What Is Nerve Growth Factor?
Nerve growth factor is a small protein that is secreted for the purpose of growth, maintenance and survival of nerve cells. NGF also is important in message signaling between nerve and as a result is vital for optimal cognitive function. The brain is made up of about 100 billion nerve cells, which communicate to each other.
Though Nerve Growth Factor does help to regenerate new brain cells (neurogenesis) over time, NGF also immediately increases the brains cognitive function by enhancing nerve signaling.
Think of the development stage between the time you were a fetus all the way through adulthood. What is it that caused the development and growth of all these nerves? It is a complex process but NGF plays a major role in the growth and generation of the brain and the entire nervous system.
Once the brain and remaining nervous system is fully developed, NGF production sharply declines. This leaves us more vulnerable to an inevitable degeneration of the central (brain/spinal cord) and peripheral (nerves through the rest of the body) nervous systems through adulthood. A degeneration or lack of proper development of this system of the body contributes to dementia, multiple sclerosis, depression, schizophrenia, autism, anorexia and bulimia nervosa, among other diseases.
This results in a decline of brain function with age and a decline in quality of life (QOL). QOL decreases drastically because we experience our existence through our nervous systems. Our nervous systems comprise all of our senses and thought processes. Without your nervous system to sense and think, you would have no human experience here on earth. This is why the nervous system is the major human system that I care for with first priority above all other systems of my body.
So what can be done about the degeneration of the nervous system? Can nerve growth factor production be returned to youthful levels? Believe it or not, there are just a few foods and nutrients found on this planet which, when consumed, significantly increase nerve growth factor production in the body and brain. This is extremely powerful because even an injection of pure NGF will not benefit the brain. This is because it cannot cross the blood-brain barrier. Without some new medical development, NGF must be created inside the brain in order to regenerate the brain.
At this point that is why “natural” is the way to go with NGF. We must feed the body in a way that will cause the brain and nervous system to produce an abundance of NGF. This will result in a maintenance and even regeneration of the nerves throughout the body, regardless of age.
Foods And Supplements To Increase NGF
There are plenty of studies showing certain individual nutritional supplements to significantly increase nerve growth factor production in the body. If one was to combine all of these well studied supplements and consistently consume them into old age, the long term results would be dramatically beneficial in terms of brain function and quality of life.
In the central nervous system, benefits could be experienced in working and spatial memory (enhanced double tasking), reduced anxiety/depression and increased learning capacity. In the peripheral nervous system, conditions benefited could include multiple sclerosis, diabetic neuropathy as well as any condition where the nerves of the body have been damaged, chronic or acute trauma.
Now that we understand the role of nerve growth factor, let us look at my top 3 list of brain food/supplements that have been studied stimulate the production of NGF in the human brain.
1. Lion’s Mane Mushroom
If you were walking in the forest and stumbled upon a Lion’s Mane Mushroom, you would have to guess that aliens visited and left an nest of eggs. Though it looks alien, Lion’s Mane is an Earthling that belongs in the toothed fungus group. A less mature Lion’s Mane Mushroom also looks similar to a brain, nature often hints at what foods to use to heal which ever body part we need healed.
Lion’s Mane is botanically known as hericium erinacius. Lion’s Mane, though relatively unknown to most modern people, was one of the most treasured edible and medicinal mushrooms to ancient peoples. The lion’s Mane Mushroom is my personal favorite food specific to brain function and regeneration as it is thoroughly studied to stimulate nerve growth factor production in humans when consumed.
One tip I need to share is that while the fruiting body is a tremendous and delicious culinary/medicinal mushroom, it is the mycelium (think mushroom roots) that have the most concrete studies showing NGF stimulatory properties.
The Lion’s Mane is arguably the most well studied neuro-regenerative natural medicine of modern science. Research of Lion’s Mane Mushroom supplementation has demonstrated the following:
Here are study links..
– Stimulated growth of animal nerve cells (Park et al. 2002)
– A well controlled study demonstrated increased cognitive abilities is subjects suffering from mild cognitive impairment (Mori et al. 2009)
– A compound called Hericenone, derived from Lion’s Mane, stimulated the production of nerve growth factor in human astrocytoma cells (Mizuno, T. 1995)
– Stimulated nerve myelination in an in vitro experiment. (Kolotushkina et al. 2003) Nerve myelination is the electrical insulation of nerve cells which allows for strong and accurate nerve message signaling. Increasing myelination increases nerve function.
– Regenerated peripheral nerves after crush injury was applied (Wong et al. 2011)
These studies demonstrate a regeneration of nerves through stimulation and subsequent production of nerve growth factor from within the body. Though improvement in cognition is seen within days, cognitive effects of Lion’s Mane really shine after at least 6 months of continued regeneration through supplementation.
2. Ashitaba
A cut Ashitaba stem heals itself with yellow NGF stimulating calchone fluid. The new leaves are known to rapidly regenerate, thus the nickname “Tommorow Leaf”.
This is a plant native to Japan which has been used as a longevity tonic for at least 2,000 years. This plant has extremely rare flavonoid antioxidants in it called chalcones. Chalcones, in nature, are not found outside of the angelica family of plants, which ashitaba is a part of.
One study showed significantly increased NGF secretion in T98G human glioblastoma (brain) cells in a concentration-dependent manner Though it is not yet completely understood exactly how ashitaba stimulates nerve growth factor in humans, studies have demonstrated this rare effect and this cannot be ignored. Here is a link to that study. (Shimomura et al. 2021)
I have no idea how ashitaba hasn’t been getting more attention in the anti-aging/herbalism world. It is one of the most regenerative, healing and anti-aging herbs I have ever learned about and yet seemingly nobody in the health field has ever heard of it. If you are interested in living a long rich life for sure stay ahead of the curve and get on ashitaba.
Ashitaba is classified as an adaptogenic plant. If you do not know about adaptogenic herbs, they are arguably the most important longevity medicines on Earth. The longevity benefits of adaptogens come from their intelligent ability to “modulate” the systems of the body and desensitize all cells in the body to any source of stress. Essentially, all adaptogens regulate the body and shield it against the damaging effects of any environmental stressors. Combining all of these factors, ashitaba is one of my top anti-aging herbs. To learn a bit more about ashitaba’s benefits, check out this article.
3. Acetyl-L-Carnitine Arginate + Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC) is a dipeptide naturally found at low levels in the human body and it plays an important role in nerve health. In studies ALC appears to enhance the expression of NGF and its receptors which provides a two factor compounded benefit. This compound goes beyond just enhancing NGF levels in your nervous tissue. One study showed us that the presence of acetyl carnitine increased the effects of nerve growth factor on the outgrowth of neurites from brain cells 100 times greater than when just nerve growth factor itself was present. (Taglialeta et al. 1991) While another study showed that the supplement acetyl carnitine arginate mimicked the effect of nerve growth factor and caused neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells “in a manner similar to that elicited to by nerve growth factor (itself).” (Taglialeta et al. 1995)
Synergy between acetyl carnitine arginate and acetyl carnitine had earlier been demonstrated when both were tested separately and together on brain cells and found to be highly synergistic in the production of the neurotransmitters GABA, glutamate, somatostatin and other brain peptides.
A-L-Carnitine + carnitine arginate’s studied synergistic effect on neural outgrowth is impressive on its own. When combined with natural NGF stimulators such as Lion’s Mane and Ashitaba, we have to assume that the neurotrophic effects are beyond significant. As with all things more studies would be beneficial.
There are other nerve supplements that could be mentioned but these are certainly the most promising and powerful supplements in field of neurogenesis right now. I wanted to share the very best with you. The combination of these three will serve as an extremely effective nerve growth stimulator and long term brain tonic to increace and enhance all fields of cognitive performance and enjoyment.
Additional Tips
When taking lion’s mane mushroom, or any other medicinal mushroom, always take it with at least a small dosage of vitamin C. This drastically enhances the absorption of mushrooms and many other supplements as well. Another option for increasing absorption would be consuming a proteolytic enzyme like bromelain. Consuming bromelain comes with its own dramatic healing and anti aging benefits. 5 mg of piperine (from black pepper) is also very common for increasing bioavailability for a broad range of nutrients. Increasing absorption is vital to get your dollars worth out of your supplements.
One more tip – for greatest benefit, take these and all supplements 3-5 times throughout the day. This insures that you always have the active compounds in your bloodstream. This is an especially important tip if you usually consume a handful of supplements once or twice a day. Spreading it out more evenly will increase absorption as well as time of exposure to the therapeutic compounds.
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