03.01.11
The Life Sciences Research Organization, Inc. (LSRO), Bethesda, MD, has undertaken a review of the scientific evidence for more than 35 food ingredients, dietary supplements, dietary constituents and dietary factors and any measure of mental energy that could support related claims. The review, titled “Do Specific Constituents and Supplements Affect Mental Energy?” was published in the December 2010 issue of Nutrition Reviews. Mental energy was defined as consisting of mood (transient feelings about the presence of fatigue or energy), motivation (determination and enthusiasm) and cognition (sustained attention and vigilance).
The review article focused on four dietary constituents/supplements: Ginkgo biloba, ginseng, glucose and omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to illustrate the current state of the peer-reviewed scientific literature on dietary constituents and mental energy. The strongest evidence, other than that for caffeine, suggests effects of Ginkgo biloba on certain aspects of mood and attention in healthy subjects, as well as associations between omega 3 PUFA and reduced risk of age-related cognitive decline. Until recently, mental energy has been only loosely defined and methods to assess it were not clearly described. For most ingredients and dietary factors, fewer than five scientific studies addressed mental energy.
The review article focused on four dietary constituents/supplements: Ginkgo biloba, ginseng, glucose and omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to illustrate the current state of the peer-reviewed scientific literature on dietary constituents and mental energy. The strongest evidence, other than that for caffeine, suggests effects of Ginkgo biloba on certain aspects of mood and attention in healthy subjects, as well as associations between omega 3 PUFA and reduced risk of age-related cognitive decline. Until recently, mental energy has been only loosely defined and methods to assess it were not clearly described. For most ingredients and dietary factors, fewer than five scientific studies addressed mental energy.