Page 165 - The Memory Program How to Prevent Memory Loss and Enhance Memory Power

Page 154

functional decline more than placebo. It was as if the antioxidant effect was “maxed out” by either
compound, and hence adding them together did not improve matters any further.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A is essential for normal functioning of the retina, and its deficiency causes night blindness,
which used to be fairly common until the latter half of the twentieth century. Beta-carotene is
converted by the body's natural enzymes into vitamin A, and eating beta-carotene-rich foods like
carrots prevents vitamin A deficiency. Both beta-carotene and vitamin A are antioxidants and free-
radical scavengers, and many people take them regularly as antiaging medications. However, unlike
vitamin E, vitamin A has not yet been tested against Alzheimer's disease or milder forms of memory
loss.

Vitamin A: Doses and Side Effects

If you take vitamin A, your daily supplementation dose should be 10,000 to 50,000 units daily.
Another option is to take 10,000 to 25,000 units of vitamin A together with 15 mg of beta-carotene
daily. Vitamin A is fat soluble, meaning that if ingested in excess it cannot easily be flushed out by
the kidneys like water-soluble vitamins (B complex and C), and it requires liver enzymes to detoxify
the extra amount. Luckily, side effects occur only above 200,000 units daily, so the recommended
therapeutic doses are safe.

Vitamin C: The Essential Acid

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is essential for the nervous system, and is concentrated a hundred
times more in the cerebrospinal fluid compared to other body fluids.
Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant.
In earlier times, sailors on long voyages deprived of citrus fruits (vitamin C) developed scurvy, a
condition causing decay of skin and teeth.
Older people who stop eating vitamin C-rich citrus fruits and vegetables may develop memory
loss and mild confusion.
At the opposite end of the age spectrum, students taking high doses of vitamin C tend to score
slightly better on IQ tests.