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Cocktails & Vitamin E Improve Memory

First, the bad news. Going on a bender is no excuse for forgetting what you did. The good news: both drinking alcohol and taking vitamin E is good for your memory. That's the conclusion of a U.S. government study analyzed by Anthony Perkins of the Regenstrief Institute for Health Care in Indianapolis.

The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES III), a study of the U.S. population, included blood-nutrient analysis of a cross section of 4,809 Americans older than 60. People were divided into four groups according to serum vitamin E levels. As a simple memory test, they were asked to recall three words and the six basic elements of a three-sentence story; those who recalled less than four of the nine elements were deemed to have poor memory.

People with the lowest vitamin E levels had almost three times the rate of poor memory than those with the highest levels (11 percent vs. 4 percent). Lifetime teetotalers also had a higher rate of poor memory (15 percent compared with 5 percent for those who drank alcohol). Even after the researchers controlled for all possible confounding factors including other nutrients, both low serum vitamin E and alcohol abstention correlated with a doubled risk of poor memory.

Although it is possible poor memory caused lower vitamin E intake rather than the other way around—those with poor memory reported more difficulty making meals and may have forgotten to take their vitamin E supplements—this is unlikely, as none of the subjects were deficient in any other vitamins associated with memory. The authors do not speculate how alcohol and vitamin E may affect memory; however, both are believed to protect against atherosclerosis, which can clog cerebral arteries.

—American Journal of Epidemiology 1999 Jul;150(1):37-44.