How NutriShield Helps Support Cognitive Health

Dementia is perhaps the most feared of the age-related diseases. In this – as in all illnesses – early action is very definitely the best defence.

Brain shrinkage is a clear marker of Alzheimer’s.

Research at Oxford University, published in Spring 2023, has found that giving older people with the first signs of cognitive impairment supplemental B vitamins – B6, B12 and Folic Acid B9 – combined with sufficient Omega-3, produced 73% less brain shrinkage in a year, compared to placebo. Link to reference.

The supplements were at higher levels than can be achieved through diet – but at the levels in NutriShield Premium.

The brain is a fatty organ and metabolically very active. Which means it is vulnerable to oxidation – free radical damage to the fats that form the sheath protecting brain neurons.

So anti-oxidants are important defences – and include vitamins C, D3 and E and zinc, and the phyto-nutrients in green tea, grapeseed extract² and curcumin¹.

These nutrients can also reduce inflammation, which we know is a major factor in Alzheimer’s³. Indeed, the MIND diet created by Rush University in the USA is rich in exactly this type of phytonutrients and has been shown to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by over 50%.

You also need a supply of quality fatty acids in your diet to build the membranes around your brain cells, which is another reason why Omega 3 is important to brain health^5.

Finally, curcumin and betaine are very important for cognitive health as well as cardio-health, because they help protect arteries supplying oxygen to the brain.

Brain ‘plaques’ and ‘tangles’

Alzheimer’s brains are characterised by ‘plaques’ and ‘tangles’. Plaques consist of dead brain cells and a protein called beta amyloid which is toxic. Tangles are made up of another protein called tau, which becomes abnormal, and clumps together leading to neuron cell death and inhibited neural communication.

The science on Alzheimer’s is still evolving, but nutrients that may help prevent the development of these plaques and tangles include carotenoids like beta carotene, lycopene and lutein⁶ and, again, curcumin.

An important article in the journal Science Direct⁶ summarised them as “exemplary neuroprotection”.