What to do to help prevent cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease

Cognitive decline and Alzheimer disease are getting more common as more people are living longer. This is not a good trend and it is something to think about especially since research has now shown that there is something you can do to help prevent it.

Both physical activity and what we eat impact brain function. Study participants living in New York who had the highest adherence to the Mediterranean diet also had 28% less risk of developing mild cognitive impairment when compared to participants who had the lowest adherence (Scarmeas N, et al. 2009).

The participants with mild cognitive impairment who had the highest adherence to the Mediterranean diet had 48% less risk of developing Alzheimer disease compared to participants who had the lowest adherence. Even participants in the middle tertile of adherence had a 45% lowered risk of developing Alzheimer.

When researchers investigated adherence to the Mediterranean diet and also physical activity and risk for Alzheimer disease they found that both adherence to a Mediterranean type diet and a higher level of physical activity were independently associated with reduced risk for Alzheimer disease (Scarmeas N, et al. 2009).

Eating much more in line with a Mediterranean style diet is good for the mind as well as being beneficial for the rest of the body.

To read the original abstract, click on the references below.



References:

Scarmeas N, Stern Y, Mayeux R, Manly JJ, Schupf N, Luchsinger JA. Mediterranean diet and mild cognitive impairment. Arch Neurol. 2009 Feb;66(2):216-25.

Scarmeas N, Luchsinger JA, Schupf N, Brickman AM, Cosentino S, Tang MX, Stern Y. Physical activity, diet, and risk of Alzheimer disease. JAMA. 2009 Aug 12;302(6):627-37.