- Research suggests that following the Mediterranean diet offers many health benefits, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
- Along with these health benefits, some research suggests this eating pattern may also prevent or slow cognitive decline associated with dementia. Still, studies have produced conflicting results.
- However, in a new observational study spanning 20 years, scientists in Sweden found no significant association between the Mediterranean diet and decreased risk of dementia.
- The researchers suggest that more research is needed to fully understand the role diet plays in reducing dementia risk.
Dementia is a syndrome associated with a decline in cognitive function that is usually chronic or progressive.
It can result from injuries or health conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), stroke, and disorders that affect the blood vessels of the brain, among others. Still, the cause of dementia not fully understood.
The WHO suggests that more than 55 million people are currently living with dementia. Furthermore, this number is expected to increase to 139 million in 2050.
As the prevalence of dementia is expected to increase, it is critical to identify effective preventive strategies and treatments.
An area of research receiving increased attention from scientists is the role of diet in reducing the risk of dementia. Specifically, scientists are interested in the Mediterranean diet — an eating pattern that follows the traditional cuisine of people living in the Mediterranean region.
Even though some evidence suggests that this diet may offer protection against cognitive decline, new research from scientists at Lund University in Sweden found no significant association between a conventional or Mediterranean diet and a reduced risk of dementia.
Scientists suggest that diet alone may not have much of an influence on cognitive function.
The study was published Oct. 12 in the online edition of the journal Neurology.
To investigate the role that diet plays in the development of dementia, as well as dementia related to Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, researchers at Lund University analyzed the dietary data of 28,025 people in Sweden over a 20-year period. At the start of the research, the average age of the participants was 58, and none were diagnosed with dementia.
Participants completed 7-day food diaries, detailed food frequency questionnaires, and underwent personal interviews.
At the 20-year follow-up, 1,943 or nearly 7% of participants were diagnosed with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.
The researchers then examined the participants’ adherence to either conventional or Mediterranean diet recommendations. The conventional diet recommendations used by the scientists followed Swedish nutrition recommendations and guidelines, similar to guidelines in the United States and the United Kingdom. In addition, the researchers used a Modified Mediterranean Diet Score (mMDS) to estimate participants’ adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
In addition to diet adherence, the researchers adjusted for age, gender, education, and lifestyle factors. The team also excluded participants who were diagnosed with dementia within 5 years of the start of the study.
After examining the data, the scientists found no significant associations between adherence to conventional dietary recommendations or the Mediterranean diet and a reduced risk of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s, or vascular dementia.
They also found no evidence that adherence to either diet influenced the presence of biomarkers related to Alzheimer’s disease in a subgroup of 738 participants.
Furthermore, identical results were found between individuals with high adherence to dietary recommendations or with high adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
Still, the researchers note that the participants who developed dementia during the 20-year study period were older and had lower levels of education at the start of the study compared to those who did not develop the condition. In addition, people who developed dementia also had cardiovascular risk factors and comorbid health conditions at the start of the study.
However, due to the limitations of the study, including the possibility that participants did not report some information about diet and lifestyle, the researchers suggest that more research is needed to confirm these findings.
in a Press releasestudy author Dr. Isabelle Glansresearcher and doctoral student at Lund University, said:
“While our study doesn’t rule out a possible association between diet and dementia, we didn’t find a link in our study, which had a long follow-up period, included younger participants than other studies, and didn’t require people to remember which foods they had eaten. eaten regularly years before.”
In an editorial related to the study, Dr Nils Petersneurologist and professor at the University of Basel in Switzerland, and Dr. Benedetta Nacmiasprofessor at the University of Florence in Italy, noted that despite these results, “diet should not be forgotten and remains important, especially when integrated into a multimodal approach, which includes other measures, such as control of factors of vascular risk. ”
Despite evidence points out that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial for general health, research on whether it prevents or slows the development of dementia continues to yield conflicting results.
for example, a studio 2021 suggests that a multidomain approach, including diet, physical, cognitive, and social activity, may offer the most benefits for cognitive function.
In addition, a 12-year-old Australian longitudinal cohort 2019 study found that the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet, not the Mediterranean diet, was associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline.
On the contrary, a systematic review of research published in 2014 suggests that greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
Furthermore, a recent systematic review suggests that following the Mediterranean diet can prevent or delay cognitive disorders and improve cognitive function in healthy adults.
Karen D SullivanPh.D., ABPP, creator of the I TAKE CARE OF YOUR BRAIN educational program, not involved in the study, said Today’s medical news:
“The Mediterranean diet has accumulated a strong body of evidence linking this way of eating to chronic disease prevention and better vascular health through the resulting stable glucose and blood pressure levels, a healthy lipid profile, and low systemic inflammation. ”.
Kimberly GomerRD, LDN, director of nutrition for Body Beautiful Miamisaying MNT:
The physical and cognitive benefits [of the Mediterranean diet] are related not only to what is included in this diet (fish, olive, oil and vegetables) but also to what is NOT included, mainly highly processed foods, including processed grains, vegetable seed oils (soy, corn, sunflower, canola , vegetables) and sugar. My opinion is that if a person consumes omega-3 fats, along with highly processed foods, seed oils and sugar, he may not have cognitive and dementia prevention.”
Sullivan suggested that “the most evidence-based diet for brain health is a hybrid of the Mediterranean diet, an acronym aptly named the MIND diet.” […].”
“The MIND diet focuses on consuming 10 types of healthy foods regularly (beans, berries, fish, green leafy vegetables, nuts, poultry, olive oil, vegetables, whole grains, wine) while avoiding five specific categories of unhealthy foods. healthy (butter, cheese, fried). food [and] fast food, red meat and sweets [and] cakes),” Sullivan said.
“However, it is important to remember that, as is the case with all diets, foods that improve brain health must be consumed in conjunction with other lifestyle choices to have substantial benefits, such as consistent cardiovascular exercise, socializing, cognitive stimulation and meaning. -making. No thing in isolation is […] it’s going to have a strong effect on something as complex as the brain,” he said.
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