Higher intake of vitamin E tied to lower dementia risk
Older adults who get plenty of vitamin E in their diets may have a somewhat lower risk of developing dementia than those who consume less of the nutrient, a recent study published in Archives of Neurology suggests. Researchers found that among 5,400 Dutch adults age 55 and older, the one-third who reported the highest vitamin E intake from food were 25 percent less likely to develop dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, over the next decade than the third with the lowest intakes. The findings, reported in the journal do not prove that vitamin E itself protects the aging brain. Studies so far have come to conflicting conclusions as to whether vitamin E or other antioxidants may influence older adults' risk of dementia. Researchers have been interested in whether antioxidants like vitamins E and C and beta-carotene might help stave off dementia because, in theory, their actions might interfere with the process of brain-cell degeneration. Antioxidants neutralise unstable forms of oxygen called reactive oxygen species that can damage cells throughout the body. Reactive oxygen species are produced naturally in the body, as byproducts of metabolism; because the brain is an area of high metabolic activity, it is thought to be particularly vulnerable to accumulating oxidative damage over a lifetime. However, studies so far have come to mixed conclusions as to whether older adults with a high dietary intake of various antioxidants have a lower risk of dementia. And clinical trials looking at the effects of antioxidant supplements have found no evidence that they cut Alzheimer's risk. The researchers acknowledge that they cannot exclude the possibility that factors other than vitamin E explain the connection. Nor is it clear why vitamin E, but not vitamin C or beta-carotene, was linked to a lower dementia risk. Food sources of vitamin E include wheat germ, nuts such as almonds and hazelnuts, vegetable oils such as sunflower and safflower oils, and some green vegetables, such as spinach and broccoli, margarine and butter. It is unlikely that people could get too much vitamin E from food. However, high doses of vitamin E from supplements carry a risk of bleeding. Experts advise that adults consume no more than 1,000 mg of vitamin E per day.
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