A daily dose of folic acid could perk up your memory, claim researchers. The largest trial of its kind found that supplements of this B vitamin substantially improved brain function and memory in people over 50. The findings follow a study showing that folic acid can cut the chances of developing Alzheimer’s and add to mounting evidence that it can prevent or alleviate many disorders including heart disease and strokes.

Dutch researchers gave 800mcg of folic acid daily or a dummy pill to 818 people aged over 50 for three years, says a report published January 19th in the Lancet Medical Journal. They found that cognitive functions such as memory and speed of information processing improved in those getting the vitamin supplements. Folic acid is the supplement form of folate, a B vitamin found in dark green vegetables, cereals and fruit which is often destroyed by cooking or processing. Supplements provide a form of folate more easily taken up by the body.

Mothers to-be are advised to take folic acid to reduce the risk of brain and spinal cord defects in their unborn child.

So says a study from the German Institute of Human Nutrition published in the medical journal Cancer Epidemiology and Biomarkers Prevention in January 2007.

The study looked at over 200,000 women and showed that you do not even need to go to the gym to get the effect – housework had a significant reduction in breast cancer risk, specifically in postmenopausal women.

Earlier research in December 2006 had also shown this effect and found the benefit was greatest for those women with oestrogen receptor positive breast cancers.

Beat your appetite by swapping classic snacks such as mid afternoon biscuits for foods that feel more like a meal.

Researchers at State University of New York in Buffalo, US, found that people who viewed their afternoon treat as a snack ate 87% more food for their evening meal than those who ate the same food at the same time, but labelled it a meal.

Try these swaps to trick your tummy into feeling fuller: have half a pitta with hummous and salad rather than a pot of yogurt or try a slice of toast with scrambled egg instead of a handful of nuts and seeds.