Your mother told you, we've told you in the past, and now we're telling you again, EAT YOUR VEGGIES! A new study by Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that eating three portions of vegetables every day, particularly vegetables high in vitamin E, could slow the loss of mental functions due to aging by 40%.1
The researchers analyzed data from 3,718 participants aged 65 and older in the Chicago Health and Aging Project. Participants were given three different standardized cognition tests at baseline, then subsequently given the same cognition tests at three-year and six-year follow-ups. The data was then adjusted to account for age, sex, race, and education. The researchers found that those who ate 2.8 or more servings of vegetables per day had a 40% reduction in age-related cognitive decline compared to those who ate the fewest servings of vegetables, 0.9 servings or fewer per day. That 40% difference is approximately equal to 5 years of normal age-related decline, a very significant finding. Researchers did not find a correlation with fruit, which may be because vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin. Vegetables are often prepared with a fat, either in a dressing or during cooking, whereas fruit is usually consumed raw without added fat, limiting vitamin E absorption from fruit.
For more information and tips about healthy aging, be sure to read part one of our three-part series on healthy aging below.
For more info on the benefits of vitamin E, be sure to visit the vitamin E page on our website.
1. Morris, M. C., D. A. Evans, et al. (2006). "Associations of vegetable and fruit consumption with age-related cognitive change." Neurology 67(8): 1370-6.
