Do you keep forgetting where you’ve put things? Do you walk into a room and forget why you’re there? It happens more frequently as we get older. One theory is that our minds are just clogged up with too much stuff, and another is that your brain cells are deteriorating. Green tea could be the answer. It helps us to think more clearly and can improve our working memory. Worth a try.
Another interesting piece of research that I found this week was that the time of day you take your tablets could be very important as to how your body absorbs them. Our body works according to the circadian rhythm, which means that in daylight we wake up and at night we sleep. Lots of things happen to interrupt this rhythm, such as artificial light, people who do shift work, travelling to different parts of the world, etc. All of these can upset our biological functions, but nevertheless we will be more or less able to digest certain tablets better or worse according to the time of day. They are still doing more research into this, but it does seem to make sense. It is also a very individual thing, so each person could be different. But a fascinating theory, and one that we can test ourselves.
Just to reinforce the time of day theory, there is a similar piece of research that has been done into statins but for the time of year. Our statin levels are higher in the winter than the summer. When it’s cold we stay inside more, get less exercise and eat more fatty foods. In the summer, the reverse happens, so it makes sense really to get your cholesterol checked in the summer. In the winter, men can register up to 3.5 per cent higher and women can be up to 1.7 per cent higher.