Vitamin C and beta-carotene help protect against Alzheimer's dementia

Friday, September 21, 2012 by: John Phillip
Tags: vitamin C, beta-carotene, Alzheimer''s

(NaturalNews) Alzheimer's dementia strikes fear in millions of aging individuals, as this memory robbing disease strikes one in eight older Americans and more than half over the age of 80. Pharmaceutical companies have lined up in an attempt to find a synthetic pill that will prevent or treat this condition. Despite spending billions of dollars on research, all attempts have proven fruitless in a desperate attempt to profit from the suffering of millions around the globe. Yet the true key to prevention may be in the bounty of natural fruits and vegetables so deficient in the typical western diet.

Critical support for the importance of a natural diet packed with antioxidant vitamins and nutrients comes from a group of researchers at the University of Ulm in Germany that has been published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. A research team headed by Dr. Christine von Arnim has discovered that the serum-concentration of the antioxidants vitamin C and beta-carotene are significantly lower in patients with mild dementia than in control persons.

This finding means that it is possible to influence the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease by bolstering a person's diet with healthy foods and dietary antioxidants. Alzheimer's disease is characterized by significant changes in brain chemistry that alter electrical and chemical transmissions that affect learning, memory and cognition.

Vitamin C and beta-carotene help clear dangerous protein accumulations in the brain

Forward-thinking scientists believe that oxidative stress from external pollutants, household chemicals and hybridized foods over the course of decades leads to this fatal form of dementia. To further examine the effect of antioxidants from foods and supplemental forms on progression of the disease, researchers developed a cohort of 74 Alzheimer's patients and 158 healthy control participants.

The participants, aged between 65 and 90 years, underwent neuropsychological testing and answered questions regarding their lifestyle. Additionally, their blood was examined for levels of key antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, lycopene and coenzyme Q10) and BMI was calculated. Researchers found that concentrations of vitamin C and beta-carotene in the serum of Alzheimer's patients were significantly lower than in the blood of control subjects. No difference between the groups could be found for the other antioxidants tested.

It may come as no surprise to natural health followers that a variety of nutrients from natural food sources and supplements help in the prevention and treatment of many potentially lethal diseases. Vitamin C and beta-carotene cross the blood-brain barrier where they help to squelch stress-related oxidation. In this capacity, the duo synergistically promote the normal clearance of amyloid proteins to help protect against Alzheimer's dementia.

Sources for this article include:

http://iospress.metapress.com/content/h3215182vr7h5830/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120911103040.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-09/ip-vca091112.php

About the author:
John Phillip is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and Health Researcher and Author who writes regularly on the cutting edge use of diet, lifestyle modifications and targeted supplementation to enhance and improve the quality and length of life. John is the author of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan', a comprehensive EBook explaining how to use Diet, Exercise, Mind and Targeted Supplementation to achieve your weight loss goal. Visit My Optimal Health Resource to continue reading the latest health news updates, and to download your copy of 'Your Healthy Weight Loss Plan'.