A diet rich in seafood, fruits, vegetables, nuts and olive oil may lower the risk of dementia, new research suggests.
An analysis of data from over 60,000 older adults revealed that choosing to follow a Mediterranean diet reduced the chances of developing dementia by nearly a quarter. report It was published Monday in the medical journal BMC Medicine.
“The main message from this study is that eating a more Mediterranean diet can reduce the chances of developing dementia, even in people with a higher genetic risk,” said the University of Newcastle. nutrition and aging.
Among those whose dietary choices least resembled the Mediterranean diet, “during nearly nine years of study follow-up, approximately 17 per 1,000 people developed dementia,” Shannon said in an email. said in
In contrast, among those whose dietary choices most resembled a Mediterranean diet, “only about 12 in 1,000 developed dementia,” he added.
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
a The Mediterranean diet is filled with healthy plant-based foods vegetables, nuts, legumes, etc. Rich in whole grains, fruit, olive oil and fish.
Shannon said study participants typically ate less red and processed meat, sweets and pastries, and drank less sugary drinks.
Studies have been mixed on whether the Mediterranean diet helps prevent dementia. in fact, study A paper published in October that examined the medical records of 28,025 Swedes found that diet did not prevent dementia. in contrast, another study A study published in May of nearly 2,000 older adults found that, in contrast to a Mediterranean diet, which appears to have anti-inflammatory effects, a diet high in foods associated with inflammation was associated with It was found to be associated with accelerated brain aging and an increased risk of being seen. for the onset of dementia.
To explore the effects of the Mediterranean diet on dementia risk, Shannon and his colleagues looked to the UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010 for men and women aged 4 to 69 from England, Scotland and Wales. pointed at This prospective study currently has more than 500,000 participants.
Recruits completed touchscreen questionnaires, participated in verbal interviews, and provided biological samples and measurements of physical function. Recruits were then scanned and assessed for multiple health conditions, and dietary information was provided multiple times during the study. The biobank was able to track participants’ health status through linked electronic medical records.
An added aspect of the new study was the inclusion of genetic information in the form of Alzheimer’s disease risk scores devised in previous studies.
“A risk score was constructed using approximately 250,000 individual genetic variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia,” explained Shannon.
In the new study, researchers focused on 60,298 participants who were in their 60s at the time of recruitment. During an average nine-year follow-up period, 882 developed dementia.
When the researchers processed the data, they found that individuals whose diet most closely resembled the Mediterranean diet were 23% less likely to develop dementia during the study period.
According to Newcastle’s Shannon, to get a perfect Mediterranean diet score, your weekly intake should include:
- Olive oil is used as the main cooking oil.
- Two or more servings of vegetables per day.
- 3 or more servings of fruit per day.
- Less than 1 serving of red/processed meat per day.
- Less than 1 serving per day of butter, margarine, or cream.
- Less than 1 sugary drink per day.
- 3 or more servings of beans, lentils, and peanuts per week.
- 3 or more servings of fish per week.
- Less than 2 servings of sweets or pastries per week.
- 3 or more servings of nuts per week.
- The diet contains more white meat than red meat.
- Two or more servings of tomato-based sauces per week.
Dr. Thomas Wisniewski, professor of neurology, pathology, and psychiatry and director of Alzheimer’s disease, said the new research suggests that diet can affect dementia risk, even in people who are at higher risk because of their genes. It adds evidence that there is Research Center and Cognitive Neurology Center at NYU Langone.
“This study, with really good numbers and sizeable effect sizes, shows that following a Mediterranean diet actually protects the brain,” said Wisniewski. , which is relatively easy for anyone to do, so this is good news.”
reduce the risk of dementia
Diet is “one of the lifestyles I discuss with all my patients,” says Wisniewski. “Another thing we usually discuss with our patients is the importance of staying physically and mentally active.”
Other important ways to reduce the risk of dementia include:
These are all interventions anyone can take to keep their brains healthy and reduce their risk of developing dementia,” Shannon said.
A new study found that the risk of dementia was reduced by almost a quarter, Wisniewski said. “You can reduce your risk significantly by doing things that are less challenging,” he added.
We don’t know exactly how the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of dementia, but it has multiple effects, including reduced antioxidants, reduced inflammation, and improved microbiome health. Most likely, says Wisniewski.
With no good drugs to treat dementia, experts are looking at lifestyle factors that may be linked to risk, says cognitive neuroscientist, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Emily Rogalski, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the university.
At this time, it is not known if there will ever be a time when it is too late to prevent dementia.
“But giving up and saying it’s too late is probably not the right attitude.
“We thought we had all the brain cells that we were born with, but we thought the brain wasn’t that plastic, that it wasn’t that flexible, that it wasn’t that elastic,” says Rogalski. “We have learned over the last few decades that there is room for adaptation and change.”
