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FITNESS TIPS : Brain Pills
Aspirin, vitamin E, the B vitamins, ginkgo biloba, vinpocetine . . . which vitamins and supplements really do give you a mental lift when you need it?

Topic: Remedies
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RealAge experts Mehmet Oz, MD, and Michael Roizen, MD, give you the straight story on this and lots of other need-to-know aging issues in their new book, YOU: Staying Young. Here's their take on "brain pills."

Do these pills, supplements, and vitamins give you a stronger memory? Here's the short answer from the RealAge docs:

Aspirin: Yes. Research shows a 40 percent decrease in arterial aging, a major cause of memory loss, for those who take 162 milligrams of aspirin a day.

Vitamin E: Yes (from food). People who consume the highest amount of vitamin E are 43 percent less likely to get Alzheimer's. And you can get all the E you need to satisfy the government RDA by eating just 3 ounces of nuts or seeds a day.

B vitamins: Yes. The RealAge docs recommend 400 micrograms of folic acid, 800 micrograms of B12, and 40 milligrams of B6 per day, because B vitamins help your neurotransmitters work efficiently.

Ginkgo biloba: If you want to. No large studies support its use, but it has promise. The docs recommend trying 120 milligrams daily, as long as you don't have a blood clotting disorder or aren't anticipating surgery. Discontinue if you don't notice any benefits.

Vinpocetine. No. There's not enough evidence that this supplement (from a periwinkle plant) helps. Plus, it could reduce blood pressure too much.

SOURCES: YOU: Staying Young. Roizen, M. F., Oz, M. C., New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007.

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