Food for Thought
Can supplements make you smarter?

By Gennady Sheyner
Features Editor

A recent ad in the San Francisco Chronicle offered some food for thought. According to the ad, the product Focus Factor contains "vital nutrients that work with your natural brain chemistry to support your memory, concentration and focus." It is concocted from forty ingredients, many of which have been linked, with varying degrees of certain- ty, to mental performance. The most highly lauded of these ingredients include DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid found in fish oil that some researchers say may imp-rove memory; choline, a chemical in eggs and red meat that plays an important role in nerve function; and DMEA, a substance common in seafood that helps the body manufacture choline.

Vital Basics, which manufactures Focus Factor, is so confident that customers will be satisfied that it is offering the first bottle, normally a $74.95 value, for the mere shipping cost of $4.95.

Nutrition experts remain unconvinced. Even though most of them agree that there is a strong correlation between what we eat and how we think, they are skeptical about any product with claims as lofty as improving brain power.

"Nothing is that direct," said UC Berkeley dietetics professor Joseph Napoli, when asked if any food or supplement can boost brain function. "There are many vitamins that are important. Vitamin A, for example, is related to short-term memory. But I don't know of any supplements that can do that."

Even if some of Focus Factor's nutrients are beneficial (the research is inconclusive), it is unclear whether popping pills is the best way to obtain them. "Fish oil has some scientific backing behind it, especially in the developmental stage," said Claudia Lutz, a certified dietician. "But I wouldn't overdo it. For example, I wouldn't take any capsules with it unless they were prescribed by a doctor."

One reason why experts advise caution when dealing with Focus Factor and other brain boosters is that the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates most of the products we digest, has no oversight over dietary supplements. Because of this, consumers must take a $74.95 leap of faith after the initial free bottle, which, with the suggested daily dosage of 4-8 pills, would last the consumer between two weeks and a month. And because Vital Basics encourages people to take Focus Factor "every day for at least a month to see if they notice their own personal benefits," it is doubtful if the trial sample can yield any substantial results.

Focus Factor's web site fails to provide any hard data to back the grand claims made in the ad. The site itself is littered with vague and simplistic assertions such as, "Science shows today that nutrients can support healthy brain function." But as UC Berkeley's respected health publication The Wellness Letter reminds us, Focus Factor is "not backed by research" and "no product on the market will boost your memory." While conceding that the formulation contains "some interesting ingredients," the newsletter ultimately dismisses it as "Hocus Pocus Factor."

Other nutrition experts concur that you don't need outrageously priced dietary supplements to satisfy your cranial hunger. All it takes is a healthy meal shortly before an exam.

"People give nutrition too much power," said City College nutrition professor Linda Bacon. "It won't give the student a real edge. Nutrition inadequacy is linked to poor performance, but these dietary packets would have minimal impact."

"The best thing to do on the day of the test," said Professor Nancy Hudson, program director of UC Berkeley's Dietetics Department, "is to eat a kind of a mixed diet with carbohydrates, protein, and fat." While carbohydrates provide energy, protein and fat delay the stomach-emptying mechanism and help one sustain satisfaction level over a longer period of time. One possible breakfast of this sort is whole-wheat bread with peanut butter, fruit, and a glass of milk.

Dr. Bacon also said it is important to make sure you get the right kind of carbohydrates in the morning. Many students start their mornings with a bowl of cereal or a soda, both of which contain simple carbohydrates (sugar) that provide the initial energy boost but leaves students sluggish later in the day. Much more beneficial complex carbohydrates can be found in vegetables and whole-grain products.

Another crucial component of a well-balanced diet is iron. Dr. Bacon said research has shown that iron deficiency leads to fatigue and poor academic performance. Iron, which helps carry blood to the brain, can be found in many different types of food, including grain products, meat, and vegetables.

But even if we stuff our brains and bodies with wholesome nutrients, remember that food is just one of the many factors that determine how well our complex minds work. Focus Factor and similar products may be touted as wonder-drugs that will make you smarter, but the best way to keep the mind sharp is through a holistic lifestyle that considers not only nutrition but all other critical aspects of physical and academic well-being, including sleep, exercise, and of course, study habits.