Another Reason To Eat More Greens
New research has found that people with the highest blood levels of the antioxidants lutein, zeaxanthin and beta-cryptoxantin found in green leafy vegetables including kale, spinach, broccoli, and peas, were less likely to develop dementia decades later than those with lower levels of antioxidants. According to study leader May A. Beydoun, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the National Institute on Aging “antioxidants may help protect the brain from oxidative stress, which can cause cell damage.” But she added that more research is needed “to test whether adding these antioxidants can help protect the brain from dementia.”
Nearly 7,300 people age 45 and older when the study began took part. They were divided into three groups based on the levels of antioxidants in their blood and followed for an average of 16 years to see who developed dementia. Dr. Beydoun wrote that “It’s important to note that the effect of these antioxidants on the risk of dementia was reduced somewhat when we took into account other factors such as education, income and physical activity, so it’s possible that those factors may help explain the relationship between antioxidant levels and dementia.”
Source
May A. Beydoun, Hind A Beydoun, Marie T. Fanelli-Kuczmarski, Jordan Weiss, Sharmin Hossain, Jose Atilio Canas, Michele Kim Evans, Alan B. Zonderman. “Association of Serum Antioxidant Vitamins and Carotenoids with Incident Alzheimer Disease and All-Cause Dementia Among US Adults.” Neurology, 2022; 10.1212/WNL.0000000000200289 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000200289
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