Daily Protein Consumption Is Required for Cognitive Function

by Jeffrey H. Reinhardt, MSc

The brain has approximately one hundred billion neurons within the neural networks in the grey matter. These neurons and the other brain cells, comprising the white matter, are analogous, in some ways, to the hardware in a computer. The brain’s neural networks are like the circuits on a CPU or mother board. Just as electrons travel along etched circuits on transistors in a computer chip, the electrical energy in the brain travels from neuron to neuron by crossing very small gaps or intraneuronal spaces, called synapses.

Neurotransmitters are specific brain chemicals, which are required for the rapid and efficient transmission of the brain’s electrical energy signals across these synapses between the adjacent axons and dendrites that form the neural network. These vital neurotransmitters are synthesized from L-amino acid precursors or other brain derived “building blocks” such as choline, the nucleic acid, adenine, and the gas, nitric oxide.

Assuring adequate daily protein consumption (one gram of a complete protein for every two pounds of body weight) is necessary to provide the L-amino acids and peptides required for the synthesis of new proteins in both the liver and muscles. In addition to providing adequate daily levels of protein, Whey Protein powder, consumed as a protein drink, fulfills the body’s basic needs for dietary protein and, thereby increases the levels of the natural, L-amino acids required for their conversion to the brain neurotransmitters L-aspartic acid, L-dopamine (L-DOPA), glycine, histamine, serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline) plus the neurotransmitter peptides like cholecystokinin (CCK), endorphin, neuropeptide Y and oxytocin.

Another specialized brain formula to support the production of other neurotransmitters is Cognitive Health Formula, which promotes maintenance of healthy levels of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that acts in the brain and at nerve muscle junctions. The inclusion of Huperzine A and vinpocetine in Cognitive Health Formula helps to enhance cognitive function, memory and focus.