Supplement Sanity
Don’t just reach for that supplement you “heard” may be helpful.
Know what you are doing when you reach for that Bacopa, Lion’s Mane, Gingo, Cat’s Claw, Tumeric…..
A friend of mine, whose mother had Alzheimer’s, told me she tried a Bacopa monnieri supplement as it had been touted for its neuro-protective benefits (Walker & Pellegrini, 2024). Instead, she had dangerous adverse reactions. She lost 7 pounds without trying, had beginning signs of thyroid hyperactivity, and her stools lost color. Such problems can actually hasten cognitive decline rather than improve it.
A hyperactive thyroid can cause brain swelling (encephalopathy)
Significant weight loss robs us of nutritional support for our nervous system
The lack of stool color indicates a severe digestive disorder in which the body is unable to release bile to break down protein and fat. This not only also robs us of nutrients, but the bile backs up in the liver, preventing this important detox organ from doing its job of cleaning our blood.
Another friend, also with an Alzheimer's family history, told me she picked up some Lion’s Mane as her sister told her it would prevent cognitive decline.
Many of us buy supplements for exactly this reason – a friend or a family member recommended it, and we figure it can’t hurt us to try. Even, I myself am not immune from our culture of a “pill for every ill – my cupboards are stocked a plethora of supplements that I’ve tried at various points. I can honestly say that only a few, used in the proper way, at the proper time, have led to substantial shifts in my overall well being
The causes of cognitive decline are multi-factorial. This is why we must first build the foundation of our health by strengthening the lifestyle pillars shown to be most correlated with preventing cognitive decline. While the right supplement can be supportive, these lifestyle factors are fundamental in reversing the causes of cognitive decline:
Diet
Exercise
Sleep
Stress reduction (Rao et al., 2023).
I would add the avoidance of biotoxins as an increasingly important lifestyle factor (Manuello et al., 2024).
Although it may not be common to suffer as many supplement side-effects as the first friend I mentioned, supplements can cause adverse effects, especially if it’s not the right one for your body. Good quality supplements are expensive but powerful. Before trying one, you want to make sure it is the right supplement for you.
We only know this from getting a careful history, studying your physiology and your genetics, examining your lab tests, and giving you a “trial” of a supplement to ensure you are tolerating it and getting the benefits you expect. We decide as a team if it is the right supplement for you, and we track your progress to know when to adjust the dose or stop the supplementation. This is what individualized care is all about.
To hear more about our individualized approach to preventing or reversing cognitive decline, call us.
Manuello, J., Min, J., McCarthy, P., Alfaro-Almagro, F., Lee, S., Smith, S., Elliott, L. T., Winkler, A. M., & Douaud, G. (2024). The effects of genetic and modifiable risk factors on brain regions vulnerable to ageing and disease. Nature Communications, 15(1), 2576. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46344-2
Rao, R. V., Subramaniam, K. G., Gregory, J., Bredesen, A. L., Coward, C., Okada, S., Kelly, L., & Bredesen, D. E. (2023). Rationale for a Multi-Factorial Approach for the Reversal of Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer’s Disease and MCI: A Review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 24(2), 1659. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24021659
Walker, E. A., & Pellegrini, M. V. (2024). Bacopa monnieri. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK589635/
