A European study and a part of the Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life,” involved 842 people over the age of 65 years. It took place over a 12 year period in the regions of Bordeaux and Dijon, France. It concluded that a diet rich with plant foods reduced the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in the elderly population. It was published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research and led by professor, Cristina Andres-Lacueva.
The findings were a result of a joint study by the Biomarkers and Nutritional Food Metabolomics Research Group of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the University of Barcelona (UB) and the CIBER on Frailty and Healthy Aging.
Metabolomics Study Results
The aim of the study was to find a relationship to cognitive impairment from the analyzation of the dietary breakdown and the metabolites left from intestinal microbiota. Mireia Urpi-Sarda of the Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy, states, “what we analyzed in the cohorts under study is the modulating role of the diet in the risk of suffering cognitive impairment”. “The results show a significant association between these processes and certain metabolites.”
An in-depth look into the plasma samples, revealed that certain metabolites have a causal relationship to the normal age related cognitive decline and dementia found in the older population.
For example; biomarkers left from coffee and cocoa consumption, had a more protective role and artificial sweeteners like saccharin was seen to have a more damaging affect.
The full results revealed an overall protective role from cognitive impairment and dementia in the elderly was found in metabolites derived from cocoa, coffee, red wine and mushrooms, along with microbial metabolism from polyphenol-rich foods like: apple, green tea, cocoa, oranges, blueberries, and pomegranates.
Lifestyle and Dietary Changes for Healthy Cognition
The results of this study give promising information that can lead to greater discovery ultimately influencing prevailing practices to set new dietary guidelines and lifestyle changes that could significantly reduce cognitive decline in the elderly.
Research scientists have looked into the Mediterranean and DASH diet to find that vegetables and especially deep leafy greens as being the most compelling examples of foods that contribute to dementia prevention.
As far as what foods to avoid, findings came from the MIND diet which specifically limits intake of red meat, butter, margarine, pastries and sweets, fried and fast foods when dealing with dementia, Alzheimer’s and other psychoneurological conditions.
Lifestyle changes that show promising affects in the reduction of dementia include intermittent fasting. Fasting when done properly has been shown to reduce neuroinflammation, synaptic dysfunction, dysregulated neurotransmitter secretions, impaired neurogenesis and brain insulin resistance.
Adapting a dietary regime which centers around a higher intake of plant-based foods that include fresh fruits and vegetables that provide a rich source of polyphenols and other favorable dietary metabolites could change the odds for the development of neurocognitive diseases and slow the progression of Alzheimer’s and dementia in our aging population. Reducing the rate of neuro deterioration can be as easy as watching what we put into our mouths before we grow old. It is essential we continue to discover better preventative and therapeutic strategies for the early detection and care of cognitive impairment of our elderly in the future by further studying our gut microbiome.
-A Balanced Brain is a Healthy Gut-