As we age we can suffer from decreased synaptic function and a loss of memories and cognitive function. I have written on this topic before. I have also gone into detail how my mother was treated in the nursing home and how they destroyed her brain with medication. This article will be on a different topic.
It will cover specifically what stress does and how it can destroy brain function and memories. As I have already told you in many previous articles, constant stress can destroy your health. It does this primarily by cortisol elevation and digestive impairment.
But did you know that it can rob you of your memories as well? It’s true. And a new study on pregnant moms and babies shows you how.
In this report, pregnant women took the nutrient choline in the third trimester. The dose range was 930 mg or 480 mg per day.
Researchers found that the higher choline intake had an effect on the babies’ genes that affect cortisol production. It was so effective; in fact, that the moms taking the higher choline supplement produced offspring with 33 percent less cortisol in their cord blood.
Other research has found that supplemental choline during pregnancy enhanced brain activity of animals while still in the pregnancy. What that may mean for humans is that choline may raise cognitive function, learning abilities, memory, and hopefully prevent age-related memory loss. choline might also protect the brain from toxin exposure.
Cortisol is a stress hormone. More cortisol can lead to significant metabolic disturbances as the child grows. I have discussed cortisol in detail before. As I mentioned, it is a stress hormone part of the fight or flight mechanism in the body. When you elevate this stress hormone it massively affects development and maintenance of the body’s tissues. This includes all organ function. This increase organ stress will probably increase the risk of diabetes, hypertension, and mental health issues.
Putting it directly, stress kills you by first impairing organ function. Well, apparently this includes the brain.
Why is this relevant to you and what you can do about it? Choline is a critical compound (nutrient) in your body. It is crucial for cell membranes, and especially your brain. Again, it’s not readily available in most foods, or it has been heat processed out. Remember, when you are under stress it’s difficult to digest nutrients, so a high-quality choline supplement is advised. Choline participates in key biochemical reactions called methylation. It may provide a backdoor for enhanced glutathione (your principle detoxifier) production. Here we see that in early life, choline reduces the amount of stress hormone cortisol, which rises as we age and develop chronic stress related problems.
Because choline is so important, God made sure your body does produce it. But the body does so only in limited amounts. It can handle normal stressors. But when chronic stress hits, like dealing with finances or teenagers or driving or going to work or having a bad boss or a bad marriage. You get the picture. Your body can’t produce enough choline. Chronic stress produces too much cortisol, and your body can’t balance it out with choline. The excess cortisol can rob calcium from your bones, make you fatter, cause immune dysfunction, and many other health problems.
This is one of the reasons I tell you to use Acai energy sticks rather that drink coffee. Coffee elevates cortisol. The elevated cortisol makes you store body fat. Most of you who are drinking coffee, if you quit would probably lose 5 pounds of fat in just one month due to this chemical increase of cortisol due to coffee.
Remember as you get older, it takes days to reduce the cortisol back to normal after just one cup of coffee. Well, if you are drinking it daily it never returns back to normal. (Good luck with that one). Again I occasionally drink a cup of coffee. But even one cup prevents me from sleeping well due to elevated cortisol. One of the reasons we wake up in the morning is from a natural cortisol increase. As we sleep we run out of food to digest. When we start to get hungry the body elevates cortisol causing us to wake up to eat breakfast. If your cortisol is high all night, how are you supposed to sleep?
This is why so many of you have written in to tell me that once you cut out the coffee and start on our melatonin and or enhanced sleep support product you no longer need sleeping pills.
So how can you get more choline to protect your brain? Some of the best food sources of choline are: beef liver , eggs, cauliflower, spinach, quinoa, amaranth, and wheat germ. However, poor digestion in the elderly can make it difficult to get enough choline from food.
So I recommend supplemental essential phospholipids (EPL) (Body Balance Hemmla). The key EPL is phosphatidyl choline. It is rich in the cell membranes of the newborn and falls drastically with age. This report suggests that in addition to its effect on cell membranes, choline beneficially regulates your genetic expression and protects your brain. This makes sense, as modern research is increasingly focusing on the action at your cell membrane. It’s as if the cell membrane is the keyboard controlling the DNA “hard drive.”
The best supplemental source of choline is the product phosphatidyl choline. Three grams per day increases your blood choline by up to 50 percent. You will not get this effect by simple choline supplements, since intestinal bacteria will break the choline down before you can absorb it.
I recommend phosphatidyl choline and Body Balance HEMMLA to everyone for its benefits to the vascular system, cognitive and brain function, and detoxification assistance and for those under chronic stress as well.
For the original article, visit healthmasters.com.
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