Memory Health Co-founder Discusses Supplement And Potential Benefits For Brain Health Longevity

Written by David Lemieux

Fact checked by The Brain Blog Team

We have talked a lot throughout the pandemic, with several experts regarding Alzheimer’s and dementia on our elderly people, or members of our community and our loved ones throughout this pandemic, because we know they have been especially hit. And I was looking up some numbers this morning. And according to the Alzheimer's Association, at least 42,000 more deaths from Alzheimer's or other dementia-related diseases occurred in 2020 than in the last five years. And that number to me is staggering because we have to remember, it's not a number. It's a life. It's a life that has been lived. It's a mother as a father, today, it's uncle, and they have family members, and they have memories and connections.

And that number to me is astounding. But there is a person here locally who is a bit of an entrepreneur, though, in some other businesses. But due to our situation, he decided to kind of jump into the world of Alzheimer's and dementia and try to help come up with not a cure, but at least something to address the issue in the hopes of, I don't know, delaying. Here’s Edward Shehab, the co-founder and the managing partner for Memory Health.

Those numbers kind of break my heart because anyone that has seen an elderly family member in the middle of COVID. And even more so those that have been in our nursing homes and our long-term care facilities. I feel like this past year has just been one that so many people may never recover from.

HOST: 

So before we kind of jump into the product itself, give us a little bit of background. Why did you get involved in this? You're an entrepreneur; you’re not a medical doctor; you’re not a researcher? You're not a scientist?

EDWARD SHEHAB: 

No, you're right. I am an entrepreneur, and quite honestly, I was running an oil company and still do to this day. It's not a supplement company. But I did get involved, and I got involved for a personal reason.

A couple of years ago, I was having lunch with my mother. And though it was a delightful experience, it quickly dawned on me she had no idea who I was. And that was a crushing blow that the person responsible for my life and saw my highs and my lows enjoyed the successes that, you know, we were able to accomplish.

She no longer knew who I was.

And at that point I was, I was dumbfounded. I was crushed. And so I said, Well, look, you know, I've built companies, I've had some success doing that. And you know, I can fix this, I can get involved. And I can make a difference here. And I was introduced to this product by another entrepreneur and a dear friend of mine, who said, Eddie, this product is coming to market, it's 20 years in the research, I think you might want to give this to your mother and see how it helps her. So before I did that, I delved into it and, and got a look at the product, looked at the scientific research behind it, and said, yes, this is something that I would like to do for my mother, and see if I can make a difference for her.

One of the things we have seen in science is that it's never too early to start with some form of supplementation. But it can be too late. In my mother's case, there's what we'll call a door that Alzheimer's patients walk through. And that door, once it's breached, they're not coming back.

And for my mother, that day was kind of the end of her abilities to, you know, take a step back. Had this product been available six months earlier, it could have made a difference in my mother's life. I’m convinced of that. I've seen that in medical research. But unfortunately for her, it was too late. But I believed in the product so much I said to my friend, and now my partner, “If you ever need any investment to help spur the development along, let me know. I'd be more than happy to do that for you,” never thinking I would be involved in it at this point. He's busy with other things.

His other company, the product, basically needed somebody to kind of jump in and try and build the brand and get it out into the hands of the public. And so I said, “Well, look, I can do that, I'll do that. My other companies are doing well. Can I get involved in this?”

And that's how it happened for me. And since then, it's been a mission. There are a lot of people suffering. There’s a lot of people moving down the road. And some young people need to start fortifying their brains. And so, for me, it's become a passion.

HOST:  

So before we jump into what the supplements are, what age do you think people should start addressing this issue and taking this product or other products as well?

EDWARD SHEHAB:  

Yeah, well, that's a great question. And as I mentioned earlier, science has shown us that it's never too early to start taking Memory Health.

This product is feeding the brain. So, as a result, we've had pregnant women taking our product to nurture the brains of their unborn children. The reason for that is we're providing a food source to the brain to help protect the brain as it moves forward. And so we've seen it at the very young, youngest, you know, starts of life and, and quite honestly, really what we think our demographic currently is the 40 to 50-year-olds, as they're moving through life, they've already experienced a great deal of oxidative stress in their life. The last year has been very hard on many people in that, unfortunately, it’s a check that's being written in our brain that we're not aware of until it's too late. I started forgetting things. I had brain fog, and I'm not sure why but I can't focus. And those are signs where people need to start taking a look at getting on a supplement like Memory Health to help them as they move forward.

HOST: 

Edward Shehab is here with us here on the mega cast. He's the co-founder and managing partner for Memory Health. And as we mentioned, according to the Alzheimer's Association, more than 6 million Americans are living with the disease. So right now, and we have seen such a spike throughout the covid 19 pandemics. And if I can ask you just what is it that is in your supplement that makes it different? Because we've heard these pitches for years.

EDWARD SHEHAB: 

Sure. And quite honestly, it's one of the biggest frustrations I have when trying to present our product. The first thing that everybody should know about any supplement they take is to look at the actual science behind it. People claim science, but they look at peer-reviewed analyses of other products and say, “Well, my product has that, so, therefore, I have science.”

The difference here with Memory Health is that Memory Health, the supplement itself, was selected for Alzheimer's research. We did not go to somebody and say, here's some money, start using our product in an Alzheimer's research study. That study was a double-blind placebo-based clinical trial.

The supplement now has gone through five different double-blind placebo-based clinical trials, and that is the GOLD standard of testing. It’s important because you have a control group and then you have a placebo group. And in this case, the supplement was given; it was studied over 14 months. And the results were profound in that in the control group receiving the Memory Health supplement, there were increases in mood memory cognitive function. And in half of the people in the group, there was a forestalling of the ongoing effects of the disease over that time. We know that Alzheimer's can be rapidly moving.

This was groundbreaking, and the results of that clinical trial were published in the Journal of Alzheimer's disease. That started the ball rolling in using Memory Health and other subsequent clinical trials in brains with dementia and those with mild cognitive impairment, which is, unfortunately, a stepping stone to dementia. And then they also included healthy brains.

We saw consistently across the board that supplements had provided increases in mood, memory, cognitive function for all those in the control room, actually going back over five different clinical trials, which was profound.

And I would say to you; I don't know any supplement that has gone through that type of clinical trial. The other important thing, when you look at the science, and I stress this across the board, you have to take a look at who's doing the science, what the research is. Is it a clinical trial? Is it double-blind? What you find is that most supplements never go through anything like that. And as a result, we have a product that we believe is groundbreaking. We're swimming upstream because there are many really unfortunate junk products out there, with big advertising budgets but no clinical trials behind it. And the last trial that just came forward was a meta-analysis. And I guess what I would say to you, that's kind of like “Hall of Fame” voting.

They look at all of the studies, peer-reviewed analysis of all the studies from nutritional support of the brain, and then rank their findings. And they either affirm, or I don't want to say that they're going to contradict but what they look to do is confirm the findings of the studies.

The Memory Health supplement was used in two of the studies that were part of this seven-group study. The meta-analysis confirmed the fact that not only is Memory Health helpful for those people living with dementia, but it helps people across the age spectrum, from youth through to dementia.

That’s what separates us. The other thing that's important about Memory Health is that it's all-natural. Though it's patented, the supplement ingredients are found in nature; there are carotenoids, lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin combined with Omega-3s EPA and DHA.

This supplementation is used to feed the brain. There are carotenoid centers in our eyes and our brains as well. What this supplement does is it's feeding those centers.

Now, what are carotenoids? What carotenoids are found in leafy green vegetables? They're found in fish. And they're out there. And people say, “Well, why can't I just eat it?”

Unfortunately, the problem is you can't get enough. And that has to do with a lot of things. But we take a look at the nutrition in a bowl of spinach in 1953; that would require 40 bowls of spinach today. So you're not getting enough of the supplements of carotenoids and omegas in your diet. And as a result, you are not getting the flow you need to help feed the brain and help make a difference in your brain with just a regular diet.

This is kind of a super-charged supplement that is going through to the brain. The other really important thing is people ask us is, “How do you know this gets to the brain?” The science and the research were all part of that and they took a look at the macula of the eye, which is brain tissue. And the macula is the pathway from the eye to the brain, and it’s brain tissue. They can look at the serum levels of carotenoids in the macula. As the levels of the carotenoid supplementation increased linearly across the board, it kept moving up in the macula tissue. We are filling up that that area with the carotenoid supplementation that is required.

The other side of it is there's something called the blood-brain barrier. You can take anything you want, but if it's not in the brain, it's not going to get to the brain. The blood-brain barrier is the trolley car in the brain that says, “Yes, come on up,” or “no, you're not going to the brain.” That was another defining moment for us because we were able to show that the supplementation was, getting where it needed to be. This all led to the findings of other multiple research studies.

HOST: 

We're talking with energy heavy Edward Shehab, co-founder and managing partner for Memory Health. And if I can just kind of put on my journalistic hat here and now, dig into the reservoirs. And for my understanding, though, when it comes to supplements, they are not FDA approved. There is a lot of talk and discussion around when we buy these supplements on the store shelves; we don't know exactly what we're getting. So when it comes from your studies, but also the FDA, what does that link there?

EDWARD SHEHAB: 

Well, there are two things to take a look at. One thing that you pointed out, we don't know what's in the supplements. And so now there's a move to have independent research studies, research groups, take a look at the supplements themselves, break them down and say, “You said you had Omega-3s, and indeed you do. And you do have the levels, and you don't have something else added to it.” For example, many products add caffeine and the reason for that is people want to feel like, “Oh, wow, it's making a difference immediately.” So that is key.

Understand that supplementation is considered a food product, but it's not regulated by the FDA. And so, as a result, that is not a certification that many supplements will look to find or proceed. It's not part of this process. So that's why the consumer has to look at, okay, what is the workup behind this? What are the studies that are shown? Who did this study?

One of the problems that we also see is that we have firms out there that say, well, we have science, well, actually what they don't, they don't have internal white papers that a scientist wrote, which we saw a proliferation of this also with COVID. It's not double-blind, it's not a clinical trial, it’s not peer-reviewed. And so it's really not strong science. And so that's the other thing that people have to take a look at. And that's what we fall back on, that constantly what separates us from everybody is the quality of our product.

Again, we didn't pay for this; we were selected for the studies, the independent clinically reviewed research studies. And that's, that's critical. And that's important. And I'm not sure the FDA is the harbor of that really kind of information. I I don't know necessarily if that would even be the right way to regulate a lot of the supplements.

But I can say to you that look at the product, see if there's been any formal certification of the quality of the product, what's actually in the product. Then subsequently, take a look at the history and the science behind it. Is it real? Was the product us versus somebody else, saying “these are good for the brain”?

There were studies done on that my product has omega, so mine is good for you. You know, and you see a lot of that as well. And that's the noise of the marketplace. That's been my frustration. There’s so much junk out there and trying to separate ourselves from that.

HOST:  

And so with that, that would be, I think, one of the biggest challenges, as well as you're coming in, to try to separate yourself, but on top of that, too. What is the price for this?

EDWARD SHEHAB: 

Research studies primarily measured the time of 14 months or 16 months with these patients. And so subsequently, some people saw immediate benefits; some people didn't see benefits till six months or nine months.

So it was important for us to have a product that people could consume on a regular basis without breaking the bank. Our product right now is priced at $49.95 for an individual box or $44 per box with a subscription. The whole idea is to try to continue to avail people the opportunity to start this journey. And so that was important.

The quality of the manufacturing of the process was important. Understand, this is American-made. We are not bringing products in from China. Our product is made in America; it’s distributed here in America, headquartered here. The company is headquartered in Michigan. So the quality of the product, the pricing of the product, the science behind the product are the envelope that we're bringing to the marketplace.

HOST: 

And with that, Edward Shehab is here on the MegaCast. He's the co-founder and managing partner for Memory Health. It is such an important topic for all of us. And I think it's going to continue to be even more of a topic as we emerge from COVID-19 is that we have addressed the issue of Alzheimer's and dementia. And I think it's brought it to the forefront for all of us as well, as we've seen family members suffer from this disease. And we don't want to go there. We don't want to be that next generation with this disease. So it doesn't  matter if anything can help you with it. It's going to benefit so many of us. So with that, I know that you're putting your name on this and your reputation on it as well. So we appreciate your time anything. Maybe I didn't ask or give us a website where people can find out more info.

EDWARD SHEHAB: 

Well, thank you. It's MemoryHealth.com. And that currently is the only way that you can acquire the product. We are direct to the consumer. That's part of our strategy as well.

You will not find us in the CVS or the Walgreens of the world. The reason for that is there's a lot of noise on those shelves, and we need to continue to elevate and separate our products. So right now, it's direct to the consumer.

I want to point out one thing to you too. My family's all on the product. My son who's an athlete and plays catcher in baseball. He plays quarterback in football. His head is subjected to trauma. And the reason why I'm doing that is I'm fortifying his brain today because I know the effects of those positions down throughout the history of his life. My daughter's on it. My wife, who suffered a concussion playing in the pool, is on it. And I believe my goal is to try and get everybody across the age spectrum to get onto the product.

Fortify your brain today with a natural supplement known for no negative side effects, clinically proven. The research is there. And with that, we can extend my mission to try and help as many people as possible.

HOST:  

I love that point as well, which you just brought up. It's not just for the elderly. Think now. And thank you later.

EDWARD SHEHAB:  

Yes, then you know, that's I would like to use that. It’s a great line. Think now, and your brain will thank you later. Today's the day to start that track, and everybody should do it. And you know whether you take Memory Health or not, I hope you do. But think about what I said as it relates to the product that's out there advertising budgets don't equal science, or reality for that matter. Take a look at the products you're taking. Make good educated choices. It's your money you're spending. Make sure you get something out of it.

HOST:  

And we know that this is a passion project for you as well.

EDWARD SHEHAB:  

Yes, it is. I've been fortunate. The success I've had in other companies has availed me of the opportunity to do this. And I'm, you know, grateful that my partner and friend brought me this glimmer of hope that I can pass on to more. It truly is a passion. It's a very empty, hopeless feeling when the person you dearly love has no idea you exist anymore. And I need to fix that for a lot of people. And hopefully, we'll have more and more people understand that and not wait till then because honestly, then it is too late. We need to start this process now.

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