Vitamins to Enhance Memory

Whether you are looking to sharpen your memory or simply keep it in good shape, consider taking vitamins. A wide range of vitamins are available to help preserve your memory and keep your brain in good working order. Taking them regularly boosts your mental faculties.

B-12

Vitamin B-12 helps form myelin, which insulates and protects the nerve fibers. As people age, their ability to absorb B-12 can become impaired, which leaves the nerve fibers vulnerable to trauma and damage. A vitamin B-12 deficiency may lead to memory loss, as well as depression and mental slowness. Vitamin B-12 is found naturally in pork beef, lamb and fish, but it also is readily available as a supplement.

B-6

Joshua W. Miller, Ph.D., discovered in a 2002 study that low levels of vitamin B-6 were common among Alzheimer's patients. While the relationship between low levels of vitamin B-6 and Alzheimer's is unknown, vitamin B-6 helps create serotonin and dopamine, chemicals related to mental alertness. Foods rich in B-6 include cranberries, turnip greens, tuna, kale and garlic.

E

Vitamin E is found in almonds, green leafy vegetables, corn oil and hazelnuts. According to MedicineNet.com, Vitamin E is highly effecting when fighting free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules in the body that cause injury to healthy molecules by trying to pull away their outermost electrons. This, in turn, turns the healthy molecule into a free radical as well, which can create a cascading effect through the body. Because vitamin E is so effective at fighting free radicals, it helps delay the progression of memory-impairing diseases like Alzheimer's, and it may prevent the disease from occurring in the first place by protecting the brain from the damage caused by free radicals.

D

According to NursingTimes.net Vitamin D has been linked to cognitive impairment and memory loss in middle-aged people and senior citizens. People with the lowest levels of vitamin D being the most likely to suffer a deterioration in their cognitive abilities and their memory. Vitamin D is found in egg yolk, sardines, tuna fish and mackerel.