Dear Dr. Garner,
I am 65 years old and in good physical condition. I notice that from time to time I become forgetful. My wife tells me that she read an article in the paper that said that vitamin D could help prevent forgetfulness and keep the mind sharp.
Is there any truth to this, and if so how should I go about starting a vitamin D regimen? I really enjoy your columns, and respect what you say very much. I know you enjoy hearing about new restaurants like Piccola Benezia in Astoria.
Please help me as I am deathly afraid of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Becoming Forgetful in Bensonhurst

Dear Becoming Forgetful,
I thank you for your kind words. Johnny Fabianic, maître d’ at Piccola Benezia, is a loyal Tablet reader, and I too am a big fan of the restaurant.
Vitamin D is fast becoming known as a wonder drug. Health benefits previously demonstrated include reducing cancer risks, heart disease, diabetes, as well as osteoporosis. Many Americans are deficient in vitamin D, with estimated numbers indicating that from 23 million to as much as half the population are deficient.
Diet alone may not be enough to ensure a healthy vitamin D level. A combination of dietary intake of vitamin D, exposure to sunlight, and treatment with vitamin D supplements is usually sufficient to provide normal levels. Please note that when I indicate that sun exposure is useful in vitamin D production, there is still danger from unprotected ultraviolet exposure. Exposure for 15 minutes, with absorption of sunlight through scalp and other areas, is usually enough to maintain adequate levels.
Vitamin D is found in oily fish, including salmon, mackerel, sardines, cod liver oil, as well as fortified foods including milk, breakfast cereals, eggs, juices, and vitamin supplements. Vitamin D levels are easily obtained with a simple blood test.
Certain groups are at increased risk for vitamin D deficiency. It is particularly common in African-American women of childbearing age. It is thought that this is due to the fact that people with dark skin need to spend more time in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D. Also, infants who are exclusively breast-fed are at high risk, since breast milk contains none of the vitamin.
I assume that the article your wife read related to a study performed in London. This study found that having adequate levels of vitamin D was important in being mentally fit. This included memory lapses as well.
The findings indicated that having healthy vitamin D levels, when one is in his 40s and 50s, lead to healthier minds for people in their 60s and older.
The researchers compared the mental ability of more than 3,000 men, age 40 to 79, and found that those with low vitamin D levels did more poorly on tests of mental ability. The study is considered very significant, due to the large number of people involved. The study took into account educational levels, depression, and levels of physical activity. When they adjusted for all these factors, they still found an important link between vitamin D and mental ability.
The researchers stress that they are not sure how it works, but that these findings are very important.
Previous studies in animals had suggested that vitamin D may prevent mental decline, but this study was the most significant one involving humans. When researchers considered all factors, they found that people with the lowest levels of vitamin D in their blood were more than twice as likely to be mentally impaired than those with the highest levels.
It is interesting to note that the pattern of mental decline and vitamin D relationship is only significant for men. Women’s chances of being mentally impaired are not influenced by serum vitamin D levels.
In summary, it is clear that vitamin D does far more than promote healthy bones. A deficiency of vitamin D has been shown to be associated with increased incidence of heart attacks, strokes, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, psoriasis, mental ability and many forms of cancer.

* Reprinted with permission of The Tablet