Supplements’ success is unproven. Instead, eat well and have more sex, says Caroline Scott.
Our enthusiasm for a quick cognitive fix knows no bounds. In 2021 we spent £5.5 billion (NZ$11.5b) globally on brain-boosting supplements — and that figure is expected to double by 2030. Supplements promise to lift brain fog, increase mental agility, grow new neural pathways, boost memory, prolong focus and concentration — even stave off dementia. The problem is there’s no solid evidence thatthey work.
Some studies estimate that only about 10 per cent of the supplements we swallow are absorbed — mostly through the small intestine — but the quantities vary according to our individual gut ecosystems. “Supplement chemistry is complex and we still don’t know how much actually reaches the brain,” says Professor James Goodwin, a founder member of the Global Council on Brain Health and author of Supercharge Your Brain: How to Maintain a Healthy Brain Throughout Your Life. “Much of the stuff you’re swallowing from a bottle is probably excreted in urine.”
It’s a point that Dr Chris van Tulleken makes in his book Ultra-Processed People: “Beneficial nutrients only seem to help us when we consume them in context. Food and food extracts are not the same — fish oil doesn’t help us, but fish do. It seems unbelievable but there is no supplement, vitamin or antioxidant that decreases disease of any kind in healthy people.”
Overwhelmingly the evidence suggests that the way to achieve optimal brain function is through making lasting lifestyle changes, not just to our diets but to our sleep, sex and exercise habits.
1. Eat a broader diet
“Our Western diet has become woefully narrow,” Professor James Goodwin says. Photo / Alex Burton
“Our Western diet has become woefully narrow,” Goodwin says. “Reliance on ultra-processed fast food and takeaways means 75 per cent of the calories we eat in developed economies come from only five animals and twelve plants. Our Neolithic ancestors ate 300 types of plant food. To get the nutrients our brains need, we need to widen our diet massively.”
Eat food that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which includes oily fish (such as trout, salmon, herring, mackerel and sardines), nuts (particularly walnuts) and seeds (flaxseeds, chia and hemp seeds), vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, cauliflower) and free-range eggs. We should be eating at least two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily, says Goodwin, who cites the importance of vitamin B12, responsible for brain-processing speed and not found in sufficient quantities in plants, and vitamin D3, which is very scarce in the plant kingdom and essential to brain health.
2. Exercise every day
People who play sport or exercise regularly score better in cognitive tests. Exercise increases blood flow, decreases brain fog and enhances the brain’s ability to learn. Couch potatoes, take note — sitting down for more than 10 hours a day undermines the benefits of most types of regular exercise. Avoid long periods of inactivity such as sitting at your desk: get up every 40 or 50 minutes. Take a short break, stretch, move around, reset.
Avoid jumping from one task to another on your phone while working: close social media apps or, better still, keep your phone in another room. Research shows that our concentration is better when phones are not just on silent but out of sight.
4. Listen to music
Background music, particularly classical or orchestral, can help concentration.
Studies have shown that background music, particularly classical or orchestral music, helps concentration for some people while they work.
5. Not all stress is bad
“Human brains are very good at dealing with bursts of stress,” Goodwin says. “But it’s a question of finding the sweet spot. However, sustained periods of stress can be harmful. When the body is flooded with noradrenaline and cortisol, it’s stripped of stress-resistant nutrients such as vitamin B6, which you need to replace.”
Sources of B6 include salmon, bananas and avocados.
6. Sleep well
Good-quality sleep — seven to eight hours a night for most adults — is essential for optimal brain function. Avoid screens before bedtime — the blue light delays the secretion of melatonin, a hormone produced in response to darkness that has a soporific effect.
7. Have more sex
Research shows that regular sex within a relationship is beneficial for brain health. Chemicals such as the feelgood neurotransmitter dopamine increase when we orgasm and promote cognitive function. Intimacy can also release the hormone oxytocin, which can enhance memory.
