by Chris Shugart
Nature's Mind Steroid
Get mentally stronger and stay that way with this nutraceutical-based diet hack. Here's the science.
Imagine you run a business and you need to hire someone new. To find the best person for the job, you give applicants a few cognitive tests to see how sharp they are: the Stroop, TESEN, and RIST tests. Collectively, these tests measure a person's overall intelligence, memory, and ability to focus, process info, and make fast decisions.
Applicants Jake and Jenna take the tests. Jake scores poorly, but Jenna shines. Cognitive tests can't perfectly predict a person's competence, of course, but based on these tests, here's what you (the employer) can guess:
- Jake is more likely to be disorganized, slow to respond, or easily confused, especially in fast-paced settings. He may not be a great multitasker and have trouble remembering things.
- Jenna is more likely to be quick-witted, adaptable, and reliable under pressure. She'll be a fast learner, more organized, and better able to handle complex tasks.
If you're an employer who needs those types of skills, Jenna will move to the top of your list.
Jake isn't dumb. His skillset just lies elsewhere. But Jake could easily improve on every cognitive ability above if he did one thing: consumed a nutraceutical made from polyphenol-rich fruits and vegetables.
The Nutraceutical Study
The researchers in this study already knew that polyphenols and flavonoids like anthocyanin (natural plant compounds) have a positive impact on cognition ā the mental process of acquiring, processing, and using info, including thinking, memory, attention, and problem-solving. However, most of the studies showing these benefits were performed on old folks experiencing dementia and people with existing mental health issues, like depression and anxiety. Do these plant chemicals increase mental acuity in younger, healthier people?
To figure it out, they recruited over 100 healthy people for a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial. Half the participants took 6 capsules a day of a supplement containing fruit and vegetable extracts for 16 weeks. The other half took a placebo. Then the groups swapped places and did the test again.
Before and after each testing period, everyone took the three cognitive tests mentioned above. Here's what the researchers found:
- The nutraceutical group showed statistically significant improvements (about a 12% boost) in all cognitive test variables compared to the placebo group.
- Participants demonstrated enhanced processing speed (8-10% better executive function and attention) after nutraceutical consumption.
- Significant improvements were observed in short-term memory ā verbal and non-verbal.
How did that happen? While the exact mechanisms of action are still being studied, researchers think these compounds modulate cerebral blood flow, inducing changes in memory processing, improving neuronal connectivity and growth in the hippocampus, and synaptic plasticity related to variations in nitric oxide (NO) levels.
How to Use this Info
What's interesting about this study is that the participants used a fairly low dose of fruit, berry, and vegetable extracts. They took an encapsulated product containing roughly 600 mg in each 6-capsule serving.
Our related nutraceutical supplement, Biotest Superfood (Buy at Amazon), contains 2500 mg ā over 4X as much of the good stuff. But we knew folks would rather not take 25 capsules for a single serving of Superfood, so we kept it in powder form. Just mix it into water, a shake, or foods like oatmeal. Each container of Superfood lasts two months if you take it daily.
Would consuming four times as many polyphenolic compounds make you four times as cognitively sharp, or work four times as quickly? Well, we can't say that without a study, but we can say Superfood has you more than covered based on the above research.
Reference
- Carrillo, Juan Ćngel, et al. "Effects of Fruit and Vegetable-Based Nutraceutical on Cognitive Function in a Healthy Population: Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind, and Randomized Clinical Trial." Antioxidants, vol. 10, no. 1, 15 Jan. 2021, p. 116, doi:10.3390/antiox10010116.