Tel-Aviv University finds new synthetic supplement improves memory and staves off age-related memory loss

Some food supplements are quite unnecessary. Some may even harm the body at large doses. And yet some can be quite vital to our health. Such is the decree carried out on a certain synthetic magnesium supplement, according to a research from Tel Aviv University, which suggests that magnesium may be even more critical than previously thought for the neurons of children and healthy brain cells in adults.

The study, which was published recently in the scientific journal Neuron, focused on a new magnesium supplement, magnesium-L-theronate (MgT), that effectively crosses the blood-brain barrier and enters the brain. In the research, one group of rats was given a supplement of MgT, while the other only had its regular diet. Behavioral tests showed that cognitive functioning improved in the rats in the first group, and also demonstrated an increase of synapses in the brain.

So far for the bright side. I probably shouldn’t even mention that whatever works in rats does not necessarily apply to humans; if you’re reading this blog, you’re smart enough to realize that on your own. So that’s one future problem. Another cloud in the silver lining is that the researchers have been able to show that today’s over-the-counter magnesium supplements don’t really work: the just do not get into the brain. And that’s pretty bad, since approximately half of all people in industrialized countries are living with magnesium deficiencies.

It’s probably going to take this new compound some time to become commercially available, so at least in the meantime, you’re better off getting your magnesium the old-fashioned way: eating lots of green leaves, broccoli, almonds, cashews and fruit. It might improve your memory, and considering this diet, your life will certainly seem much-much longer to you.

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