Dietary supplements#

A healthy and balanced diet is the most important nutritional contributor to well functioning memory. Over the years though there has been hundreds of memory and brainpower improvement supplements advertised. Unfortunately, most of these are ineffective and some are dangerous.

There are certain drugs and substances that do improve memory and learning though. I’ll discuss some of these in this section. A huge number of supplements on the market, though, don’t have satisfactory testing. We don’t know if they work as marketed, nor do we know the contraindications. Contraindications describe when you shouldn’t use the supplement because you have an existing condition or you taking other drugs. You may want to avoid any supplement that doesn’t have independent medical research to provide such information.

You can use the Internet to research information on drugs and their effects. Pubmed, on the Internet, is a good place to start. It’s a publicly available database based on MEDLINE, the reference source for medical research information. If Pubmed doesn’t mention a drug, or if it contains citations linking a drug to negative research, that’s usually a good sign to stay away.

Be mindful of other sites you visit on the Internet. If a site describes the benefits of a particular supplement, and also sells it, you may want to look elsewhere for independent information.

In this section I share with you the results of some of the latest research on dietary supplements that can aid memory and learning. Before I do so, there are three important points to keep in mind.

  • These supplements only alter basic brain functions. For example, it’s unlikely they can directly change your attitudes towards learning. If you believe you are a bad learner, a supplement may help you remember more reasons to support that belief! Your beliefs about your learning ability have far more impact on your learning effectiveness than any dietary supplement. Once you do have the right beliefs about learning, these supplements may then improve your overall learning performance.

  • If you are going to use a supplement, buy from a large reputable manufacturer. The quality and safety of products from large manufacturers is likely to be higher because they usually aim to preserve their reputation.

  • If you are a pilot, surgeon or other similar professional, you should only try dietary supplements after a discussion with your flight surgeon or medical practitioner. While I’ve only included supplements with a reasonable body of research, there may still be contraindications for your particular conditions and activities. Until you have discussed a supplement with your medical practitioner, avoid using it for at least twenty-four hours before critical activities.

I present the safer supplements in two groups: Those that appear to have good overall memory effects and those that have partial memory effects. I’ve also included some information about unproven, ineffective or unsafe supplements.

NOTE: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar government agencies in other countries have not tested nor approved many of the supplements below. The information presented here is for informational purposes only. These supplements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition. See the notes at the start of this chapter about getting proper advice for your personal situation.

Good overall memory effects#

After much research there are only three supplements I believe have good overall memory and learning improvement effects, while being safe. These are B-group vitamins, Ginkgo Biloba and Brahmi.

  • Vitamins B1**, B3 and B6.** Ensuring your daily intake of Thiamine (B1), Niacin (B3), and Pyridoxine (B6) at least meets the recommended daily allowance, or RDA. These three vitamins have significant brain benefits, with little risk, at these levels. You can usually meet the RDA through a normal diet. You may want to consider a supplement if you suspect your intake is below the RDA. You can typically find RDAs on government sites on the Internet. 

Not only do these vitamins keep your brain functioning properly, they can also have positive cognitive and memory improvements when taken in larger doses. For example, Niacin studies show that it can improve brain processing and working memory of young to middle-aged people. Tests used dosages five to ten times the RDA without ill effect, however these tests are usually for short periods. If you are considering these larger doses, it’s wise to first discuss this with your medical practitioner.

  • Ginkgo Biloba Extract (GBE). Ginkgo Biloba is an ancient Chinese tree (another name is the Maidenhair Tree). Ginkgo Biloba extract comes from the leaves of the tree. The extract improves memory and cognitive abilities in healthy younger (eighteen to forty year old) individuals. It improves blood circulation, and this means more oxygen, energy and nutrient enriched blood reaches more parts of the brain. Contrary to earlier research though, recent studies suggest it’s not as effective in older healthy individuals.

The general daily dosage of standardized GBE is 120mg to 240mg a day. Standardized GBE (typically available in health food stores) contains twenty-four percent of the key active ingredient, ginkgo-flavone glycosides. Therefore, a typical daily intake of 160mg provides 38mg of glycosides. Note that some products give the potency of preparations as the equivalent dry leaf weight. It takes about 8,000mg of dry leaf to make 160mg of GBE, or a 50:1 ratio. The sidebar has an example to help you understand these calculations.

8,000mg dry leaf

🡻 50:1

🡻 160mg extract (GBE)

🡻 24%

🡻 38mg glycosides.

Many preparations contain low levels of extract for their price, so check the strength before you buy. Typically the higher strength products are better value for money. Also, buy a reputable brand.

As GBE has partial blood thinning properties, those with blood related issues should not use it. If you have clotting disorders, are taking anticoagulants, aspirin or other blood thinning medications you should consult a medical practitioner before taking GBE. If you are to undergo surgery, let the surgeon know you use it.

  • Brahmi (Bacopa Monnieri). Similar to Ginkgo, Brahmi also appears to improve memory and learning performance. Clinical studies on healthy adults suggest that Brahmi reduces forgetting of newly learned information. It also appears to improve visual information processing, learning rate and memory consolidation. Best effects appear after twelve weeks of daily use.

Western research has not yet determined why Brahmi works. It may improve blood circulation in the brain or it may be an anti-oxidant. It may also directly affect brain functioning, for example in the hippocampus.

Daily dosage recommendations vary. Literature suggests a dosage of 45mg to 135mg of the primary active ingredients, “Bacosides A & B” a day. This equals 2g to 6g of the whole plant using a standardized extract. Some providers suggest a double dosage for the first twelve weeks. Be sure to check the manufacturer’s recommendation and use this as the primary guide.

There are few side effects or warnings for Brahmi. Various materials suggest you should avoid Brahmi if you are pregnant or suffer from an infectious illness. It may also have a sedative effect in some individuals.

One last point on Brahmi: Don’t confuse Brahmi, or Bacopa Monnieri, with Gotu Kola, or Centella asiatica. Gotu Kola is also sometimes called Brahmi. There is less clinical research on the effectiveness and side effects of Gotu Kola.

Some memory effects#

Two further supplements appear to have some effects on memory and learning. These are caffeine and Acetyl-L-Carnitine.

  • Caffeine. Caffeine may be the most widely used psychoactive drug in western society. It improves alertness, reaction times and information processing. This indirectly helps you learn and remember new information. Caffeine is also helpful in creative tasks, such as writing and free association. This aids techniques described later such as association and visualization.

Caffeine is helpful in these activities as well as simple and repetitive tasks. However, caffeine can interfere as tasks get more complex. It can degrade our ability to pick out important information in a high workload environment, keep that information in working memory, and solve complex problems. As the load on working memory increases, the effect of caffeine changes from good to bad. You may want to keep this in mind if you are performing complex activities.

Like other drugs, it’s essential to know when to use caffeine. Indeed, it appears that some of the negative side effects of caffeine only appear if you abuse it. Here are some points to keep in mind:

  • Use it after sleep. Use caffeine in the morning to speed the transition from sleep to full mental alertness. It’s also useful after a lunchtime siesta. Some researchers believe the only “right” time to use caffeine is after sleep or rest.

  • Use it for creative activities. Such as writing, visualization and association activities.

  • Avoid it before bed. Caffeine has a half-life in the body of 6 hours. Use of caffeine before bedtime negatively influences sleep patterns. This may then mean you want more caffeine the next day!

  • Don’t use it as a substitute for sleep. You should not use caffeine to battle circadian sleepiness. This is where people abuse caffeine the most, and also where most side effects appear. These side effects can include irritability, depression and overwhelming tiredness.

  • Minimal use during flying and other complex high-workload activities. Discuss with your flight surgeon or medical practitioner if you need to work at times that conflict with your circadian rhythm.

Safe dosages range between 200 to 400mg a day. Rough amounts of caffeine in typical drinks are: coffee - 100mg a cup, tea - 50mg a cup, cola soft drink - 40mg a can.

  • Acetyl-L-Carnitine. This is an amino acid typically available over the counter. Some studies show it to have cognitive benefit to older people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. It may be effective in reducing the effects of age-related cognitive or memory decline. It does not appear useful to younger healthy adults.

Potentially Dangerous Supplements

Here are some examples of supplements that highlight the need for careful research before use: Fipexide (also known as Visilor, Attentil, and BP662) may have some positive memory effects but it could also cause liver damage. Inderel, often sold over the Internet, has some cognitive effect but can cause problems in those with heart, lung, diabetic, liver, or kidney problems. In addition, it could fatally interact with some prescription drugs. Vincamine, often marketed as safe, could cause severe heart problems if used over a long term. These could be fatal. Vasopressin, also known as Ditressin, Syntopressin, and Diapid, could induce life-threatening problems in healthy individuals and could be fatal to those with certain diseases. It’s also sold over the Internet.

General dosages are in the 1g to 1.5g a day range. There are no reported warnings. Note that this supplement is functionally different to a similarly named compound called DL-carnitine. DL-carnitine can negatively interfere with brain and muscle cells.

Ineffective, unsafe or unknown#

There are many other supplements marketed as having worthwhile effects on memory and brainpower. Some of these may fall into one of the following three categories:

  • No effect. The effect on memory and learning has proven minimal in some research.

  • Dangerous. The supplement has serious contraindications. Some possible contraindications even include cardiac and cancer complications, so don’t take this warning lightly!

  • Unknown. There is no known reliable research on either the benefits or the contraindications, or research is still contradictory. No reliable research may mean there are serious contraindications we don’t know about yet.

See the textbox above for some examples.

Be sure to do plenty of research before trying or continuing to use any supplement as a memory aid!

On the website there are references to materials that contain more information on commonly available supplements. One book alone lists more than twenty-five supplements that appear to have little effect, may be dangerous or are unproven.

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