Food and lifestyle choices that can affect memory

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The key here is to shop the fresh produce aisles … eat fresh, eat local, eat seasonally. Then add in as many whole grains as possible … eliminate refined grains as completely as possible from your diet. Keep sweets and sugar to a minimum … and remember that alcohol is a sugar and can really mess with your weight as well as your ability to get a decent nights sleep.

Finally, exercise is crucial to brain health. Try to get 30 minutes of exercise daily … and it should be exercise that causes you to break a sweat and breathe deeper.

Still taking Vitamin E? Time to reconsider.

Researchers at UC Berkeley discovered vitamin E in 1922, and since then countless studies have been done on this still mysterious substance. Because its chief function seems to be as an antioxidant, neutralizing potentially harmful free radicals in the body, E became a superstar as the antioxidant theory of disease gained wider and wider attention. Would high doses of vitamin E prove to be the key to good health—preventing cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s, as well as producing glowing skin, good eyesight, and other benefits? Studies have yielded contradictory findings, but so far the answer seems to be no.

Click to read more ...