A new study could provide the elderly with a little added incentive to eat their veggies. Researchers found that older men who ate the most folate-rich leafy green vegetables and citrus experienced significantly less age-related decline in brain function and memory skills over a three-year period than those who ate less.

        Folate is a B vitamin found naturally in vegetables like broccoli and spinach as well as citrus fruits. High levels of folate are also found in chickpeas, kidney beans, strawberries, green peas, and romaine lettuce.

        In the study ,researchers measured folate levels in the blood and in the diet of more than 300 elderly men who were participating in an aging study. The men took a series of memory and brain function tests at the beginning of the study and then repeated those tests three years later. The results showed that men who ate high levels of folate-rich vegetables and fruits appeared to be protected against some of the declines in memory and thinking skills associated with aging.

        For example, men who had high folate levels showed les of a decline in language skills during the course of the study than men with lower dietary folate.

        In addition, high folate levels in the diet and in the blood also appeared to protect against declines in the ability to copy various shapes and figures, a skill known as spatial copying. Researchers say an earlier study with the same group of elderly men showed that high homocysteine levels in the blood, which is linked to heart disease, was associated with lower mental skill scores. Because of folate supplementation the form of folic acid supplements, is known to help reduce blood levels of homocysteine, researchers thought this might explain folate’s protective effects on the brain. But this study shows the beneficial effects of folate on language and mental skills were independent of its impact on homocysteine levels.