Milk can prevent Alzheimer’s, says study

By Rajini Mathews

Want to stave off dementia? Drink just two glasses of milk daily, for a new study has suggested that it can help protect against memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease in old age.

An international team, led by Oxford University, has found that milk is actually one of the best sources of a key vitamin, B12, that is said to reduce the neurological damage to the brain which can lead to forms of dementia. Moreover, the study has revealed that elderly patients with low levels of the vitamin B12 suffer twice as much shrinkage of the brain as those with higher levels of the substance in their bodies. According to lead researcher Prof David Smith, downing just two glasses of milk everyday would be enough to “increase levels of vitamin B12” to an adequate level and increasing the intake of B12 in the elderly could slow cognitive decline.

“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 drinking just two glasses a day can protect against having low levels,” ‘The Daily Telegraph’ quoted Smith as saying. Vitamin B12 is found mainly in meat, fish and dairy products.

But, the study, published in the ‘American Journal of Clinical Nutrition’ has revealed that while meat contain some of the highest levels of the vitamin, it’s poorly absorbed by the body when eaten.

Instead Prof Smith, together with colleagues at Oslo University and Bergen University in Norway, found the highest levels of vitamin B12 absorbed by the body came from milk, despite having lower B12 concentrations than meat.

Around 55% of the vitamin in milk entered the blood stream; fish provided the second highest source of the vitamin, followed by other dairy products, they found in their study.