Chicago: New research on vegetables and aging gives mother another reason to say, "I told you so." It found that eating vegetables appears to help keep brain young and may slow the mental decline sometimes associated with ageing.

On measures of mental sharpness, older people who ate more than two serving of vegetables daily appeared about five year younger at the end of the six-yea study than those who ate few or no vegetable. The study on almost 2,000 men & women of Chicago doesn’t prove that vegetable decline, but adds to mounting evidence pointing in that direction. The findings also echo previous studies women green leafy vegetable, including spinach, kale & collards, appeared to be the most beneficial.

The researcher said that may be because they contain healthy amount of vitamin E, an antioxidant that is believed to help fight chemical produced by the body that can damage cells.

Vegetables generally contain more vitamin E than fruits, which the study did not link with slowed mental decline. Vegetables also are often eaten with healthy fats such as salad, which helps the body absorb vitamin E & other antioxidant. Said lead author Martha Clare Morris, a researcher at the institute for healthy ageing at Chicago’s rush university medical center the fats forms healthy oils can help keep cholesterol low and arteries clear, both of which contribute to brain health. The study was published in this week’s issue of journal neurology and funded with grant from the national institute on ageing “ this is a sound paper and contributes to our understanding of cognitive decline,” said DR meir stampfer of Harvard’s school of public health.

“The finding specific for vegetables, and fruits add further credibility that this is not simply a maker of a more healthy lifestyle,” said stampfer who was not involved in the research.

The research involved 1946 people aged 65 and above who filled out questionnaires about their eating habits A vegetable serving equaled about a half chopped or one cup if it was raw, leafy vegetable.

The volunteers also had a mental function test three times over the six year; about 60% of the subjects were black .the test included measures of short-term and delayed memory which asked the older people to recall elements of a story that had just been read to them.