Mediterranean Diet May Prevent Cognitive Decline, Dementia

by Terri Potratz | February 10, 2009 at 03:15 pm

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The Mediterranean diet - rich in fish, olive oil, vegetables and fruits - has been widely hailed for its beneficial properties and ability to protect against diseases like Alzheimer's, heart disease, cancer and Parkinson's, and now it has another benefit to add to its repertoire: the ability to protect against cognitive decline.

"We know from previous research that a healthy diet like this is protective for cardiovascular risk factors like cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes. Now this current study shows it may help brain function too," says Nikolaos Scarmeas, assistant professor of clinical neurology at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center.

A study reported on in September examined the Mediterranean diet as a whole and found that it led to significant decreases in overall mortality rates, cardiovascular disease, cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Other key elements of the diet include a moderate wine intake, and low consumption of dairy, red meat and alcohol.

Yet another star property of the diet was just unearthed as researchers found that not only do those who adhere to the diet run less of a risk in developing the above diseases, but for those who already have mild cognitive impairment the diet actually helped to reduce the progression towards Alzheimer's disease.

The diet also helped those who already had mild impairment. "Compared to those who adhered not at all or very little, those who ate the Mediterranean diet to a moderate degree had a 45 percent reduction in risk going from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease. Those who adhered a lot had a 48 percent reduction in risk of going from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's," he said.
Scarmeas said previous research he's carried out found that a greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Researchers hypothesize that the diet may reduce inflammation in the brain, and/or reduce cholesterol levels.

The stricter people are with their diet, the better their potential outcome:

Alice Lichtenstein, Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston, said: "It's encouraging to see the results -- those reporting the healthier dietary pattern seem to do better." What remains to be seen, she added, is whether it was the specific diet that helped people avoid cognitive decline or if those people who ate properly had other healthy habits that decreased their risk.

While the researchers admit that in this particular study, additional variables aside from diet alone may account for a portion of the observed risk reduction, experts agree that the Mediterranean diet has enough other positive and healthy consequences that people should adhere to it while further research is conducted.

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Roy C

at 18:40 on February 10th, 2009

The longest living people in the world are the Japanese and the longest living Japanese are the Okinawans.

They eat more fish and get more protein and more omega-3 fats, the ones that make the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, and eat more seaweed and veggies as well.

This anti-inflammatory thing is the key.

A set of twins who were in their late sixties had arthritis. The one sister took her aspirin regularly while her other sister didn't. Guess who is taking care of the other one who now suffers from Alzheimer's?

texpenguin

at 20:48 on February 10th, 2009

texpenguin has contributed a photo to this story.

kuuva

at 22:39 on February 10th, 2009

yeah i think roy is right. man i need to improve my diet.

Lorene Amet

at 23:35 on February 10th, 2009

.., yes, just one mouth full of wine... French education that is, even in children. Then you grow up with some knowledge of what is a good wine and (hopefully) the ability to moderate intake. This is a wine tasting experience which every child in France is usually exposed to, even from under 10 year old. Appreciating wine and food is an important aspect of a cultural experience which also of course is important for health and life style. Red wine is also rich in anti-oxydants.

Lorene Amet has contributed a photo to this story.