Two glasses of milk a day could help protect against Alzheimer's

Unlike so many of these imperatives to enable us to grow older, live longer and live younger the growing body of research on preventing Alzheimer's gets more and more attractive. I have now come across one study that says that eating chocolate every day is a preventative, another which states that at least one cup of caffeinated coffee a day is a must and another recommending red wine. The latest research, from Oxford University has discovered that milk is one of the best sources of vitamin B12, which is thought to reduce neurological damage to the brain.

The research, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found elderly patients with low levels of B12 suffer twice as much shrinkage of the brain as those with higher levels of the substance in their bodies.

They are now conducting a clinical trial that aims to show it may be possible to treat memory problems in the elderly with vitamin supplements.

Professor David Smith, from the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing, said: "There are 550 people who come down with dementia, mainly Alzheimer's every day in the UK - it is a major epidemic."

He added: "Our study shows that consuming around half a litre of milk or more per day, and it can be skimmed milk, could take someone who has marginal levels of B12 into the safe range. But even drinking just two glasses a day can protect against having low levels."

So I am off to have a coffee with some chocolates and choosing my red wine for tonights meal and delighted to realise that the skimmed milk I have with my cereal every morning will also help me to remember why I have got up that day!