Common vitamin may influence brain aging in ways scientists didnt expect

Higher levels of vitamin C were linked to healthier brain structure in older adults, suggesting a potential role for nutrition in brain aging.That’s according to new research from Japan, published in the journal PLOS ONE.The observational study included 2,044 participants living in Hirosaki City, Japan, who were originally included in a study exploring dementia and heart disease risk.The average age was 69, and 61% of them were female.MRI scans are used to calculate the volume of gray matter and white matter in their brains.Even after accounting for external factors like age, smoking habits, diabetes, and other lifestyle behaviors, they found that those with lower vitamin C levels appeared to have lower brain tissue volumes and weaker structural network patterns.“Our study demonstrates that older adults with higher blood levels of vitamin C tend to have better-preserved brain structure (gray matter) and stronger connections within the default mode network (DMN), a crucial brain network involved in memory and cognitive function,” Tomohiro Shintaku, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Radiology Graduate School of Medicine at Hirosaki University, told Fox News Digital.“While diets rich in vitamin C are known to lower the risk of cognitive decline, our study is the very first to demonstrate a direct association between actual blood plasma vitamin C levels and the structural connectivity of the DMN,” he added.This network is often affected by conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and depression, according to the researchers.The vitamin C measurement was more accurate than studies that relied on dietary estimates, the researchers noted.“What I found most fascinating is that we could detect such clear associations between a single nutritional factor (vitamin C) and large-scale brain networks in a robust cohort of over 2,000 older adults,” Shintaku said.

“It highlights how significantly our everyday dietary habits might impact brai...