Take These 6 Supplements Everyday for Brain Health Says Dr. Mark Hyman Print 10 LikeDislike By Dr. Mark Hyman Are you suffering from broken brain? According to Dr. Mark Hyman, the medical director at Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine and founder of The UltraWellness Center, broken brains are causing a variety of problems including anxiety, depression and brain fog, among many other brain disorders. The way to fix these brain disorders is by healing our bodies, which means eating a healthy diet and taking daily supplements which can dramatically dramatically improve your overall health. Here’s the 6 daily supplements Dr. Hyman says you can’t afford to go without, and 3 more that can help with specific brain disorders. Through my own personal experience and as a functional medicine doctor who has treated thousands of patients, I have seen an epidemic in what I call “Broken Brain.” Our broken brains are causing a variety of problems including anxiety, depression, bipolar disease, personality disorder, addictions and much more. What leads to a broken brain? Many of us don’t get enough good food, nutrients, light, air, water, rest, sleep, rhythm, exercise, community, love, meaning and purpose. Instead, we use sugar, caffeine, and alcohol to self-medicate and manage our energy and moods. Since our brain is an organ that is connected to everything else that happens in our body, when our bodies are not healthy, then our brain isn’t healthy.Luckily, brains are resilient and can heal when given what they need to thrive. And to fix the brain, we need to get to the root cause of our broken brains, which I believe starts with the food that we eat. Starting by making sure everything you’re putting into your body is going to help improve your overall health. Make sure you are eating enough quality foods such as plant foods and healthy fats like avocado and wild salmon. Then remove all the foods such as sugars and processed foods that are going to have a negative effect on your body and ultimately your brain.Supplements To Boost Your Overall HealthEven if we do feed our body healthy foods and limit our toxins, we still may not be getting the right amount of certain nutrients that support healthy brains and bodies. And modern life is stressful, our food supply is often poor quality, and our bodies and brains are often exposed to a high load of toxins. To ensure we’re functioning at our best, we need a basic daily supply of the raw materials for good health. That is where daily supplements come in. I believe that supplementing with the right nutrients can help support your body and brain. In my docuseries Broken Brain, I discuss how to optimize nutrient support through supplementation. Here are some tips on how you can incorporate supplements into your daily diet to improve your overall health and get a healthy brain:Daily Supplements For Your Entire BodyThese nutrients are foundational daily supplements that cover the bases your daily diet might not. They feed your body and feed your brain. Fortunately, these basic supplements are not expensive. I recommend everyone take the following 6 daily supplements.A high-quality, high-potency, highly bioavailable, broad-spectrum multivitamin/mineral Make sure these provide the full range of vitamins and minerals in their correct forms. You will probably need to take two to six (or more) capsules. Be sure to check the manufacturer’s recommendations for dose.Magnesium Approximately 75 percent of people are magnesium deficient. This calming mineral plays a part in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in our bodies. Take 200-400 mg of magnesium citrate or glycinate before bed to help relax the nervous system and muscles and even calm the brain.Vitamin D3 Our bodies typically synthesize this vitamin from sunlight. However, because so many of us work indoors all day, more than 80 percent of the U.S. population has insufficient levels of vitamin D. And research shows vitamin D deficiencies contribute to a wide range of problems, including dementia. Get your vitamin D levels tested, and if your levels are low, work with your doctor to add in the appropriate amounts of vitamin D supplements.Omega-3 fatty acids Our brains are nearly 60 percent fat, so it should be no surprise that insufficient dietary fat levels can harm our brains. Chief among those fatty acids for your brain are eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). These omega-3 fatty acids are important for brain function and mood, help regulate metabolism, as well as help in preventing diabetes and inflammation. Most of us need more than our food provides, so I recommend a high-quality supplement to make up the difference. Special methylation factors like folate, B6 and B12 Methylation is a key biochemical process that is essential for the proper function of almost all of our body systems. It occurs billions of times every second; it helps repair your DNA on a daily basis; it controls homocysteine (an unhealthy compound that can damage blood vessels); it helps recycle molecules needed for detoxification; and it helps maintain mood and keep inflammation in check. To keep methylation running smoothly, we need optimal levels of B vitamins. Without enough, methylation breaks down, and the results can be catastrophic. A multivitamin contains some B vitamins, but I find many patients do well taking an additional B-complex multivitamin.Probiotics These beneficial bacteria can improve your digestion, reduce food allergies and reduce gut inflammation. And though you may not know it, gut health actually plays a powerful role in brain health. When you don’t have the right gut diversity, inflammation and things like leaky brain can occur, setting the stage for diverse problems ranging from brain fog to dementia.Supplements To Address Specific Brain ConditionsI often recommend daily supplements beyond the basic nutrients which address specific brain conditions. These include:Glutathione precursors This amazing antioxidant recycles other antioxidants, which are critical for cleaning up free radicals in the body. When left unchecked, these free radicals lead to massive cell destruction (including brain cells). It’s also possible to get glutathione naturally by eating cruciferous-rich vegetables like broccoli or collards. Additionally, supplements such as lipoic acid, N-acetyl-cysteine and quality grass-fed whey protein can all serve as precursors to help your body make glutathione.Supplements to support your mitochondria These little power plants can be found in nearly all your cells and they perform essential functions in helping to fuel your brain and body. Nutritional deficiencies, low levels of antioxidants, exposure to toxins, allergens, infections and stress can all damage your mitochondria. To optimize mitochondria, include L-carnitine, NADH, lipoic acid and coenzyme Q10. Without these key nutrients, your mitochondria will have a much more difficult time producing energy, compounding the problems they face from the onslaught of ever more free radicals. Your brain cells will fire more slowly, your metabolism slows and your ability to process toxins shuts down.Supplements to help with anxiety and depression Mood disorders like anxiety and depression are at epic levels today. Fortunately, there are several supplement options to address these brain conditions. GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is a nutrient that calms brain overload that arises from too much of the neurotransmitters epinephrine and norepinephrine. When you have low levels of GABA, it is harder for you to relax after your body has released these excitatory neurotransmitters. Other daily supplements that can improve conditions like depression and anxiety are L-theanine (an amino acid in green tea), 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), inositol (usually found as a powder) and herbs like Rhodiola rosea.Note: when choosing supplements, you should always choose high-quality products. Not all supplements are created equal, and the wrong ones—those with things like potentially reactive fillers or inferior forms of nutrients—can cause more harm than good in your body.Sound complicated? You don’t necessarily need to go it alone. If you need more guidance on how to add in more foods and supplements to improve your health, consider working with a functional medicine practitioner to address your body’s specific supplement needs. You will find that a combination of a healthy diet, along with some key supplements will improve your health and contribute to a healthy brain. For more information about Dr. Hyman and his Broken Brain Series, go to Dr.Hyman.comLearn more about science-backed, hands-on strategies to figure out what to eat change your life through what you eat in Dr. Mark Hyman’s new book Food: What the Heck Should I Eat? Discover the fountain of youth with Further Food Collagen Peptides
Mary Kleinbardt June 2, 2021 at 6:50 pmIs it necessary to take calcium 2 hrs in advance of magnesium for absorption? Reply ↓
Mary EvaLyn Williamson December 20, 2020 at 4:16 amI have your Eat Fat Get Thin Program which has been extremely beneficial for me; just noted 9 supps for Broken Brain( already taking 5 of them,, Thank You Drhyman! Reply ↓
Regina Wagner March 8, 2020 at 9:38 amI have been suffering badly with anxiety, depression, and distorted thinking as a redult of prior stress and trying to stop hrt afterc18 years of being on it. I am 65 and my body needs hormonal balance. I am back on hormones. I tried 3 antidepressants, gabapentin and buspar. All of which had unbearable side effects. I am looking to change diet, exercise more, supplements a lot d have hormones checked for possibly still imbalanced. I have improved f th om 9 months ago as far as how I feel and cooe. Been trying to incorporate CBT. It helps. But not myself stll. Hope to find a functional medicine doctor near me. One I can afford. Reply ↓
Stephen January 17, 2020 at 12:53 pmThe information about the supplements are extremely important going start talking them many thanks Reply ↓
Beverly H Hayden June 1, 2019 at 8:10 amI have been diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease. Is there anything I can do to help myself? I have been taking Shaklee Organic Vitamins and Protein for the past 20 years….What else should I do? My cousin has a husband with Parkinson’s Disease….What can he do? Do you have a cookbook I can buy?Thanks for your help!Bev Hayden 602-885-8643 bevhhayden@gmail.com Reply ↓
Lynda Nash April 7, 2019 at 12:31 pmHow much potato starch does Dr Hyman recommend daily to help leaky gut? Thank you Reply ↓
Gorete August 9, 2018 at 4:26 pmCan an individual taking the prescription Quetiapine 75 mg at bedtime, take Magnesium ? Thank you. Reply ↓
Lori Imhoff July 2, 2018 at 1:09 pmDo you have a suggestion of supplements for a woman who has both MTHFR C677T and A1298C with the added bonus of ApoE4? This is going to be a weird question, but my father has Alzheimer’s although they never did a brain CT to confirm…If he has the MTHFR C677T gene variant, could he just be super deficient in B vitamins causing AD symptoms? Reply ↓
Lee July 2, 2018 at 6:36 amDrs say too little norepinephrine,dopamine, and serotonin cause depression and say too much norepunephrine causes not enough gaba and thus depression and too much dopamine causes rebound depression so how do you get right supplementation to body. Drs will.nkt even admit what other Drs have proven and heko us. I have to figure out my elf because Drs are not even trying or telling the truth or caring and my comprehension of verbal is proven accurrate. Since what you say honest and makes sense what is concrete sollutiin. I have soecifuc mixed issues needing specific accurrate sollutiin and so do others, but currently med prifezsiinhas putsnd left me in crises and lots others here. We can’t go up and down road and little money and Drs can’t spend 1o and know less than we found out from you,others on own but we can’t keep.upwith assimilate all.infi in headto hetfund rx really need heal,stabilize usand insurance pays some of what junk we can gets for and bits real medical care if can afford that that helps little and hurts lit ir little and is ignorant of much you believe and nobody wants to help.because they got to work making money to live and they could butnitgoing to sacrifice anything to. We live infallenbroken🚾 minutes say too much norepunephrine Reply ↓
Marleen Caraballo July 1, 2018 at 2:19 pmThank you for always sharing your knowledge. You are saving so many souls. ~Marleen Caraballo RN~ Reply ↓
Christy July 1, 2018 at 1:45 pmIf I take the first multivitamin listed in your article, would I need to purchase the other supplements as well? Reply ↓
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