You can regenerate your brain

There’s an anti-aging secret that everyone needs to know, and it has nothing to do with youthful skin. One vital and often overlooked mineral can literally change the way you think as you grow older.

THE DEMISE OF THE AGING BRAIN

If you have ever forgotten where you placed your glasses or your car keys, you have probably joked, “I guess I’m getting old.” There’s more truth to that statement than many people realize. One of the most important areas of the brain, the part that retains memories, is called the hippocampus. As you grow older, the hippocampus shrinks. If your brain isn’t given the proper nutritional support early on, the hippocampus will grow smaller and may cause depression, memory loss, and even dementia. American Academy of Neurology researchers discovered that shrinking in the hippocampus can precede Alzheimer’s disease.1

So what can be done to preserve your memory and protect brain function against the shrinkage caused by age? The answer is not just to protect and preserve but to renew and regenerate. Known as the number one brain-supporting mineral found in nature, lithium’s regenerative effect on the brain has made this mineral famous. University of California Los Angeles neuroscientists observed that lithium, which has long been used as a standard treatment for bipolar disorder in drug form, helped increase grey matter in the brains of bipolar patients.2

If that’s what the lithium drug can do, just imagine the impact that the mineral lithium orotate can have on your brain. Lithium’s long-term use as a treatment for mental illness has resulted in many misconceptions about the mineral’s relationship with the brain. In the nutrient form, lithium is a top supporter of the aging human brain. Lithium can stimulate growth in the grey matter area of the brain, a region made up of neuronal bodies that is more likely to shrink than white brain matter. This result was seen after just four weeks.3 A condition like Alzheimer’s disease causes gray matter shrinkage because of neuron loss. This makes lithium especially promising in the treatment of degenerative brain disease. Research also suggests that lithium can inhibit the secretion of beta-amyloid peptides and protect against beta-amyloid damage, a protein found in high levels in brains ravaged by Alzheimer’s disease.4

LITHIUM IS FOR EVERYONE

It’s easy to think that this essential anti- aging mineral is only for people who need that extra brain support: Those who are older, those who are suffering from mental illness, and those showing the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Don’t let this “lithium lie” hold you back from achieving your best brain health.

Lithium is for everyone. The sooner you start taking lithium as a brain-supporting mineral, the sooner the lost grey matter in your brain can begin to grow back.

Even a low dose of lithium, no prescription needed, can provide big benefits. This daily dose of lithium as a supplement can help to regenerate brain cells, improve declining memory, and even help the brain to grow younger again. In a 2014 New York Times article, Anna Fels writes of the naturally occurring element, “Some scientists have, in fact, proposed that lithium be recognized as an essential trace element nutrient. Who knows what the impact on our society would be if micro-dose lithium were again part of our standard nutritional fare? What if it were added back to soft drinks or popular vitamin brands or even put into the water supply? The research to date strongly suggests that suicide levels would be reduced, and even perhaps other violent acts. And maybe the dementia rate would decline.”5

As Fels points out, research unequivocally supports the beneficial effects of lithium for everyone, even in small amounts. One Japanese study observed that low doses of lithium exposure may be neuroprotective and could enhance neuron growth. In an epidemiological review of lithium in drinking water, the majority of the studies concluded that higher levels of lithium in the water supply had beneficial legal, clinical, behavioural, and medical outcomes.

Everyone needs this underestimated mineral to protect healthy brain cells from damage and to reverse much of the damage that has already been done to an aging brain. A lithium orotate supplement can be a safe, natural alternative to antidepressants and an early protector against cognitive decline, associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Lithium in a low dose has benefits for anyone – to keep the brain sharp as you age.

THE PROBLEM WITH ‘BRAIN BOOSTER’ SUPPLEMENTS

As our aging population begins to experience the first frightening glimpses of cognitive decline, we’re looking for answers. Today, there’s no shortage of anti-aging nutrition. There are plenty of vitamins and minerals on the market that promise to boost and protect your brain. But there are a few problems with picking up the first brain support supplement you see at the supermarket or health food store.

The most obvious problem is that many over-the-counter supplements may simply be ineffective. Even worse, they may not be safe. The FDA recently discovered that popular “store brand” herbal supplements sold at big-box retailers in the U.S., including ginseng known to support mental health and St. John’s wort used to enhance mood, contained fraudulent and dangerous ingredients. These store brand products sold by popular retailers to the unsuspecting public were found to contain filler ingredients like asparagus, powdered rice, and houseplants and did not contain any advertised ingredients on the label.6

If you buy a generic brain support supplement at a retail store, there’s no guarantee you can trust what’s in it.

Just as importantly, most of these brain supplements are missing the one mineral your brain really needs to regenerate and fight the effects of age.

The “smart” mineral these supplements are missing is lithium. An essential supporter of mental and emotional health, lithium orotate can provide relief for frequent headaches and migraines, bipolar disorder and depression, PMS and menopause, ADHD, alcoholism, anorexia, and Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Lithium helps your brain grow new grey matter, and it protects against normal brain shrinkage and decline that occurs naturally in the course of your life. Lithium also guards your brain against everyday risk factors, like the damage caused by stroke or prescription drugs.

With even a small daily dose of lithium, your brain will regenerate, you’ll think more clearly, and those embarrassing “senior moments” will be forgotten.

Sources
1. “Shrinking in Hippocampus Area of Brain Precedes Alzheimer’s Disease.” American Academy of Neurology.
2. University of California – Los Angeles. “Lithium Builds Gray Matter In Bipolar Brains.” ScienceDaily. 3. Moore GJ, Bebchuk JM, Wilds IB, Chen G, Manji HK. Lithium-induced increase in human brain grey matter. Lancet 2000 Oct 7;356(9237):1241-2. Erratum in: Lancet 2000 Dec 16;356(9247):2104. 4. J Alzheimers Dis. 2011;24(4):739-49. doi: 10.3233/JAD-2011-101875.
5. Fels, Anna, “Should We All Take a Bit of Lithium?” The New York Times.
6. “New York Attorney General Targets Supplements at Major Retailers.” The New York Times.