Two new ways to keep your mind sharp

The power to keep your memory sharper than an Iron Chef's knives could come from two humble places: caffeine and algae.

New research found that these two simple weapons may be important in helping you keep Alzheimer's disease or the more common age-related minimal cognitive dysfunction (memory failure) at bay or reverse some of its changes:

1. Caffeine. When rodents with the symptoms of Alzheimer's were fed about 500 milligrams of caffeine a day (about five cups of regular coffee), they not only did better on memory and thinking tests, but their brains had a 50 percent reduction in beta amyloid protein, a compound that collects in your brain and tangles up your ability to think. (No word on whether they started buying stock in Starbucks.) This research confirmed what has been found in large studies of humans — that six or more cups a day decreases the risk of memory loss or Alzheimer's by more than 40 percent.

2. DHA, the key omega-3 fat in fish oil — and the key fat in your brain (yes, we are all fatheads: 60 percent of our brains is structural fat, and 50 percent of that is DHA). It makes sense that when people with memory complaints took 900 milligrams of DHA from algae, they made fewer mistakes in a memory test than they did before taking supplements. In fact, they made as few mistakes as someone seven years younger would have. Other DHA research hasn't shown such dramatic benefits yet, but there are plenty of other good reasons to take it (at a dose of 600 to 900 mg a day), including that DHA (from algae) can help prevent the most common kind of vision loss in older age — that from macular degeneration.

The YOU Docs, Mike Roizen and Mehmet Oz, are authors of the "YOU: Being Beautiful — The Owner's Manual to Inner and Outer Beauty." To submit questions, go to RealAge.com. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.

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