News and Views from kSero
Basic Nutrition for Body and Mind	June 15, 2007
By Marc S. Micozzi, MD, Ph.D.
Modern science has now proven much of what our grandmothers already knew about good nutrition and health. What can we do about it? When I met last year with committees of the prestigious American Society for Nutrition in Washington,DC, and Bethesda, MD, to propose educating consumers about what research has now proven regarding nutrition and health, they generally responded that “we need more research.” This is a policy that serves well the scientists who make their livings and careers from doing more research. But how do we serve the public? Physicians generally are not taught about basic nutrition and are not aware of the tremendous and constantly growing research evidence supporting the role of nutrition in health. They are more comfortable writing prescriptions for often-dangerous drugs that are supported by sometimes shaky evidence, when compared to the safety and effectiveness of dietary and nutritional approaches. And the consumer usually runs to the drug store for over-the-counter remedies which often are comprised of old, lower dose prescription medications which are no longer under patent. The evidence and the benefits of dietary modification and nutritional supplementation are overwhelming as the place to begin health and healing. When we cross over into the world of complementary and alternative medicine, where US government statistics now show that the majority of Americans are regular users, there is widespread acceptance of the importance of diet and nutrition as the foundation for health and healing. There are many approaches to maintaining health and managing diseases of the body using dietary supplements based upon nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, as well as many long proven herbal remedies. There are even certain herbs that are effectively used for treatment of brain and neurological conditions (such as ginkgo biloba for dementia, kava kava for anxiety, St John's wort for mild-moderate depression, valerian for insomnia, feverfew for migraine headache). Further, complementary/alternative medical approaches uniformly stress the importance of the mind-body connection in health. However, there is still a “blood-brain barrier”, or body-mind barrier, when its comes to understanding and applying basic nutrition to enhancing and improving the normal mental functions and performance of the mind. Through the combination of cognitive science and nutritional medicine, KSero Centers for the Mind have developed dietary supplements and food products that enhance basic brain and mental function and performance. While there is much talk of “smart drugs,” which may theoretically be taken by anyone to support improved mental performance, there is proof of smart nutrients that cross the blood-brain barrier and help the brain do its basic job using safe and effective vitamins, minerals and natural constituents. It is exciting to be on the frontier, where nutritional science has pushed beyond the mind-body barrier to improve the health, wellness and performance of the brain, as well as the body.