Food for thought! Everyone knows an apple a day keeps the doctor away but here are some of the latest scientific findings.

LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE

LOW fat dairy products have been linked to lower blood pressure.

A new study in America has backed scientific evidence suggesting a high intake of the foods can help people control their blood pressure.

Volunteers at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in the US were examined for the inpact of low fat dairy on their bodies.

The results show that individuals eating a diet with less than 11 per cent saturated fat and incorporating low-fat dairy products, tend to have lower blood pressure.

Those individuals who consumed the most low-fat dairy products, showed a 36 per cent lower chance of high blood pressure, compared with those in the lowest dairy intake group.

Dr Judith Bryans, director of the Dairy Council, says: "The study showed that it's not the calcium alone in dairy foods that produces this effect, but the combination of many important nutrients such as potassium and magnesium."

SIGHT PROTECTION

SWEETCORN, peas and broccoli may offer protection against damage to eyesight in later life, a new study reveals. Eating more brightly coloured yellow and green vegetables - containing the plant compounds lutein and zeaxanthin - appeared to reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration in a group of women aged 50 to 79.

Egg yolk is another source of the compounds, which researchers believe may stop the back of the retina in the eye deteriorating over time. There is no cure for macular degeneration, but previous research has suggested that lutein and zeaxanthin may help combat it by absorbing damaging blue light and strengthening eye cell membranes.

ANTI-AGEING

MUSHROOMS really are magic, according to a leading doctor.

Dr Andrew Weil, an international well-being doc, claims Asian mushrooms can keep us feeling and looking young whether we eat them or put them on to skin in a cream.

He claims mushrooms, such as shitake and oyster varieties, can not only combat the effects of aging but also help with treatments for cancer and Alzheimer's.

"Think of penicillin, which is derived from mould, a lower fungi," adds Dr Weil. "Mushrooms are a higher fungi, with immune-enhancing and anti-inflammatory effects.

"The aim should be to separate aging from age-related diseases - cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, cancer."

The doctor claims oyster mushrooms can help lower cholesterol, shitake mushrooms have antiviral and immune-enhancing properties, enoki mushrooms can protect against cancer.

DEMENTIA FREE

DRINKING fruit and vegetable juice on a regular basis can dramatically reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's, a study has shown. Researchers in Japan and the US followed almost 2,000 dementia-free volunteers for up to ten years while monitoring their consumption of fruit and vegetable juices.

The risk of Alzheimer's was reduced by 76 per cent for those who drank juices more than three times a week, compared with those who drank them less than once a week. Previous studies have suggested that polyphenols, strong antioxidants found in fruit juices, might disrupt biological processes in the brain that lead to Alzheimer's.