Dear Healthy Friend,

You don't need to be a senior citizen to have a senior moment... heaven knows we've all had our own bouts with the memory mistress - I know I have and do! But if you want less of them, there are a few things you could do to keep yourself sharp and savvy.

Edward Martin tells is what you can do to make your memory meticulous...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

Magnesium for your memory
Edward Martin
Contributor, Healthier News

A new study out of China published in the journal Neuron found that magnesium improved memory in rats. And a study in 2004 found that magnesium could reverse that infamous middle-age memory loss.

As you get older, you're more likely to suffer from a deficiency in this brain-boosting mineral. So to make sure you're getting enough, be sure to eat plenty of nuts, especially almonds, as well as beans, artichokes, spinach, pumpkin seeds and buckwheat flour. Or you could pick up a supplement - they're cheap and easy to find.

Like all good health, maintaining a good memory isn't only about what you take - it's also about what you do. We know that sleep is crucial to retaining knowledge, but now researchers think there's something you can do while you're awake as well: Nothing.

They call it "active rest", but you and I might call it "zoning out".

Researchers asked 16 subjects to identify the connections between two sets of pictures - like a beach ball and a surfer dude. Then, they told the participants to take a break.

It wasn't an ideal break, because during that time the researchers used MRIs to peek into their brains. But they found that this wakeful rest caused the two areas of the brain associated with long-term memory storage to light up.

Those with the most activity in that part of the brain during rest did the best on memory tests afterwards, according to the study, which was also published in Neuron.

It was a small study, but feel free to use it as an excuse for a little downtime at the office. If anyone asks, be sure to tell them your brain is hard at work.

Get your child off the sidelines

Q: I'm worried about my son. For the past month, he's been telling me his knee hurts. He hasn't been injured. He's just 13 - is it possible for him to have arthritis? I wouldd hate to just pump him full of painkillers. I'd rather find out what the root cause of this could be.

Dr. Wright: When knee pain occurs in children between the ages of 10 and 15, it's not typically arthritis. Instead, it's usually a condition called Osgood Schlatter's disease, which is characterised by a tender swelling about 50cm below the kneecap, right over the front and top of the tibial bone.

Most paediatricians will tell you that there's nothing to do except take aspirin and wait for it to go away. But that can take a year or more, and in the meantime, the child has to sit on the sidelines and watch his classmates play at recess.

But there's a better solution: 250mcgs of selenium and 400IU of vitamin E as mixed tocopherols will usually get rid of the pain in just four to six weeks. I'm not sure why most paediatricians haven't heard of this simple technique, but I've been writing about it since 1979.

Of course, as always, it's best to confer with a physician skilled in nutritional and natural medicine before starting yourself or anyone in your family on a new supplement regimen.