Vitamins to remember everything, at any age.

Memory impairment and difficulty concentrating can occur at any age. Here are some strategies that can help ensure an enviable memory for young and old.

When memorization or concentration difficulties appear in children and young adults, these are generally transient phenomena, associated with moments of particular fatigue or stress.

In the elderly, the decreased ability to retain information and memories may instead be linked to the normal aging process or depend on a real disease that progressively leads to the loss of fundamental cognitive functions, as happens in the case of Alzheimer’s disease.

Unfortunately, today, there are no really effective weapons to prevent the decline associated with neurodegenerative diseases. There are, however, some strategies that can help ensure an enviable memory when young and slow down the physiological aging of the brain as we age, keeping it active and responsive for longer.

Memory-saving strategies

In order not to forget even the smallest detail, we must first remember, as children as adults, to constantly stimulate the functions of the brain, through reading, cinema, social interaction, keeping open and curious, listening to music, cultivating hobbies and passions of any kind.

Another useful practice, especially when you realize that you start remembering appointments and deadlines with a little more difficulty or when you need to store a large number of concepts, is to be able to select the information you really need, organizing it according to personal logical schemes.

In order not to incur “memory lapses”, students should avoid spending too many consecutive hours on books or trying to learn too many things in a single day, but distribute the study over time, because this allows to better consolidate the memory.

Another aspect, no less important, concerns physical activity that must be carried out in moderation, but every day and at any age, because it improves blood supply to the brain and enhances its functionality. Sport also has positive effects on mood and self-esteem, with favorable repercussions also on the intellectual level.

And then, sleep. Even if there are many things to study and time is short or it seems to be not sleepy due to pre-exam stress or age that pushes you to sleep less, if you really want to be able to remember as much as possible you should not neglect rest.

Fatigue is the main enemy of concentration, memory and learning while good sleep helps consolidate the information learned during the day.

Last in order of mention, but of primary importance, is the quality of nutrition, which plays a decisive role not only for physical fitness, but also for intellectual health and well-being.

It has been proven by clinical studies and practical experience that if the diet does not provide adequate amounts of essential nutrients you can have memory problems at any age.

Vitamin B12 and antioxidants for the brain

Among the substances that contribute most to preserving efficiency should be remembered vitamin B12 (able to stimulate the formation of the myelin sheath that protects nerve cells), but also all the other B vitamins, vitamin C, E and A (three powerful antioxidants).

For the first, several studies have shown that, when nutritional intake is low, learning and memorization difficulties can arise.

For example, among the 107 volunteers, aged between 61 and 87 years who were followed for five years by researchers at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), in those with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 were highlighted, through memory tests, electroencephalogram and neurological examinations, a greater reduction in brain volume and a higher probability of suffering from “memory lapses”, up to six times more frequent than those who had an optimal B12 intake.

Other research has shown that the synergistic action of high doses of vitamin C and E is effective in protecting the brain from oxidative stress of free radicals, a phenomenon considered to be the basis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

More zinc for an iron memory

Another fundamental element to conquer and preserve an iron memory, in this case especially in children, adolescents and young adults, is zinc, already known for the support it is able to offer to the immune system and for its key role in numerous metabolic processes and tissue repair.

According to the results of a US research conducted on school-age children, zinc seems to be able to improve storage capacity and extend the so-called “attention curve”, i.e. the period of time in which the mind manages to maintain a high level of concentration.

At the moment it is not known what causes this favorable action, but it is known that zinc deficiencies alter the functionality of the hippocampus, a particular area of the brain involved in the memorization process.

Better, therefore, to try to take enough (see in the table what they are, according to the indications of the Italian Society of human nutrition (SINU), the recommended intake levels for zinc), through nutrition or specific supplements, also adding calcium, iron and magnesium, equally essential elements to ensure the proper functioning of nerve cells.