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- Great News About a Tiny Green Pasta Garnish
More proof that good things come in small packages: The tiny pickled plant buds known as capers could do big things for your body.
That's because capers -- used for centuries in Mediterranean fare to add zing to fish, salads, and pasta -- may have their own special heart-disease-busting and cancer-thwarting powers.
Two Great Capers
Extracts from capers, even in small amounts, did two surprising things in a recent study. First, they limited toxic and gene-mutating by-products of meat digestion. Great news, because those by-products can spell trouble for your heart. (Learn how to lower your risk of a heart attack.)
Second, the caper extracts improved the bioavailability of vitamin E. Also great news, because vitamin E helps put a damper on certain cancer-causing processes.
- All About YOU: Brain Pills
Aspirin, vitamin E, the B vitamins, ginkgo biloba, vinpocetine... which vitamins and supplements really do give you a mental lift when you need it?
Experts Mehmet Oz, MD, and Michael Roizen, MD, give you the straight story on this and lots of other need-to-know aging issues in their new book, YOU: Staying Young. Here's their take on "brain pills."
Do these pills, supplements, and vitamins give you a stronger memory? Here's the short answer from the RealAge docs:
Aspirin: Yes. Research shows a 40 percent decrease in arterial aging, a major cause of memory loss, for those who take 162 milligrams of aspirin a day. (Learn at what age daily aspirin makes the most sense.)
Vitamin E: Yes (from food). People who consume the highest amount of vitamin E are 43 percent less likely to get Alzheimer's. And you can get all the E you need to satisfy the government RDA by eating just 3 ounces of nuts or seeds a day. To reach the RealAge Optimum dose, however, you'll probably need a supplement. Look up other food sources with this online tool.
B vitamins: Yes. The RealAge docs recommend 400 micrograms of folic acid, 800 micrograms of B12, and 40 milligrams of B6 per day, because B vitamins help your neurotransmitters work efficiently.
Ginkgo biloba: If you want to. No large studies support its use, but it has promise. The docs recommend trying 120 milligrams daily, as long as you don't have a blood clotting disorder or aren't anticipating surgery. Discontinue if you don't notice any benefits.
Vinpocetine. No.. There's not enough evidence that this supplement (from a periwinkle plant) helps. Plus, it could reduce blood pressure too much.
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