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Alternative Brain Tonics
Coenzyme Q10 has been proposed as a brain tonic, but there are hardly any systematic studies with
this compound. Other natural substances with possible promemory properties include gotu-kola,
holly, calamus root, bhringaraj, and haritaki. Some of these traditional medications have been used
for hundreds of years, while others are of more recent vintage. There are only anecdotal data to
support their use as promemory agents.
Alternative Medications: Facts
Among the current alternative medications, only ginkgo biloba has established cognitive-
enhancing properties, though its effect is small in magnitude.
You should consider taking 120 mg daily of EGb 761 (ginkgo biloba) as one of the medications
in your memory program.
More solid clinical evidence about the promemory properties of ginseng, melatonin, and other
alternative agents is needed before they can be recommended for regular use.
Phosphatidylserine (PS) is sold in health food stores. Some consider it to be an alternative
medication because it is a naturally occurring substance, while others classify it as a
pharmaceutical medication because an Italian drug company conducted the initial research with
this compound. Phosphatidylserine is an important option in the Memory Program, and you will
learn about its effects in a later chapter.
