Eating a Mediterranean diet has been shown to keep you mentally sharp in the golden years, according to a new study.
People who follow the popular regiment – full of vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains and healthy fats – have better cognitive function in later life, according to a new report from Scotland.
A group of over 500 seniors were asked about their eating habits and were given a series of memory and thinking problems.
Those who followed the Mediterranean diet closely, especially eating a lot of green leafy vegetables and just a little red meat, got a little better.
But there does not seem to be a link between diet and better physical health of the brain, such as a larger volume of gray matter.
Researchers say that diet may affect certain areas of the brain that cannot be seen by neuroimaging the entire organ.
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Eating a Mediterranean diet, especially lots of green leafy vegetables and a little red meat, can improve cognitive function in later life, according to a new study from the University of Edinburgh.
The traditional Mediterranean diet includes lots of vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains and lots of healthy fats, such as olive oil.
Contains moderate amounts of fish, some chicken and dairy and very little sugar or red meat.
For decades, it has been linked to everything from protection against diabetes and Parkinson’s to lowering the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.
In a recent study sponsored by Age UK and The Medical Research Council, scientists at the University of Edinburgh tested the thinking skills of more than 500 79-year-olds.
A study of more than 500 seniors found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet had slightly better memory and thinking skills than those who maintained regular eating habits. But, although the results were evident in the results of their tests, they did not appear in the MRI of the subjects’ brains.
Participants were offered memory tests, vocabulary and problem solving and were interviewed about their eating habits.
MRIs were performed on more than 350 subjects to collect data about their brain structures and to form a comparative statistical model.
According to the study, published in the journal Experimental Gerontology, close adherence to the Mediterranean diet had little but a statistical link with the best markers.
This happened even when childhood IQ, activity level, smoking and other health conditions are taken into account.
The association seemed the strongest for those who eat a lot of green leafy vegetables and a little red meat, the researchers said, suggesting they are crucial parts of the diet.
Strangely, the benefits of thinking power that were evident in their test scores were not evident in their MRIs.
There was no higher volume of white or gray matter or other structural signs of better brain function.
“In our sample, the positive relationship between a Mediterranean diet and thinking skills is not explained by a healthier brain structure, as we might expect,” said lead author Janie Corley, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Psychology. University of Edinburgh.
“Although there may be other structural or functional correlations of the brain with this measure of diet or associations in certain regions of the brain, rather than in the entire brain, as measured here,” Corley added.
Subjects were selected from the 1936 Lothian birth cohort, composed of individuals born in 1936 who participated in the 1947 Scottish Mental Survey.
The cohorts help researchers analyze the effect on 1999 thinking.
While this study was one of the first to incorporate neuroimaging, previous research linking the Mediterranean diet to better cognitive function follows.
In January, a team at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that adding food from a typical Western diet – such as pizza, candy and processed meat – reversed the cognitive benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
The study examined more than 5,000 seniors over three years and found that those who adhered to the Mediterranean diet had brains nearly six years younger than their peers who succumbed to junk appetite.
A 2020 report in Gut magazine found that older people on diets for a year showed slower cognitive loss, including memory loss, compared to others who maintained normal eating habits.
Those who followed the diet closely also had better gait and grip strength.
Following the diet increased their beneficial intestinal bacteria, which were linked to the prevention of fragility and memory loss.
A 2018 study published in the Journal of Urology found that men who followed a Mediterranean diet, especially a rich fish, boiled potatoes, whole fruits, vegetables, legumes and olive oil and reduced juice consumption had a higher risk. small aggressive prostate cancer.