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Eating oranges reduces Alzheimer's risk

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Common Vitamin May Help Prevent Alzheimer's Mary Ann Childers Reporting

Save It Email It Print It (CBS) CHICAGO Preventing Alzheimer’s may be as simple as changing your diet.

New research from the University of California Irvine reveals that eating foods rich in the B-vitamin folate may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s by as much as 55 percent. Bananas, oranges, green leafy vegetables, broccoli, beans, peas and liver are all good sources of that vitamin.

The bad news is most people do not eat enough in their diet to get the 400 micrograms needed to reap the rewards. However, most supplements do contain that much.

A new study conducted by researchers at The University of California Irvine suggests that folates or B-vitamin nutrients found in oranges, legumes, leafy green vegetables and folic acid supplements are more effective in limiting Alzheimer's disease risk than antioxidants and other nutrients.

The team led by Maria Corrada and Dr Claudia Kawas of UC Irvine's Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia analyzed the diets of non-demented men and women aged 60 and older.

They compared the food nutrient and supplement intake of those who later developed Alzheimer's disease to the intake of those who did not develop the disease.

"Although folates appear to be more beneficial than other nutrients, the primary message should be that overall healthy diets seem to have an impact on limiting Alzheimer's disease risk," Corrada added.

The researchers used data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging to identify the relationship between dietary factors and Alzheimer's disease risk. Between 1984 and 1991, study volunteers provided detailed dietary diaries, which included supplement intake and calorie amounts, for a typical seven-day period.

Ultimately, 57 of the original 579 participants developed Alzheimer's disease. But the researchers found that those with higher intake of folates, vitamin E and vitamin B6 shared lower comparative rates of the disease. And when the three vitamins were analyzed together, only folates were associated with a significantly decreased risk.

"The participants who had intakes at or above the 400-microgram recommended dietary allowance of folates had a 55-percent reduction in risk of developing Alzheimer's. But most people who reached that level did so by taking folic acid supplements, which suggests that many people do not get the recommended amounts of folates in their diets," Corrada added.