Concentration and Memory

The memory can be stimulated by consuming certain nutrients that activate its functioning, such as the case of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), Omega-3 fatty acids, L-tyrosine, or lecithin.

Memory is commonly described as the capacity to remember things. However, from the point of view of medicine and psychology, memory has different cognitive functions in the mind.

Memory is not only involved in the learning performance, it also is very important for the ability to concentrate, understand abstract concepts and apply acquired knowledge. Memories also intervene in the functioning of the imagination, the planning, and the retrospective reviewing of our acts. All of this involves complex brain processes.

All in all, memory intervenes in the course of mental development in general.

Symptoms of Memory Failure

We are all familiar with certain situations in which we stop remembering important things: we forget our secret credit card code, we forget to buy basic products, we forget the names of work colleagues, etc.

This type of memory failure in which we forget certain details are not necessarily worrying. However, if they happen very frequently, they can affect our daily activities or the life quality.

Apart from the fact that it is frustrating to forget details that may be basic to interact or behave normally, we are not always capable of improvising when we forget information.

When this memory loss happens frequently, the uncertainty may be overwhelming and we can end up losing confidence in our own abilities, that we need for our professional and private life.

What can we do when our memory starts to fail?

When we notice that our memory is starting to deteriorate, it is the moment to act. The first step that we should take is asking our doctor to diagnose and determine whether the memory loss is due to a health problem, derived from organic causes. This symptomatology tends to be common in cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

However, not all those who experience a memory deterioration suffer from these serious diseases, since it is much more frequent, that in certain cases, a sporadic loss of memories or information has taken place.

The memory loss can be due to objective causes, such as an excess of intellectual work. When we force our mind, making it retain a lot of information and be constantly alert, the anxiety that this produces can result in memory loss, as a way of overcoming this anxiety. It is a protection mechanism of the mind when facing an excess of information or details.

A great intellectual stress can reduce the memory’s performance and the results can be serious at a personal level, since it may affect many aspects of our life, from the possibilities of finding a job to losing social contacts.

When an employee is carrying out a task, automatically, in a production chain for eight hours, they may suffer from a loss of memory performance, since the basic functions of the mind are not being performed, like the use of analytical thinking and abstraction.

Tips to train memory

With a good training we can increase our memory gradually. In psychology, there are several methods to train the short term memory.

A stimulating psychological game is “Brain Training”, that stimulates memory in an entertaining way with exercises that cover different cognitive aspects.

A memory that functions properly has to work different areas, therefore it is very important to reach a balance and to stimulate the mind in different ways.

Those people that are used to resolving theoretical problems at work, that require an abstract and analytic thinking ability, need to intellectually relax during their free time, and opt for activities that need a different cognitive involvement.

In these cases the most suitable activities involve sports, like dancing, martial arts or team sports, that need complex motor functions, and at the same time compensate the lack of physical activity at work.

Many daily activities can help to stimulate the performance and a healthy memory, like in the case of learning a foreign language, learning how to play a musical instrument, carrying out manual work, or playing strategy computer games. Each of these activities stimulate different areas of our mind.

The advantage of these exercises, in contrast to a memory increase developed in clinical studies, lies in the personal and cultural involvement, the social interaction and its fun and entertaining nature. In these cases, the memory is positively stimulated, which is an added value to increase performance, at the same time as improving our life quality.

Increasing memory with natural sources or nutritional supplements

The mind needs a lot of energy to function efficiently. We can provide this energy through our daily diet by eating food that has certain fats and amino acids.

However, it is not always possible to include the required amounts of all these vital substances through the diet. Therefore, to compensate for a possible deficiency it is very practical to consume the corresponding nutritional supplements, with which we will guarantee that our brain will receive all the nutrients it needs for a proper functioning of the brain.

Properties of Omega 3

Omega-3 fatty acids have been studied in depth in more than 6000 scientific studies that demonstrate its incredible benefits for health.

Omega-3 fatty acids are among the essential fatty acids for the human organism. They are essential for the cell membranes and have a positive effect on blood circulation, viscosity, and blood lipid levels.

A deficiency of Omega-3 fatty acids can have negative consequences for the skin, muscles and bones, and can also cause cardiovascular disease and arteriosclerosis.

Properties of tyrosine for concentration and memory

L-tyrosine plays a crucial role in the production of the amino acids that maintain the functioning of the brain. Therefore, L-tyrosine has a basic impact on mental energy and performance.

It is one of the 20 amino acids that form proteins. Tyrosine is classified as a non-essential amino acid since the body can produce it on its own. It must be combined with phenylalanine for this purpose.

Consuming L-Tyrosine helps to improve physical and mental performance increases attention, concentration and motivation in a natural way.