raw | 1.449 |
| Carp, cooked, dry heat | 0.451 |
| Catfish, channel, farmed, cooked, dry heat | 0.177 |
| Cod, Atlantic , cooked, dry heat | 0.158 |
| Eel, mixed species, cooked, dry heat | 0.189 |
| Flatfish (flounder and sole), cooked, dry heat | 0.501 |
| Haddock, cooked, dry heat | 0.238 |
| Halibut, Atlantic and Pacific, cooked, dry heat | 0.465 |
| Herring, Atlantic , cooked, dry heat | 2.014 |
| Mackerel, Pacific and jack, mixed species, cooked, dry heat | 1.848 |
| Mullet, striped, cooked, dry heat | 0.328 |
| Perch, mixed species, cooked, dry heat | 0.324 |
| Pike, northern, cooked, dry heat | 0.137 |
| Pollock, Atlantic , cooked, dry heat | 0.542 |
| Salmon, Atlantic , farmed, cooked, dry heat | 2.147 |
| Sardine, Atlantic , canned in oil, drained solids with bone | 0.982 |
| Sea bass, mixed species, cooked, dry heat | 0.762 |
| Shark, mixed species, raw | 0.843 |
| Snapper, mixed species, cooked, dry heat | 0.321 |
| Swordfish, cooked, dry heat | 0.819 |
| Trout, mixed species, cooked, dry heat | 0.936 |
| Tuna, skipjack, fresh, cooked, dry heat | 0.328 |
| Whiting, mixed species, cooked, dry heat | 0.518 |
| Crustaceans | |
| Crab, Alaska king, cooked, moist heat | 0.413 |
| Shrimp, mixed species, cooked, moist heat | 0.315 |
| Spiny lobster, mixed species, cooked, moist heat | 0.480 |
| Mollusks | |
| Clam, mixed species, cooked, moist heat | 0.284 |
| Conch, baked or broiled | 0.120 |
| Mussel, blue, cooked, moist heat | 0.782 |
| Octopus, common, cooked, moist heat | 0.314 |
| Oyster, eastern, farmed, cooked, dry heat | 0.440 |
| Scallop, mixed species, cooked, breaded and fried | 0.180 |
Because most of us aren’t eating enough of any of these fish, I highly recommend a fish oil supplement with this caveat—you must make sure that it is a good quality fish oil supplement.
Please see this article by Mental Health Daily which analyzes fish oil brands for their purity and EPA/DHA content!
Curcumin has a multitude of beneficial effects for neurogenesis, including increasing BDNF, enhancing neurogenesis, and exhibiting powerful neuroprotective effects upon the brain. Just plug “brain benefits and curcumin” or “neurogenesis and curcumin” into Pub Med and you can read one of hundreds of studies on the powers of curcumin to heal and nourish the brain. In fact, a recent 2014 article titled “Curcumin-Loaded Nanoparticles Potently Induce Adult Neurogenesis and Reverse Cognitive Deficits in Alzheimer’s Disease Model . . . “researchers seem hopeful for a potential cure or at least a hope for helping people recover from Alzheimer’s and get some of their brain function back, noting that
“These results suggest that curcumin nanoparticles induce adult neurogenesis through activation of the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway and may offer a therapeutic approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases such as AD, by enhancing a brain self-repair mechanism.”
There is little doubt that the positive effects of enhanced BDNF production on brain neurons is at least part of the reason why curcumin is so beneficial for the brain.
In a 2008 study, researchers concluded that curcumin most certainly is an agent that stimulates neurogenesis, stating,
Our findings suggest that curcumin can stimulate developmental and adult hippocampal neurogenesis, and a biological activity that may enhance neural plasticity and repair.
And one good finding from this study is that it doesn’t take a mega dose of curcumin to produce these effects. For some time, it has been debated if turmeric could provide as much curcumin as would be needed for health benefits. But these researchers found that
“a much lower dose of curcumin (less than 0.2 mg/kg) significantly increased the proliferation of neural stem cells in adult hippocampus. Therefore, relatively low doses of curcumin can stimulate hippocampal neuroplasticity, a finding with important implications for preventative and therapeutic approaches for a range of neurological disorders that involve impaired neurogenesis, including depression, diabetes, and AD.”
Note that they found only .2 mgs necessary to increase brain cells in the hippocampus. So, if you have a 4% curcumin turmeric powder, and percentages range from 2 to 10.2% in different varieties of turmeric (depending upon the curcuma plant they’re taken from), it would only take 1 to 1 and ½ tsp. to get .2 mgs. of curcumin.
Green tea, like blueberries, is super rich in polyphenols, the most powerful of which is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a type of catechin.
Study after study has proven that ECGC can increase neurogenesis and BDNF levels, in both animals and humans. As Cortright adds (again, I’m quoting from his book The Neurogenesis Diet and Lifestyle.
“green tea’s other polyphenols not only increase neurogenesis but, like blueberries and omega-3s, exert powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects as well. Green tea has clear cognitive benefits and even improves working memory, which is one of the most difficult functions to increase.”
Why I Didn’t Mention Moda or Other Synthetics
Now, I could have spent this time telling you all about synthetic nootropics like Modafinil or the what studies are revealing about anti-depressants (SSRIs) and neurogenesis from Wellbutrin to Prozac, but after reading all the extant research I really think there is no viable reason at all to flood your body with synthetic medications when you can get better results from foods, healthy plants, plant-based compounds, and high quality fish oil.
Word is still out on the long term consequences of smart drugs – really any synthetic meds, right? Even antidepressants cause a host of side effects (fatigue, weight gain) that only the severely depressed would want to deal with in order to make the payoff worth it. And it’s always better, even a doctor will tell you, not to take a medication if you don’t have to.
Plus, neurogenesis is guaranteed if you keep the mind and body healthy. Even more guaranteed with blueberries, ECGC, DHA, EPA and other healthy compounds we discussed today.
We can just ensure that we keep these neurons if we make sure our body and mind are firing at full speed.
But one sure way to ruin any hope of keeping our new brain cells is through drug use, as neurogenesis studies prove—because drugs of all kinds contribute to lost brain cells. And nootropics are synthetic drugs — but drugs all the same. Aren’t they?
maximally.
Be well, and would love to hear your voices!
Jackson Litchfield