By Kim Larson
Special to the Herald
No one escapes the aging process. Is there anything you can do to fend off the diseases of aging like dementia and Alzheimer’s?
It turns out that emerging research finds that you can fight these diseases (as well as many others) with food and fork.
Alzheimer’s disease, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, affects more than 5 million adults. That number is expected to be 7.1 million by 2025, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
A study published in the journal Alzheimer’s &Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, points to specific foods that support brain health and help to lower the risk for Alzheimer’s by up to 53 percent.
Researchers created a diet that was a blend of the Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) — two eating patterns that have significant evidence of health benefits. They tested the MIND diet by comparing it to the Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diets alone. Both the Mediterranean Diet and the DASH diet also reduced the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, by 54 and 34 percent, respectively.
The difference shown in this study was that even if you didn’t follow the MIND diet to the letter, you could still reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s by as much as 35 percent.
The other two diets did not show this effect.
Although this was an observational study, it lends credence to other studies that have shown strong trends in health benefits for certain eating patterns.
So what is the MIND (stands for Mediterranean Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet?
It includes 10 brain-friendly food groups. These brain-healthy foods and the nutrients they provide have been directly linked to improved neurological function, slower cognitive decline and reduced Alzheimer’s biomarkers in the brain.
The more regularly you eat these foods, the greater the impact on neurological health is likely to be.
Here are the brain- healthy foods and the recommendation for how often to eat them:
Green leafy vegetables (once a day)
Other vegetables (once a day)
Nuts (1/4 cup every day)
Berries (twice a week, especially blueberries and strawberries)
Beans (four times a week)
Whole grains (three timesa day)
Fish (at least once per week)
Poultry (two to four times a week)
Olive oil
Wine (one glass per day)
Research also identified foods thought to be damaging to brain health. These foods and how you should limit them include:
Cheese (once a week)
Red meats
Butter/stick margarine (less than a tablespoon a day)
Pastries/sweets/sugary foods (desserts are a special occasion)
Fried or fast food (less than one serving a week)
This diet is simple to follow — it’s as easy as adding tuna to your leafy green salad, a handful of nuts as a snack or adding fresh or frozen blueberries or strawberries to your breakfast in oatmeal, yogurt or smoothies.
Along with other healthy habits, making room for these foods in your daily diet adds powerful nutrition to your plate that will help your brain and over-all health.
Kim Larson is a registered dietitian nutritionist, founder of Total Health, www.totalhealth.com, and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition &Dietetics. Follower her at www.facebook.com/totalhealthnutrition and on Twitter @heatlhrd.
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