Posted on 08/31/2006 11:07:04 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Drinking fruit or vegetable juice several times a week could help protect against Alzheimer's disease, according to a study in the September issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
The nine-year study involving nearly 2,000 people, led by Professor Qi Dai of Tennessee's Vanderbilt University, showed that the risk of developing Alzheimer's - a degenerative brain disease that affects a person's memory, thinking and mood - was cut by 76 percent among those who drank fruit or vegetable juice more than three times a week.
Among those who drank juice once a week, the risk was reduced by 16 percent.
The study focused on 1,836 dementia-free people in Seattle, Washington beginning in 1991. They were tracked by questionnaires on their lifestyle and eating habits, as well as by cognitive function tests that were conducted every two years.
Although the scientific community had long thought that antioxidant vitamins like vitamins C and E or carotene had protective benefits against Alzheimer's, the study confirmed their belief that "there was maybe something else," Dai said, pointing to polyphenols, natural antioxidants found in juice, tea and wine.
"Animal studies and cell culture studies confirmed that some polyphenols from juices showed a stronger neuroprotective effect than antioxidant vitamins. So we are now looking at polyphenols," Dai said.
The study did not indicate whether some types of juice were more beneficial than others.
The study was part of a larger research project examining Alzheimer's disease in Japan, Hawaii and Seattle.
The illness affects some 4.5 million Americans and nearly 5.4 million people in Western Europe.
Coincidental or causal?
What would there be in juice that wouldn't be in the fruit or vegetable itself?
Tired of these anecdotal offerings. . .I would bet Reagan drank Californina orange juice every morning. . .
Pass the V8.
Do Bloody Mary's count?
Only if it has vodka in it.
I should be all set then. I LOVE o.j. and V8 juice.
That's the difference between "could help reduce risk" and "will prevent". There seems to be a lot of factors that go into alzheimers, not the least of which is genetic, I doubt they'll ever come up with the magic formula to prevent it entirely.
Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman now have a zero chance of developing Alzheimers.
That was my thought. But they probably just ran the study with juice and not with fresh fruit and vegetables.
What a strange comment. The "offering" was a statistical study, and your attempted counterexample of Reagan's speculative orange juice consumption is anecdotal even if true.
Based on voting patterns alone, I question their ability to find that many dementia-free people in Seattle.
Prune Juice for dual use and then you can get some of those memory pills.
How about just eating fruit and vegetables? Wouldn't that work too?
The study did not indicate whether some types of juice were more beneficial than others.
The study also did not indicate whether juice (or fruits or veggies) were as rich in polyphenols as tea and wine. Green tea is especially known for its polyphenol content -- and chocolate is also laden with polyphenols. Mmmmmmmm, healthy food.....
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