Nawgan is based on science. It is both real science and real refreshment!
Why is a beverage like Nawgan important? Changes in brain function occur in everyone around age 30 as part of natural development. For some individuals, these changes are mild (occasional misplacement of keys, glasses, wallets, etc.), and for other individuals these changes are more pronounced. Nawgan was developed to support cognitive function over time with ingredients known to be associated with cognitive performance.
The following principles guided the development of the Nawgan ingredients:
- Demonstrated in the scientific literature as being associated with cognition.
- Demonstrated in the scientific literature as falling below optimal levels in adults and therefore prompting the need for supplements to the diet.
- Natural. This is a critical issue for vitamin E since synthetic forms are biologically inferior to natural vitamin E.
- Demonstrated to be safe without health risks or side-effects.
- Low calorie, without use of artificial sweeteners. Each serving of Nawgan contains 45 calories in the Red Berries and Orange flavors and 40 calories in the caffeine free Berry flavor.
- Low sodium.
- No preservatives.
- No artificial colors or flavors.
Below is a brief review of the ingredients in Nawgan. In summary, our formula helps to maintain optimal brain function through three approaches: anti-inflammatory effects, anti-oxidant effects, an increase in acetylcholine precursors, and phospholipid support.
Citicoline/Cognizin®
Cognizin® citicoline is a interesting compound with more than 500
research articles published on the benefits and safety of citicoline. Cognizin® is the branded name of citicoline. Only one company, Kyowa
Hakko, has the patent to produce Cognizin® citicoline. Cognizin®
citicoline contains a unique combination of choline and cytidine.
Choline is available in many foods that we eat (e.g., potatoes and
cauliflower) but cytidine, which is critical for brain function, is not
widely available in foods consumed in Western diets. Cytidine is
converted into uridine and when combined with choline the two create
CDP-choline. CDP-choline is critical for normal brain function.
CDP-choline is ultimately converted into acetylcholine and phospholipids
and both of these substances are necessary for thinking and healthy
brain function.
Published research studies reveal that individuals who consume
citicoline daily experience higher levels of phospholipid metabolites in
their brain, and improved performance on tests of attention. Each can
of Nawgan contains 95.5mg of choline which is 17% of the Daily Value
(550mg). While Cytidine is an important nutrient, there is no Daily
Value currently assigned.
A recent clinical study showed regular Cognizin® users made fewer errors on tests of attention compared to placebo.
Lycopene (anti-inflammatory/anti-oxidant)
Lycopene is a compound in the carotenoid family. Carotenoids provide the color in fruits and vegetables (e.g., lutein provides the color in egg yolk, marigold flowers, etc). Lycopene provides the red color in tomatoes and watermelon. Like many carotenoids, lycopene has long been recognized as a health promoter.
Recommended daily intake of lycopene is 5-7mg but nearly half of Americans consume only 2mg per day (Rao and Rao, 2007). The dose of lycopene that is present in every serving of Nawgan covers the average difference between the recommended dose and typical dietary intake.
D-alpha tocopherol acetate (natural vitamin E; anti-oxidant)
Vitamin E is very interesting. Experts agree that both synthetic and natural forms of most vitamins are generally equal in terms of their physical structures and biological activities in the human body but this is not true for vitamin E. Natural vitamin E is obtained from vegetable oils (e.g., soybean, cornflower, etc). Regardless of the source, natural vitamin E is a single chemical entity (referred to as a stereoisomer). By contrast, synthetic vitamin E is created by combining trimethylhydroquinone with isophytol and the result is a combination of 8 different chemical structures but only one of them is similar to natural vitamin E. Overall, synthetic vitamin E shares about 12% similarity to natural vitamin E in terms of physical structure and the lack of similarities results in profound differences in absorption and biological activities. In fact, just in terms of bioavailability, natural vitamin E is more than 2 times more available than synthetic vitamin E. Further, synthetic vitamin E is preferentially metabolized and excreted in the urine rather than absorbed and used by the body.
For Nawgan, we only use natural vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol acetate). It is a subtle difference in labeling but it makes all of the difference in terms of biology. Basic message here is that if a product does not state natural vitamin E it is important to determine whether or not the compound is synthetic.
Nawgan contains 50% of the recommended daily allowances of vitamin E, but remember that natural vitamin E is more active and available than the synthetic version.
Alpha-glyceryl phosphoryl choline (increase in acetylcholine)
Acetylcholine is one of the most important chemicals in the body and the brain. In the brain, acetylcholine is necessary for normal cognitive function and normal memory function. Pharmaceutical and experimental manipulations of the acetylcholine system in humans and animals are among the most reliable paradigms in the field of behavioral neuroscience. Overall these studies reveal that when acetylcholine levels are low, memory and other thinking skills become impaired.
Synthesis and stimulation-induced release of acetylcholine both decline with age in healthy individuals (see Decker et al., 1987). In addition, the number of receptors available for binding to the (lower) levels of acetylcholine is significantly reduced in older individuals. This means that as we age, we lose significant amounts of a key chemical necessary for memory and we lose the receptors that are responsible for relaying the effects of the key chemical.
Caffeine
When most people think of caffeine they probably think of coffee and the “energy” that caffeine provides. This energy that comes from caffeine is really an increase in mental alertness that takes place in the brain. Caffeine works by activating a system in the brain called the adenosine system, which is located in the front part of the brain (basal forebrain). The adenosine system becomes more active over the course of a day so that by the end of the day when the adenosine system is really active the brain begins to prepare for sleep. The result is that when we consume caffeine, our brain becomes more “active”. This is what explains the increase in attention, memory, and alertness that we all experience when we consume caffeine. The caffeinated version of Nawgan contains 100mg of caffeine which is right in between a cup of brewed tea and a cup of coffee. This is enough caffeine to improve attention and alertness without the risk of a megadose of caffeine.
References and related studies
Akbaraly NT, Faure H, Gourlet V, Favier A, Berr C. Plasma carotenoid levels and cognitive performance in an elderly population: results of the EVA Study. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2007; 62(3):308-16.
Amenta F, Tayebati SK. Pathways of acetylcholine synthesis, transport and release as targets for treatment of adult-onset cognitive dysfunction. Curr Med Chem. 2008;15(5):488-98.
Chen S, Li KW. Comparison of molecular species of various transphosphatidylated phosphatidylserine (PS) with bovine cortex PS by mass spectrometry. Chem Phys Lipids. 2008; 152(1):46-56.
Craft NE, Haitema TB, Garnett KM, Fitch KA, Dorey CK. Carotenoid, tocopherol, and retinol concentrations in elderly human brain. J Nutr Health Aging. 2004; 8(3):156-62.
Decker MW. The effects of aging on hippocampal and cortical projections of the forebrain cholinergic systemBrain Res. 1987; 434(4):423-38.
Grodstein F, Chen J, Willett WC. High-dose antioxidant supplements and cognitive function in community-dwelling elderly women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2003; 77(4):975-84.
Rao AV, Rao LG. Carotenoids and human health. Pharmacol Res. 2007; 55(3):207-16.
Parnetti L, Amenta F, Gallai V. Choline alphoscerate in cognitive decline and in acute cerebrovascular disease: an analysis of published clinical dataMech Ageing Dev. 2001; 122(16):2041-55.
Rao AV, Ray MR, Rao LG. Lycopene. Adv Food Nutr Res. 2006; 51:99-164.
Schmidt R, Hayn M, Reinhart B, Roob G, Schmidt H, Schumacher M, Watzinger N, Launer LJ. Plasma antioxidants and cognitive performance in middle-aged and older adults: results of the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998; 46(11):1407-10.
Silveri MM, Dikan J, Ross AJ, Jensen JE, Kamiya T, Kawada Y, Renshaw PF, Yurgelun-Todd DA. Citicoline enhances frontal lobe bioenergetics as measured by phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy NMR Biomed. 2008;21(10):1066-75.