Smarten Up!

Everything you know about losing weight is wrong, says Eric Braverman, MD, author of Younger (Thinner) You Diet. The secret to weight loss-and better aging and disease prevention-is correcting unbalanced brain chemistry. “Just as brain chemical deficiencies can cause weight gain, weight gain itself can injure the brain, making it older and slower than it should be,” he says. One vital component to his program includes boosting your intake of acetylcholine through diet and choline supplements. Increasing your body’s production of the neurotransmitters dopamine, GABA, and serotonin are also addressed in this fascinating book. You will learn how to change your brain chemistry naturally to lose weight, reverse aging, and fight illness. Visit pathmed.com to learn more about the book and Braverman’s work.

Age brings wisdom, but it also makes it more difficult for nutrients to enter the cells of the central nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, and spinal nerves. With time, the membranes of these particular types of cells, called neurons, break down and their function deteriorates, producing symptoms that range from a lack of “get up and go” to Alzheimer’s disease. Cognizin (a proprietary form of citicoline) is designed to feed the membranes of the neurons and protect them from decline, and for many people, it improves mood, energy levels, memory, and the ability to concentrate and get things done.

Over the years, numerous studies have found that Cognizin improves brain function in elderly people, but more recently, the supplement was tested on 16 healthy, middle-aged men and women. In this new study, published in NMR in Biomedicine, researchers found that the supplement increased levels of energy produced in the brain.

“The brain is a little bit like a boiler,” says Perry Renshaw, MD, PhD, one of the coauthors of the study at Harvard Medical School. “It’s constantly consuming energy.” Although the brain makes up only 2 percent of the human body by weight, it uses at least 25 percent of the body’s energy, explains Renshaw.

Participants in this latest study reported sleeping better and feeling more alert and cheerful. “A lot of people find that they’re much more efficient at work, that time goes by more quickly, and they get more done,” says Renshaw. “They just feel more on their game.”

Earlier studies have shown that Cognizin can benefit stroke patients, as well as those with Alzheimer’s disease and glaucoma. One study of 899 people, published in the journal Stroke, found that when Cognizin was taken within 24 hours after a stroke, it improved the rate of recovery.

What’s in Cognizin?
Cognizin, the subject of more than 550 published scientific articles, contains two key ingredients: choline and cytidine (pronounced “site-e-deen”).

Choline is essential for transmission of nerve impulses and healthy cell membranes. It’s found in many multivitamins and in foods, especially meats, nuts, and eggs, but as cells age, they become less able to absorb choline unless it’s in a citicoline formulation.

Cytidine is a nutrient found in all living cells. It acts as a catalyst that speeds up the process of healthy cell membrane formation. Cytidine is not found in therapeutic amounts in foods and is not available in dietary supplements, other than as a component of citicoline.

Cognizin has become the most widely studied form of citicoline. “CDP choline” is another name for the generic form of citicoline.

Shopping Guide
If you are in your 40s or older, take 250 mg of Cognizin twice daily with food. In rare instances, taking the supplement on an empty stomach produces some stomach upset. If you find you have too much energy, similar to the feeling after drinking too much coffee, reduce the dosage by half. Benefits may occur within two to three weeks, but expect to notice them in one to three months.

Product Examples (below, left to right)

HEALTHY ORIGINS COGNIZIN CITICOLINE contains 250 mg choline per capsule.

JARROW FORMulas citicoline CDP Choline contains 250 mg choline per capsule.