Memory: Stay sharp by eating liver and shellfish

If you want to keep your memory into ripe old age, eat plenty of liver and shellfish.  It seems that vitamin B12, which is found in these foods, is one of the most important for maintaining a healthy brain.

People who have a low store of B12 are six times more likely to suffer from brain shrinkage, a new study has found.  It’s reckoned that 40 per cent of people are deficient in the vitamin, and the problem is particularly bad among the elderly.

The study, carried out by Oxford University, examined a group of 107 people aged from 61 to 87 years.  Lead researcher Prof David Smith says: “The rate of shrinkage of the brain as we age may be partly influenced by what we eat.”  Brain shrinkage has been associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Aside from supplements, liver and shellfish are very rich sources of B12.

(Source: Neurology, 2008; 71: 826-32).