For several years, doctors have agreed that eating a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and fish is best for heart health. Now, according to CBS News, a new study shows that such a diet is probably best for your brain, too.
In the recent study published in “Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association,” researchers tracked the diets of more than 2,200 healthy older adults over six years. At the start of the study, participants were asked about their consumption of a list of 98 different foods over the past year. None of the study participants had cognitive problems at the time the study initiated.
Participants were broken into two groups: those who had more typical Western diets high in meat, fat, alcohol and sugary foods, and those with “prudent” diets who more frequently ate fruits and vegetables, fish, whole grains, low-fat dairy and who drank mostly water.
The researchers gave each group cognitive tests at the beginning and at year three and at the end of the six year study period. Symptoms of declines in cognitive functioning can include lapses in memory, language, and other cognitive functions.
Those participants who stuck most closely to a prudent diet showed the least cognitive decline, while those who ate the more typical Western diet showed the highest decline in cognitive functioning – on average their cognitive functioning was twice as impaired as the most prudent eaters.
The researchers cautioned that more study is needed to assert a link between Alzheimer’s and healthy diets, but suggested that the findings offer another reason for people to be prudent eaters.