Antioxidants found in nuts and green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli and brussels sprouts are rich in vitamins C and E and may have a protective effect against Alzheimer's disease.
By
Dan Maccarone, published on November 01, 2002 - last reviewed on September 09, 2008
Antioxidants found in nuts and green vegetables such as spinach,
broccoli and brussels sprouts are rich in vitamins C and E and may have a
protective effect against Alzheimer's disease.
Researchers tracked the diets of 815 people,
ages 65 or older, who initially appeared free from symptoms of
Alzheimer's. By the end of the study, those whose diets included the most
vitamin E experienced 70 percent fewer symptoms of Alzheimer's than did
subjects who ate foods with little or no vitamin E.
Vitamin supplements did not appear to augment the possible
protective effects derived from food. Martha Clare Morris, Sc.D., an
epidemiologist at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago,
attributes this to a potential ceiling effect: "A certain amount of
vitamin E appeared to be protective, but more didn't necessarily reduce
the risk of developing Alzheimer's," says Morris. Nonetheless, many
subjects were new to the vitamin supplement and longer-term use might
further reduce their risk.
Morris found no significant associations between vitamin C intake
and a lower incidence of Alzheimer's, but a large-scale Dutch study,
published with Morris's findings in the Journal of the American Medical
Association (JAMA), cited potential protective effects for both vitamins
C and E.
Scientists have long suspected that the antioxidants in these
vitamins slow the neurological degeneration that leads to dementia, but
no causal link has been established. In a JAMA editorial that accompanied
both studies, researchers warned that the protective effects attributed
thus far to a high intake of antioxidants might in fact derive from other
nutritional sources.
The U.S. recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin E is 15
milligrams; Americans consume only one-half to three-fourths that amount.
Vitamin C intake, however, exceeds the U.S. RDA of 75 milligrams for
women and 90 milligrams for men.
Experts recommend replacing animal fat with vegetable fat to
augment dietary intake of vitamin E. "Instead of eating the hamburger,
have seeds and nuts," says Morris.
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