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- KATE ARCELL

This scent keeps the brain sharp

Kicking back with a mojito or taking a whiff of the fresh mint growing in your garden may ward off Alzheimer’s disease, say investigators reporting in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. In the animal study, mice that were regularly exposed to the scent of menthol, the compound that gives mint its bright and fresh aroma, for six months were less likely to develop the condition than mice not exposed. The reason? The scent of menthol lowered levels of interleukin-1-beta (IL-1b), an inflammatory protein known to damage healthy brain cells, which can lead to dementia.

Easy way to enhance indoor air quality