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Drink Up: Discern Fact from Fiction for Popular Health Beverages

Learn what the science says about some popular claims regarding the cognitive effects of certain drinks

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1. Pomegranate juice enhances memory: Probable. Many studies support the connection, including a recent brain-imaging study that showed that volunteers with age-related memory issues who consumed this antioxidant-rich drink performed better on memory tasks than those who drank a red placebo drink.

2. Red wine staves off cognitive decline: Possible. A growing body of research continues to support the health benefits of drinking wine. One study, which followed a group of men and women over seven years, found that those who consumed moderate quantities of red wine performed better on cognitive tests than those who tended to abstain from alcohol or who consumed beer or liquor.

3. Breast milk boosts cognitive development in childhood: Doubtful. A 2013 comprehensive literature review concluded that although children who were breastfed as infants are generally more intelligent than those who do not, this benefit is most likely because of the parents' socioeconomic status and IQ, not mother's milk.

Victoria Stern is a contributing editor at Scientific American Mind.

More by Victoria Stern
SA Mind Vol 26 Issue 1This article was published with the title “Fact or Fiction?” in SA Mind Vol. 26 No. 1 (), p. 10
doi:10.1038/scientificamericanmind0115-10b

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