Oxidants not all bad?

More evidence for the benefits of the Mediterranean diet for fighting age-related cognitive decline comes from a large 5-year study. The study involved 960 older adults, whose cognitive change was assessed over 4.7 years. Those who followed the MIND diet more rigorously showed an equivalent of being 7.5 years younger cognitively than those who followed the diet least.

The Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay is a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diets. It requires at least:

A pilot study involving 106 participants of the Rush Memory and Aging Project who had experienced a stroke followed participants for an average of 5.9 years, testing their cognitive function and monitoring their eating habits using food journals. It was found that those whose diets scored highest on the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet score had substantially slower rates of cognitive decline than those who scored lowest.

A long-running study involving 8225 adults found that self-reported diet during midlife (mean age 50) was not significantly associated with subsequent risk for dementia.

Dietary intake was assessed in 1991-1993, 1997-1999, and 2002-2004, with follow-up for incident dementia until March 31, 2017. Diet quality was assessed using the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI), an 11-component diet quality score (score range, 0-110), with higher scores indicating a healthier diet.

A study has found evidence that brain changes associated with aging can be seen at a much younger age than would be expected, in the late 40s. However, this process may be prevented or reversed based on dietary changes that involve minimizing the consumption of simple carbohydrates.

It’s suggested that, as people get older, their brains start to lose the ability to metabolize glucose efficiently, causing neurons to slowly starve, and brain networks to destabilize.

A 2017 review of research has concluded that, although the number of studies into the cognitive effects of the cocoa bean is limited and has produced mixed results, on balance the evidence points to positive cognitive effects from regular intake of “cocoa flavanols”, as well as immediate benefits from consumption.