Your Power to Prevent Alzheimer’s

If you want to know how the food you eat influences your long term brain health, this article¹ published in Nature a few days ago is very encouraging.  We know that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a disorder that is progressive, debilitating and painful to watch.  It has been known for years that nutrition can help delay its onset and slow its progression.  But this is the best article I’ve seen that documents its benefit.  

The study was done in China where about 25% of people with dementia live, due to the country’s large population. One of the points of doing this study was to see if diets that are usually associated with Europe and the United States show as much benefit in China. 

 What are these diets and what did the researchers find?

The Mediterranean ‘diet’ isn’t actually a diet per se, but a way to mirror the lifestyle of populations in Mediterranean countries, where people are more active and the rates of illness and mortality have been noted to be lower than in the U.S.  It includes a predominance of plants – mainly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils, soy products, olive oil, nuts, seeds and spices –  with some fish and low-fat meat.  

In this study, it is compared with the MIND, or Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay.  This is a diet specifically aimed at better brain health.  It emphasizes green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts, and whole grains, and puts tighter limits on animal products.  The evidence for brain protection is so good and backed by neuroscientists who I follow, that since I learned about the evidence for it, I have had berries and greens every day.  Now I have even more reason to do so. 

This study included 1500 people at the beginning, which is more than many studies of this type, and followed most of them for a full 5 years, also unusual.  Half of the study subjects had evidence of dementia, and the other half didn’t.  In each group, some were assigned to be on the Mediterranean diet, and some on the MIND diet. 

Most older studies have relied on subjects self-reporting food intake, which is usually inaccurate. A unique aspect of this study was the use of machine learning to help analyze adherence to the assigned diet and to predict the likelihood of cognitive decline.  

Without going into too much detail, they collected an impressive amount of data about the subjects at baseline and over the following 5 years.  They used blood work to check markers of AD, inflammation and micronutrients, spinal fluid markers of AD, and MRI and PET scans to check for brain shrinkage.They also questioned subjects to assess cognitive function. 

Here are the main findings:

• With good adherence, both diets showed over a 30% reduction in AD onset, consistent with prior studies, with MIND achieving even a 50% reduction in some cases. 
• For those who already had a diagnosis of AD, with good adherence to these diets, blood levels of AD markers and inflammation decreased and cognitive decline slowed.  On scans, shrinkage of key areas was less.
• Eating more foods high in: omega-3 fatty acids in salmon, chia, flax and walnuts²; polyphenols in foods with all colors of the rainbow³; and B vitamins were associated with lower blood levels of inflammation and better cognitive function.
• Getting the same nutrients via pills led to inconsistent results.  The same has been shown for many other supplements, likely due to improved ‘delivery’ of these micronutrients in whole foods – with the fiber intact.
• The advantages of the plant-predominant diets were seen even in those who had an increased genetic risk for AD. 

Dementia will be an increasing problem around the world as the population ages.  Since there is no cure, our best strategy is prevention.  We see convincing evidence for how helpful nutrition choices can be, even in those with a genetic predisposition to dementia.  And the earlier we slow the cognitive decline, the further ahead we’ll be! 

Join me in trying to gain brain-healthy years by adding plants, particularly leafy greens, berries and whole grains, to whatever else you are eating.  In addition, from prior studies of the Mediterranean way of life, we know that physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, healthy personal relationships and avoidance of toxins all contribute to maintaining brain health.  

Change takes time; today is a good time to start.  Can you decide on one small change in your diet or other lifestyle factors that can protect your brain in the future?  Add a daily snack of fruit, a daily salad, a handful of nuts … 

I’d love to hear your thoughts.  

I know it’s late notice, but if you’re in the DC area, feel free to join our team on the mall tomorrow morning, for a Walk to End Alzheimers.

REFERENCE:

1 – The long-term neuroprotective effect of MIND and Mediterranean diet on patients with Alzheimer’s disease  

2 – Food sources of omega-3 fatty acids 

3 – All about polyphenols

4 – 2025 Walk to End Alzheimer’s in DC:  https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2025/DC-NationalCapitalArea?team_id=981535&pg=team&fr_id=18493