Why an orange a day could keep dementia away

A major new study has found that citrus fruits can significantly reduce your risk of developing dementia – providing you eat them every day

Oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes could be a new and powerful weapon against dementia, a scientists have revealed. In fact, if you eat citrus fruit daily, you can cut the chance of getting dementia by almost 25 per cent.

Citrus fruits are already known to be beneficial to the brain. Numerous studies have shown that the chemical they contain – nobiletin – can slow down memory less or even reverse it.

However, this new study by a team at Tohoku University in Japan is the first to investigate the effect of citrus fruit on people most at risk of developing dementia. And the results are certainly impressive; more than 13,000 older adults were studied over seven years and the findings confirmed the benefits of these fruit. Participants who ate citrus fruit every day were 23 per cent less likely to develop dementia than those eating it less than twice a week.

‘Some biological studies have indicated citrus may have preventative effects against cognitive impairments. But no study has examined the relation between citrus consumption and rates of dementia,’ the lead scientist explained. ‘Our findings suggest frequent consumption is linked with a lower risk of dementia.’

That’s a good enough reason for us to peel an orange every day.