In the News
A Mediterranean-style diet could protect against memory loss and dementia, according to a study published in the journal, Neurology.
The 512 participants, with an average age of 70, completed food frequency questionnaires and then given brain scans to determine brain volume, and neurological tests to examine their cognitive abilities and biomarkers for beta amyloid and tau proteins that are thought to characterize Alzheimer’s disease.
People who ate an unhealthy diet (not identified in abstract) had higher markers of amyloid beta and tau proteins in their cerebrospinal fluid, compared to those who followed a Mediterranean diet.
The unhealthy –diet eaters also performed worse on memory tests than those who ate healthy foods.
Editor’s Note:
Participants who did not eat a healthy, Med-style diet were also found to have a smaller hippocampus volume (the area of brain responsible for thinking and memory) than those who did. The hippocampus is known to atrophy (shrink) in those with Alzheimer’s disease.
Source:
Life Extension, September, 2021
Neurology. 2021; 96(24):e2920 – e32.
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