In the war against aging, you choose your battles. For some, a wrinkle-free face takes first priority—while for others, a svelte figure, more energy or a healthy heart wins out every time. But whatever concern tops your own personal list, one thing is certain: A youthful body is of little use if you don’t have a healthy brain to coordinate and control it… a fact that anyone familiar with the tragic effects of Alzheimer’s disease can attest to.
The good news is that, while a slippery slope of “senior moments” used to seem inevitable, scientists now know that your brain cells can regenerate themselves, given the right conditions—offering an antidote not only to age-related memory loss, but also to a whole host of other neurodegenerative conditions. And the solution may be as simple as the right combination of nutrients.
Among these nutrients, acetyl carnitine may be the most important. Laboratory studies show that this nutrient increases the natural replenishing effects of nerve growth factor (NGF) on your brain cells—helping to boost neurite outgrowth (the branches that form your brain’s communication network) a full 100 times greater than NGF alone.1 In human trials, this effect has translated to improvements in disorders ranging from mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer’s disease to chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, diabetic neuropathy and depression.2-6
When taken in combination with acetyl carnitine arginate—which mimics NGF in your brain—acetyl carnitine’s effects are even more powerful.7 Together, these compounds synergistically boost the production of key neurotransmitters, such as GABA and glutamate, while protecting neurons from toxic proteins like beta amyloid— strongly implicated in the cognitive declines associated with aging and development of Alzheimer’s disease.8-9
Uridine is another essential compound for brain function. It’s a nutraceutical “building block” of cytidine, an important carrier of choline, which is necessary for memory-related neural signaling. In vitro experiments reveal that human brain cells exposed to uridine experience increased neurite outgrowth and regeneration.10-12 Similar results have been seen with oral supplementation of uridine in aged rats.13
Finally, there’s Gotu kola—an Indian plant with a long history of use in Ayurvedic medicine preparations for senility, epilepsy and other conditions. It was only recently that scientists identified two of the unique compounds responsible for Gotu kola’s traditional reputation as a brain tonic: asiaticosides and asiatic acid. Extracts of the herb containing a higher percentage of these active constituents have been shown to repair damaged neurons in cell culture studies and foster improved brain functioning in animal studies.14
You can find exactly this type of Gotu kola extract—standardized to 20 percent asiaticosides—along with all three of the neuron-stimulating compounds described above in a single memory-preserving formula called Neuron Growth Factors (NGF™) from Vitamin Research Products.
References:
1. Tagliatatela G, Angelucci L, Ramacci MT, Werrbach-Perez K, et al. Acetyl-L-carnitine enhances the response of PC-12 cells to nerve growth factor. Brain Res Dev Brain Res. 1991 Apr 24;59(2):221-30.
2. Sima AA, Calvani M, Mehta M, Amato A. Acetyl-L-carnitine Study Group. Acetyl-l-carnitine improves pain, nerve regeneration, and vibratory perception in patients with chronic diabetic neuropathy: an analysis of two randomized placebo-controlled trials. Diabetes Care. 2005 Jan;28(1):89-94.
3. Montgomery SA, Thal LJ, Amrein R. Meta-analysis of double-blind randomized controlled clinical trials of acetyl-L-carnitine versus placebo in the treatment of mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease. Int Clin Psychopharmacol. 2003 Mar;18(2): 61-71.
4. Vermeulen RC, Scholte HR. Exploratory open label, randomized study of acetyl and propionylcarnitine in chronic fatigue syndrome. Psychosom Med. 2004 Nar-Apr;66(2):276-82.
5. Tomassini V, Pozzilli C, Onesti E, Pasqualetti P, Marinelli F, Pisani A, et al. Comparison of the effects of acetyl-L-carnitine and amantadine for the treatment of fatigue in multiple sclerosis: results of a pilot, randomized, double-blind, crossover trial. J. Neurol Sci. 2004 Mar 15;218(1-2):103-8.
6. Garzya G, Corallo D, Fiore A, Lecciso G, Petrelli G, Zotti C. Evaluation of the effects of L-acetylcarnitine on senile patients suffering from depression. Drugs Exp Clin Res. 1990;16(2):101-6.
7. Taglialatela, G, Navarra D, Olivi A, Ramacci MT, Werrbach-Perez K, et al. Neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells stimulated by acetyl-L- carnitine arginine amide. Neurochem Res. 1995 Jan;20(1):1-9.
8. Westlund KN, Lu Y, Werrbach-Perez K, Hulsebosch CE, Mrgan B, et al. Effects of nerve growth factor and acetyl-L-carnitine arginyl amide on the human neuronal line HCN-1A. Int J Dev Neurosci. 1992 Oct;10(5):361-73.
9. Scorziello A, Meucci O, Calvani M, Schettini G. Acetyl-L-carnitine arginine amide prevents beta 25-35-induced neurotoxicity in cerebellar granule cells. Neurochem Res. 1997 Mar;22(3);257-65.
10. Dawson DM. Enzymatic conversion of uridine nucleotide to cytidine nucleotide by rat brain. J Neurochem. 1968 Jan;15(1):31-4.
11. Silei V, Politi V, Lauro GM. Uridine induces differentiation in human neuroblastoma cells via protein kinase C epsilon. J Neurosci Res. 2000 Jul 15;61(2):206-11.
12. Pooler AM, Guez DH, Benedictus R, Wurtman RJ. Uridine enhances neurite outgrowth in nerve growth factor-differentiated PC 12 (corrected). Neuroscience. 2005;134(1):207-14.
13. Wang L, Pooler AM, Albrecht MA, Wurtman RJ. Dietary uridine -5-monophosphate supplementation increases potassium-evoked dopamine release and promotes neurite outgrowth in aged rats. J Mol neurosci. 2005;27(1):137-45.
14. Garcia-Alloza M, Dodwell SA, Meyer-Luehmann M, Hyman BT, Bacskai BJ. Plaque-derived oxidative stress mediates distorted neurite trajectories in the Alzheimer mouse model. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2006 Nov;65(11):1082-9.
