How to Improve Your Memory Naturally

Herbs and spices are pretty much worthless, too. Ginkgo biloba (extract of the Chinese ginkgo tree), vinpocetine (an extract of periwinkle seeds), and Panax ginseng are popular nutritional supplements. Of the three, only ginkgo biloba, which contains antioxidants and is believed to enhance blood flow to the brain, had any effect on memory in clinical trials-and it was modest at best.

Some researchers endorse daily doses of the supplement phosphatidylserine (PS) as a pep pill for the brain. The supplement is thought to improve memory by rejuvenating brain cell membranes to allow information to travel between neurons more easily. Research has shown significant improvement in subjects' abilities to remember names, as well as cognitive abilities. Thomas H. Crook III, Ph.D., founder of Psychologix (a medical research firm) and author of The Memory Cure, concluded PS prevented up to 12 years of memory decline in test patients over age 50. Phosphatidylserine is widely available in nutrition and drug stores as a pill or capsule, and is also available in chewable form under the ridiculous brand name Brain Gum. If you are a Ravi Shankar maven, you may want to try Ayurvedic medicine, a 5,000-year-old healing system from India. Among other things, Ayurvedic doctors believe that dripping hot oil on the forehead will improve blood circulation and therefore, memory. (Do not try this at home!)

Brain aerobics

Memory Centers of America (225 E. 64th St, New York, (212) 616- 6484), offers a $1,200 program featuring a battery of computer-based tests, psychological analysis, and memory-boosting exercises to help get that flabby grey matter into shape.

Popeye food

Researchers at Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University have determined that two cups of raw spinach or one cup of fresh blueberries a day keep cobwebs out of the old attic. Although scientists are not sure why, they believe the flavonoids (antioxidants) contained in spinach and blueberries lessen the natural damage to brain tissue as people get older.