Folic Acid for Alzheimer's Prevention

Want to reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease? Take more folic acid.

According to one promising study, folic acid may protect against this devastating disease. Researchers from Columbia University Medical Center enrolled a group of 965 New Yorkers age 65 or older who did not have dementia, and measured their dietary and supplemental intake of folate/folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12.

The participants were followed for an average of six and a half years. Over that time period, 192 of them developed Alzheimer’s. Researchers then looked at the study subjects’ intake of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12 and found one very significant association—the higher the folic acid intake, the lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. (There was no link between Alzheimer’s and the intake of vitamins B6 and B12).

We’re looking at a quadrupling in the number of cases of Alzheimer’s disease over the next 40 years. But this inexpensive vitamin just might help put the brakes on the impending epidemic.

To help protect yourself, increase your consumption of folate-rich foods (beans, leafy greens, and other vegetables) and take at least 800 mcg of supplemental folic acid daily.