Here’s a breakdown of why, and how to optimize it for brain health:

The Case for Looking It Up (After a Brief Struggle)

1. The “Tip-of-the-Tongue” State is the Exercise, Not the Recall: The valuable cognitive work happens during the attempt to retrieve the memory—when you’re activating related neural networks (e.g., what it’s for, its color, shape, where you bought it). This mental “jogging” strengthens those associative pathways. Prolonged frustration and daily failure, however, can be stressful and counterproductive.

2. Accurate Reinforcement is Crucial: Once you’ve struggled, providing the correct answer (looking it up) reinforces the right memory trace. Letting an error or a gap persist doesn’t help the brain learn the correct information. Synapses are strengthened when retrieval is successful.

3. Efficiency and Reduction of Stress: Chronic stress from frustration can elevate cortisol, which is harmful to the hippocampus, a key memory center. Efficiently resolving the search reduces this stress.

4. You’re Still Creating/Strengthening Synapses: The moment you see the name and think, “Yes! That’s it!” you experience a strong “Aha!” moment. This reconsolidates the memory, now linking your sustained effort (the search) with the correct label, potentially making the memory stronger and more accessible next time.

The Case Against Day-After-Day Attempts Without Resolution

• Potential for Error: You might inadvertently reinforce the wrong name or the feeling of “not knowing.”

• Negative Association: The supplement and the act of remembering could become associated with frustration, making you less likely to engage in the healthy behavior of taking it.

• Wasted Opportunity: The time spent in repeated failed retrieval could be used for other, more varied brain-health activities (learning something new, physical exercise, social interaction).

The Optimal Strategy for Brain Health & Dementia Prevention

Think of this as a “Struggle, then Solve” protocol:

1. Engage in a Focused, 1-2 Minute Retrieval Attempt: When you first notice you’ve forgotten the name, don’t immediately reach for your phone. Mentally walk through the associations: “It’s the green bottle in the fridge door, for joint health, with the dropper…” Actively try to retrieve it.

2. If It Doesn’t Come, Look It Up: After a short, earnest struggle, resolve the uncertainty. Use a search engine: “green liquid supplement joint health dropper bottle.” You’ll likely find it in seconds.

3. Practice Elaborative Rehearsal Upon Discovery: When you see the name (e.g., “Glucosamine Chondroitin MSM Liquid”), don’t just note it and move on.

   • Say it out loud.

   • Spell it in your mind.

   • Connect it vividly: “Right, GLUCOSAMINE—that’s the ‘G’ word I was missing. It’s the thick, sweet-tart green liquid.”

   • Imagine the label. This deep, multi-sensory processing builds a richer, more resilient memory engram.

The Bigger Picture for Dementia Prevention

Preventing cognitive decline relies less on memorizing isolated facts and more on overall brain resilience and health.

• Neuroplasticity is Key: The brain’s ability to form new connections is vital. Learning truly novel things (a language, instrument, skill) is even more potent than retrieving old facts.

• Variety is Critical: “Jogging your memory” for one word daily is a small, specific exercise. A holistic approach includes:

  • Cardiovascular Exercise: Increases blood flow and BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), the “fertilizer” for the brain.

  • Social Engagement: Complex, interactive conversation is a full-brain workout.

  • Healthy Diet: Mediterranean or MIND diets are strongly associated with lower dementia risk.

  • Sleep: Essential for memory consolidation.

Conclusion

For your specific supplement question: Briefly struggle, then look it up and reinforce the memory deeply. The synaptic benefit comes from the active retrieval attempt followed by successful re-encoding, not from prolonged failure.

The single best thing you can do for dementia prevention is to lead a brain-healthy lifestyle overall. Using efficient strategies to manage daily memory lapses (like this one) reduces stress and frees up time and energy for those broader, more impactful activities—like actual physical jogging, which is one of the most evidence-supported ways to protect your brain.