Start Taking This Vitamin Before 40 to Support Brain Health

There are many things that you can do to your body that may not have ramifications until years or even decades later. Most of the time, this is used to describe things that can be detrimental to your longevity: smoke a pack of cigarettes a day for decades and your risk of lung cancer later in life increases. But a study published earlier this month looks at a rare case where something you can do now can lower your risk for a debilitating condition later in life — specifically, dementia.

The paper, published in the journal Neurology Open Access, explored the connection between consuming Vitamin D as an adult with developing dementia — or, in this case, not developing dementia — in advanced age. They found that a “more profound vitamin D deficiency” correlated with an increased risk of dementia.

Or, as the authors put it, “Low vitamin D in midlife may represent a potentially modifiable target to mitigate the risk of neuroimaging signs of preclinical dementia.” The authors went on to point out that this study differs from some of its similar predecessors by examining vitamin D intake in midlife, rather than later in life.

As the study’s lead author, Martin David Mulligan, told Inc., the reason for this connection had to do with tau protein buildup. “These results suggest that higher vitamin D levels in midlife may offer protection against developing these tau deposits in the brain,” Mulligan said.

Study Explores How Infections Can Increase Your Risk of Dementia

It’s part of a larger prevention effort

Scientists have linked the buildup of tau proteins in the brain to Alzheimer’s disease. Earlier this month, the journal Neuron published a paper which explored the ways in which tau can spread across the brain.

“Small pieces of tau make up the aggregate inside the neuron and spread from neuron to neuron through the brain,” explained one of the paper’s authors, Jeremy Herskowitz, Ph.D. Science may not have developed a treatment for dementia yet, but these recent findings can give us a better sense of certain steps that might prevent it.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…