Antioxidants Improve Brain Health

By VRP Staff

Increased intake of certain antioxidants decrease the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in women, according to a new study from Japan. The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation reports that approximately one million Americans suffer from Parkinson’s disease, and approximately 60,000 Americans are diagnosed each year. This equates to nearly 1 in 272 people who have the disease, and it is estimated that 1 in 90 Americans have the disease and do not yet know it.

In this new study, researchers evaluated antioxidant intake in 249 patients with Parkinson’s disease diagnosed within the last 6 years. The control group consisted of 368 individuals without a neurodegenerative disease. The subjects completed a diet history questionnaire to determine antioxidant intake. Additional data collected from the subjects included sex, age, smoking history, body mass index, education, location of residence and dietary intake of cholesterol, alcohol, total dairy products and coffee, as well as the dietary glycemic index (blood sugar response to the carbohydrate content of food).

The results showed that increased consumption of vitamin E and beta-carotene was associated with a significant decrease in the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease. The individuals with the highest intake of vitamin E had a 55 percent decrease in the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease and the individuals with the highest intake of beta-carotene had a 44 percent decrease in the risk of developing the disease. After analyzing the data further, the researchers reported that this association was statistically significant for women only. The study did not find an association between vitamin C, alpha-carotene, cryptoxanthin, green and yellow vegetables, other vegetables or fruit and risk of Parkinson’s disease.

The study authors stated, “Higher intake of vitamin E and beta-carotene may be associated with a decreased risk of Parkinson’s disease.”

Reference:

Miyake Y, Fukushima W, Tanaka K, Sasaki S, Kiyohara C, Tsuboi Y, Yamada T, Oeda T, Miki T, Kawamura N, Sakae N, Fukuyama H, Hirota Y, Nagai M, Fukuoka Kinki Parkinson’s Disease Study Group. Dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins and risk of Parkinson’s disease: a case-control study in Japan. Eur J Neurol. 2010 May 18. Published Online Ahead of Print.

Vitamin E and beta carotene are found in VRP’s multivitamins, including Extend Core, Extend Ultra, Extend Plus and Optimum Silver. Vitamin E is available as a stand-alone supplement (E-Team).