Vital Vitamins?

Researchers have long suspected that destructive molecules called free radicals play a role in memory loss as we age. But only recently have they looked at whether antioxidant vitamins like A, C, and E, which shield our cells from free radical damage, can help keep the brain healthy. Now the evidence is trickling in--with conflicting but encouraging results.

On one hand, British scientists recently checked up on more than 900 people whose diets had been analyzed 20 years earlier, when they were age 65 and older. In the 1970s, those in the top third for vitamin C intake were less likely to have cognitive impairments than folks in the bottom third. Now researchers find that the high vitamin C group was also half as likely to have died of a stroke by the 1990s.

But in a separate study of people ages 55 to 95, Dutch scientists concluded that vitamin C did not stave off mental deterioration--but that another antioxidant, beta-carotene, did. Why the mixed verdict? No one's sure. Even so, experts say the two studies give credence to the growing belief that one of the best gifts you can give your brain is a visit to the supermarket produce aisle.

Edited by Peter Doskoch