brain herbs

Brain Health

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While creating a mini-course on adaptogens, I’ve been thinking about putting together a blend focused on brain health for my sons who are students and will be for many more years. The adaptogenic herbs I’m thinking of including are Ashwagandha, Tulsi, Gotu Kola, and Rhodiola. This would be a great mix for long-term energy and stamina, with herbs specifically targeting brain health, focus, and stress management, with anti-depressant and anti-anxiety action. This seems like an optimal mix for a student, or for anyone looking for long-term brain support. As we age it is especially important to make sure our brains get the best nutrition and care we can provide. No one else can do it for you~ this is self care at a fundamental level.

Here is an infographic from Delicious Living that has other ways to improve brain health on a daily basis. These tips are not only good for brain health but overall health and wellness in general, and they really aren’t hard. It’s a nice reminder of how eating more fruits and vegetables, reducing stress, exercising, and consciously limiting toxins improve every part of daily life. I’ve been thinking lately how the ripple effects of our thoughts and actions can be either be beneficial and building a better future, or damaging. It’s hard to always choose wisely, but self care can never be detrimental.

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Nutritious foods don’t have to be boring. The New Hope Blogger Box has some foods this time around that make superfoods snackable and drinkable. This Beet Latte from Raw and Root has goji and maqui berries along with the beet root to make this a deeply nourishing addition to any daily diet. This combination offers support for energy, heart health, weight loss, and more. Check out their website to see all the benefits of these three superfoods. This powder is going in my morning smoothies.

This dried Dragon Fruit from Jungle Orchards  has only 6g of sugars per package, plus 2g of protein. Dragon fruit is considered a superfood for its many benefits without the excessive sugar that many fruits have, especially dried fruits. This would make a great healthy snack for kids’ lunch bags when you want to send them off with extra fruit but not extra sugar. To learn more about the many benefits of dragon fruit (it was all new to me!) then check out this article which talks about weight loss, lowering cholesterol, improving energy, and more.

Avocado is delicious but has the one overwhelming flaw of being seriously high maintenance when it comes to catching its perfect ripeness, and also you can’t take an avocado anywhere without bruising. These freeze-dried avocados from Senor Avocado take the guesswork out of avocado ripening and they are fully transportable so lunch boxes can carry them. The healthy fats are still there, and the taste is the same as a fresh, but the texture is slightly different so no avocado toast with these. Instead, throw them on salads or soups, or just eat them as a snack or as part of healthy meal. There are different flavors but I really liked these Peruvian Pink Salt ones.

Enjoy the upcoming Memorial weekend (for those here in the U.S.) and be sure to take good care of yourself with some healthy delicious foods, some fun activities, and plenty of rest. Your body and brain will thank you for it. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share with anyone who might benefit from this article.

Herbs and Supplements for Students

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Students have specific needs whether they are in middle school or pursuing their third Master’s Degree. Some of these suggestions meet the needs of all students, while some are just for the older set. Most of these herbs and products are focused on either brain function or stress management so people other than students can certainly benefit from them as well.

There are several herbs known for brain functioning enhancement, and interestingly enough, a few of them happen to be adaptogens too which help with overall stress management. Adaptogenic herbs Ashwagandha, Tulsi, and Gotu Kola have also been traditionally used for brain functioning as well as their adaptogenic over-all body balancing benefits. Ginkgo Biloba is another herb known to enhance brain functioning with benefits to clarity, mood, and memory also traditionally observed and is especially good for the aging brain.

Blends are a great option for getting several ingredients that work together in a synergistic way in one supplement. Gaia Herbs makes one that comes in capsules, while Herb Pharm has one in tincture form. Herb Pharm also has an alcohol free one for kids to help with concentration. There is another tincture option from Anima Mundi which is a newer line of herbal products that are well-formulated and well-made. The video below has a brain function supplement from Neurohacker Collective that actually came to me through the New Hope Blogger Box of which I am a member. The packaging of this supplement called Qualia is so beautiful that it is gift-worthy, and honestly, pictures didn’t do it justice so I made the video below. You should check out their website for more information because these supplements are packed with vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, and surely other ingredients I didn’t even catch.

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Also in that video is Spice Pharm‘s Chocolate Elixir which is a great herbal drink that tastes like hot chocolate, has Ashwagandha and Turmeric in it, and helps reduce stress and hunger pangs. They also make a Golden Chai which is another delicious, healthy option for students and anyone else who is a chai lover.

Other herbs for stress management include herbs under the classification of adaptogens and nervines. Adaptogens are for long-term balancing and should be taken on a daily basis throughout a lifetime, while nervines are more for getting through specific events or tough times, unless there is a continual need to fight anxiety or depression, in which case the nervines can be taken long-term as well. I have rather lengthy posts already on adaptogens and nervines so click the links if you haven’t already read your fill about those. If I were to send a care package to a college student, I would definitely include a powdered mix of adaptogens that are also brain specific like the three mentioned above, and a tincture or two of an anxiety/stress-buster blend.

Other products that can help students, especially those living in dorms, are powdered greens. It’s hard to get all the fresh produce that a working-hard brain needs when living away from home, so a greens mix is a nice supplement to include to enhance daily nutrition. There are several good ones out there but this one by Food Science of Vermont which I received recently in that same New Hope Blogger Box is doctor formulated and enhanced with probiotics and enzymes. Just mix half a scoop in 8 oz. of water or juice.

Essential oils can also be used for students of all ages for stress reduction and also for clarity and memory enhancement. Rosemary essential oil is the best known scent for memory, and actually the fresh or dried herb can be used for cognitive functioning as well so it’s a great plant to have in study areas, although not the best for sleeping rooms since it is stimulating. Any essential oil can be used for studying though, and in fact it is best to change up the oils used according to the subject being studied. If you or your student is studying for a math test for example, you could diffuse the essential oil of orange in the room while working on it, then during or just before the test sniff that same scent. Then when it’s time to study for History, you would use a different scent, such as cinnamon, then again have the scent available to smell during or just before taking the test. In other words, it doesn’t matter what scent you use as long as it is a scent you can smell at the time of studying, and then again at the time of test-taking. You can take the scent along with you by putting it on a cotton ball, sticking it in a sealed plastic bag, then sniffing it before the test, or even better, you can make an oil with it and put it on your neck before the test. (Use 6 drops of essential oil per teaspoon of base oil.) Scent really helps with memory so it is a great tool to use for studies.

Students of all ages are working hard and handling stress to differing degrees. There is plenty of help for them in terms of nutrition, brain functioning, and stress management. Please share this with any student or parent of student that you know who might be looking for natural help with the hard work associated schoolwork. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.