Healthy Eating Habits Can Help Prevent Cognitive Reduction In The Future, According To Research

Illustration (Ella Olsson/Pexels)

JAKARTA - There is a lot of evidence that diets are rich in plants and low in salt, saturated fat, and processed foods are beneficial for health as a whole. Healthy diets can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Several studies have shown that consuming healthy foods at an old age can help reduce the risk of cognitive and dementia reduction. A study presented at the 2024 NUTRITION, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. It has provided further evidence that a healthy diet throughout life is key to maintaining cognitive function with age.

The study shows that the sooner a person adopts a healthy diet, the more likely they are to stay mentally healthy at an old age.

This study collected data from 3,059 people for seven decades. All participants were born in March 1946 and registered as children in the National Health and Development Survey of the Medical Research Council in the UK.

For more than 75 years, the participants in this survey completed a questionnaire and tests on diet, cognition, general health, and other factors.

For this study, the researchers assessed the intake of participant food at five points of time between ages 4 and 63, using memories and daily food records. They also measure their cognitive ability at seven points of time between the ages of 8 and 69 years.

They then use group-based track modeling to investigate the relationship between diet and cognition.

Scott Kai, MD, certified geriatric expert and director of Geriatri's cognitive Health for Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Santa Monica, CA, told Medical News Today reported on Monday, July 8;

Although this research, and other related foundation research in this area, may not be designed to specifically determine the causes, there are many clear pathways of cause and plausible biological mechanisms that support the possibility that various diets and nutritional factors can protect brain health. or accelerate cognitive decline and have an impact on mental well-being.

The researchers used the 2020 Healthy Food Index (HEI) from the US Department of Agriculture's Health Service and Nutrition to assess the quality of the diet of the participants.

In this index, food intake is higher in fruits and vegetables, seeds, protein, dairy products, and seafood increase the score, while intake of processed grains, sugar, sodium, and saturated fat lowers the score.

The researchers found a strong connection between the quality of the diet over time and cognitive trajectories.

Participants who maintain high cognitive abilities to older age tend to eat more food with a high index score, such as vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds.

Although all participants tend to adopt healthier diets in adults, differences in the quality of childhood diets affect diets in the future, as noted by principal researcher Kelly Cara, PhD, Friedman School of Science and Nutrition Policy at Tufts University:

This shows that food intake at the beginning of life can affect diet decisions in the future. And the cumulative effects of diet over time are associated with the development of our global cognitive abilities," he said in a press release.

A proven diet has health benefits including high intake of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Combined with low consumption of sugar, saturated fat, and processed foods. These include Mediterranean diets, DASH, and MIND.

"Food patterns rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory components, such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, food fiber, and omega-3, can help reduce age-related cognitive declines and reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases," said Kelsey Costa, a registered dietician.

Nutrition protects brain cells from damage caused by oxidative stress, supports brain structure and function, and maintains the health of blood vessel systems, which helps increase healthy blood flow to the brain," he added.

ID explained MIND's diet to Medical News Today that a combination of Mediterranean diets and Diet Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) has been shown to slow brain aging by about 7.5 years and significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

All of these diets provide a high intake of polyphenols, plant compounds that can help protect chronic health conditions, such as: