health
You are what you eat. At least your brain does.
Medical researchers are discovering how our daily diet contributes to poor brain health and risk of dementia.
But they’re also discovering that some foods and drinks can help maintain healthy cognitive function as we age.
“You may have a powerful nutritional tool in your home to help fight inflammation, which contributes to brain aging,” says Dr. Nikolaos Skarmeas, a fellow at the American Academy of Neurology. stated in a news release.
“Diet is a lifestyle factor that can be modified and may play a role in combating inflammation, which is one of the biological pathways that contributes to the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment later in life,” Skamaes added. Ta.
Eat these foods to prevent dementia
In a groundbreaking study in 2021, Published in Neurology JournalSkamaas and his team at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens studied 1,059 Greeks without dementia, with an average age of 73.
Study participants were surveyed about their diets and ranked on how anti-inflammatory their eating and drinking habits were.
People with dementia consume less natural foods
After three years, 62 of them had developed dementia. Those who developed dementia consumed about half as many of the following four items as those who did not show symptoms of cognitive decline:
“Our results bring us closer to characterizing and measuring the inflammatory potential of people’s diets,” Skarmeas said. “That, in turn, could help inform more tailored and precise dietary recommendations and other strategies to maintain cognitive health.”
find flavanols
Other studies have found similar results. A recent report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people with lower intakes of flavanols (substances found in certain foods) had improved memory after taking flavanol supplements for three years. .
Foods rich in flavanols include:
Foods to avoid that cause dementia
Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence shows that many foods, especially highly processed and fast foods, can cause dementia.
the study Published in Neurology magazine last year They also found that for every 10% increase in daily intake of highly processed foods, the risk of dementia increased by 25%.
Participants in the study included more than 72,000 UK-based men and women aged 55 and over without symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.
Researchers followed them for an average of 10 years, during which time 518 were diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. People who ate the most highly processed foods had the highest risk of developing dementia.
Examples of highly processed foods:
Meanwhile, those who ate the least amount of processed foods (less than 10% of their daily dietary intake) had the lowest risk of dementia.
“Ultra-processed foods are supposed to be convenient and tasty, but they reduce the quality of human diets,” says study author Huiping Li from Tianjin Medical University in China. stated in a news release.
“These foods may also contain molecules from food additives and packaging, or molecules produced during heating. All of these may have other negative effects on thinking and memory. Research has shown that,” Lee added.
Highly processed foods include:
Apparently eating an apple every day to avoid the doctor isn’t just a nursery rhyme.
“Our findings also show that by increasing your intake of unprocessed or minimally processed foods by just 50 grams per day, which is the equivalent of half an apple… at the same time reducing your intake of ultra-processed foods by 50 grams per day. …It also shows a 3% reduction in the risk of dementia.”
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