Antioxidant Vitamins Found To Lower Alzheimer's Risk

A friend of mine recently wondered aloud if the money he's spending on vitamins is really worth it. Along with a daily multivitamin, he's been taking additional supplements of several key vitamins. So is the extra vitamin boost really necessary?

I'm going to be sending today's e-alert to my friend to provide this simple answer to his question: Keep taking those extra supplements. Because although he's only 53 and in good health, a new study indicates that two of the additional vitamins he's taking may be laying the groundwork to help prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in years to come.

Sum of the parts

Nearly two years later, another Johns Hopkins team has reported on a similar study that specifically examines dietary supplement intake of the antioxidant vitamins C and E.

As reported in the Archives of Neurology, researchers interviewed more than 4,700 subjects (aged 65 or older) in Cache County, Utah in the US. Supplement intake was assessed, as well as the prevalence of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, from 1995 to 1997, and again from 1998 to 2000. The collected data showed that in the first phase, those who took supplements of antioxidant vitamins C and E combined had a 78 percent lower risk of AD. In the second phase, the percentage dropped to 64, but still indicated a significant level of protection.

In addition, subjects who took a vitamin E supplement along with a multivitamin that contained vitamin C, had a lower AD risk. But researchers found no evidence of protection among subjects who took vitamin C or E supplements alone (with no multivitamins), or among subjects who took multivitamins alone, or multivitamins with B-complex supplements (with no additional C or E).

What's significant here is the recognition that multivitamins are useful, but that key antioxidant vitamins such as C and E may deserve additional supplementation.

Increasing importance

Research from the University of Florida College of Nursing (UFCN) in the US has also revealed some of the important health benefits of key antioxidant supplements.

The lead researcher of the UFCN study, Prof. James Jessup, told the University of Florida News that when we reach our 40s, most people begin to naturally produce fewer amounts of antioxidants, but larger amounts of free radicals. Therefore, it becomes progressively more difficult to get the amounts of vitamin E necessary to fight free radicals through diet alone.

Good dietary sources of vitamin E include spinach, eggs, nuts and seeds, avocados, tomatoes, peaches, and blackberries. But based on his study results, Dr. Jessup suggests that older adults will benefit from a vitamin E supplement, 'because of its clear benefits to ageing and systolic blood pressure.'

Dr. Jessup's opinion is in line with previous information I've shared with you about vitamin E. HSI Panellist Dr Allan Spreen, recommends 400 IU of vitamin E (ideally, as mixed tocopherols) daily, as well as 200 mcg of selenium for general antioxidant protection. And while it is possible to get too much selenium, a range of 200-400 mcg daily is considered quite safe.

Dr. Spreen has explained before how the low amounts of vitamin C found in most multi-vitamins should be considered only the start of the supplementation of this important nutrient. As Dr. Spreen points out: 'The amount of vitamin C in a supplement is far less than I'd want a person to take. I nearly always start with a minimum of 1000 milligrams 2x/day.'

Clear thinking

My friend is currently taking 1,500 mg of vitamin C and 500 IU of vitamin E as mixed tocopherols each day. He doesn't believe that these additional vitamins necessarily make him feel any healthier on a day-to-day basis, but - one day at a time - he may be giving his body and brain the nourishment that could help keep his thought processes clear and lucid as he moves into his later years.