It is well-established that Diabetes II raises the risk of a variety of physical problems, such as heart disease, but less attention has been paid to the cognitive disruption that it can cause. Recent studies have demonstrated that meals high in fat or sugar can impair the memory of diabetics, perhaps because the brain requires a well-balanced glycemic level to perform cognitive tasks efficiently, and doctors are increasingly likely to inform their patients about this problem. Now, a study by Dr. Carol Greenwood in Nutrition Research suggests that this impairment can be combated with the simple use of vitamins.

Dr. Greenwood split her subjects into three groups: those just drinking water, those eating a fatty meal, and those eating a fatty meal accompanied by vitamins C and E. Each group was tested 60 and 105 minutes after meal time. Those who ate a fatty meal were less able to recall vocabulary words and to complete working-memory tasks. This effect was counteracted by vitamins down to the base-level performance of the water drinking group.

Vitamin C and E are antioxidants, meaning that they protect the body against "loose-cannon" molecules called free radicals, and they also facilitate a variety of other chemical processes. Vitamin C in particular is important to remember because it is quickly flushed from the body each day and cannot be stored in fat like many other vitamins. These vitamins are part of a healthy diet for everyone, but Greenwood’s experiment suggests that they are particularly crucial for diabetics. Of course, this does does not give diabetics carte blanche to eat unhealthy foods as long as they take vitamins, as there are many additional benefits to nutritiously balanced diets.