Mind Food and Smart Pills: A Sourcebook for the Vitamins, Herbs, and Drugs That Can Increase Intelligence, Improve Memory, and Prevent Brain Aging

by Ross Pelton

Overview

Scientists now believe that the limits of our intelligence are not rigidly set in our brains at conception or birth, but that intelligence can be developed. This accessible book shows how to use antioxidants and nutritional supplements to increase mental alertness and preserve memory. 10 illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780385261388
Publisher:	Crown Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/01/1989
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.75(d)

Table of Contents

	A Note from the Authors	7
	Foreword	9
I	Mind Food & Smart Pills
Chapter 1	Introduction	13
Chapter 2	The Neuron: The Basic Unit	23
Chapter 3	Memory	39
Chapter 4	Free Radicals and Antioxidants	46
II	Improving Performance
Chapter 5	Introduction to Improving Mental Performance	59
Chapter 6	Intelligence, Thinking, and Learning	61
Chapter 7	Choline/Lecithin: A Vital Role in Memory	68
Chapter 8	DMAE/Deanol: The Brain Stimulant	76
Chapter 9	Hydergine: The Ultimate Smart Pill	85
Chapter 10	Vasopressin/Diapid: The Memory Hormone	99
Chapter 11	Lucidril: Reversing the Aging Proces	109
Chapter 12	Dilantin/DPH: "A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked"	115
Chapter 13	Cognitive Enhancers	123
Chapter 14	Piracetam: A Drug for the Mind	135
Chapter 15	Piracetam + Choline: A Memory-Enhancing Combination	146
Chapter 16	The Herbal Way	155
Chapter 17	Ginkgo Biloba: A Medicinal Tree	164
Chapter 18	Ginseng: Wonder Herb of the Orient	172
III	Antiaging
Chapter 19	Introduction to Antiaging: Once a Dead Brain Cell, Always a Dead Brain Cell	185
Chapter 20	Optimal Nutrition and Intelligence	190
Chapter 21	Vitamin C/Ascorbic Acid: The Champion Free Radical Scavenger	204
Chapter 22	Selenium: The Miracle Element	215
Chapter 23	Vitamin E: The Great Protector	224
Chapter 24	Vitamin A/Beta-Carotene: Preserving Intelligence	232
Chapter 25	Gerovital/GH-3: "The Amazing Rejuvenation Formula"	238
Chapter 26	Exercise and the Mind	246
Chapter 27	Fats and Oils and the Brain	257
Chapter 28	Brain Formulas: The Biochemistry of Intelligence	275
Chapter 29	The Aging Brain: Senility and Alzheimer's Disease	283
Chapter 30	Conclusion	299
Appendix A	FDA Drug Bulletin: FDA Sanctions "Unapproved" Uses for Drugs	307
Appendix B	Mail Order Medicine	309
Appendix C	Commercial Suppliers	311
	Glossary	313
	Notes	321
	Acknowledgments	335

Editorial Reviews

My grandmother urged me to eat fish and carrots because they were brain food and were good for you, anyway. In essence, that is the message of this book (adding vitamins, minerals, herbs, and some drugs, both established and experimental, to my grandmother's list). At least the authors (a pharmacist and his wife) recommend at the beginning of the book that the reader should be guided by a ``qualified health professional'' in taking these nutrients or drugs. Yet much of the research cited in the bibliography on the effect of these substances on mental function is either out of date (more than 10 years old) or published in periodicals of questionable medical authority. Not recommended.-- Eleanor Maass, Maass Assocs., New Milford, Pa.

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