Outsmart indoor air pollution

As the weather cools and we spend more time indoors, exposure to household air pollution from cleaning products, formaldehyde and more can lead to harmful DNA changes. But B vitamins can help, say scientists in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Subjects who took a B-complex vitamin including folic acid, B6 and B12 for 4 weeks had a 76 percent reduction in pollution-related genes when exposed to particles mimicking those in air pollution. The authors say B vitamins “mop up” oxidative stress that causes DNA mutations. Top food sources of B: cereal, bananas, fish and eggs.