Improve Vision with Supplements

We have been recommending supplementation with lutein, zeaxanthin and other antioxidants for patients who have macular degeneration. The benefits of this therapy have been proven in carefully controlled studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

Now for this first time it has been shown that these compounds may also improve visual performance in healthy young people. Researchers at the University of Georgia gave 12 mg supplemental lutein and zexanthin to 40 subjects daily for six months. These young people demonstrated improved visual performance under glaring light conditions over the course of the test period.

This research points out the need to maintain a well balanced diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables.

Memory and Forgetting - How to Not Lose Your Mind

If you are approaching middle age and you have had the experience of not being able to place a person's name with a face or if you forgot a telephone number for the second or third time, don't worry. This does not mean that you are losing your mind or that you are in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. A certain amount of forgetting is normal as you get older.

Memory is complicated and requires the activation of circuits in the brain, primarily between a structure called the hippocampus and an area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex. Researchers have studied the way memory works and have made some fascinating observations that are incredible value. Large and well designed studies have shown that exercise improves memory.

That is correct.

If you exercise you will not only improve your body, but you will also improve your memory. Exercise help memory by increasing cerebral blood volume, by stimulating the production of a protein that stimulates the birth of new brain cells and facilitating the process by which the brain changes in response to learning.

It has also been demonstrated that what you eat can improve your memory. Foods such as blueberries, walnut and other sources of antioxidants and omega e fatty acids will strengthen you mind.

What could be easier? Instead of worrying about what you have forgotten, move your body more, get your heart rate up and pay attention to what you eat. Don't allow inactivity and poor eating habits to cause you to "lose your mind."