How Your Diet May Or May Not Be Affecting Your Dementia Risk

Eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables is a no-brainer for living a longer, healthier life but a recent study found that it may also help ward off dementia later on.

In a study by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece, researchers found that a diet that is rich in less inflammatory foods lowers the risks of developing dementia versus one with a higher intake of highly inflammatory foods.

Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, an associate professor of neurology at the university, said that while the impact diet has on brain health is not yet fully understood, the findings of the study suggest healthier foods are a good deterrent against cognitive problems later in life.

"Diet may affect brain health via many mechanisms, and according to our findings, inflammation may be one of them," Scarmeas told United Press International (UPI).

The study used a questionnaire answered by 1,000 people in Greece with the average age of participants being 73 years of age. No one had dementia when the study began, but 6% developed dementia during a follow-up of just over three years. The researchers used a scoring system for dietary inflammation which resulted in a range of -8.87 to 7.98, with higher scores pointing to a more inflammatory diet.

Those with a lower score were less likely to suffer from the effects of dementia by the end of the study. For those on this end of the spectrum, it was found that their diet consisted of 20 servings of fruit, 19 servings of vegetables, four servings of beans or other legumes, and 11 servings of coffee or tea each week.

Scarmeas explained that these foods contained nutrients that were more anti-inflammatory in their nutrient content. However, he insisted that the results do not directly prove these diets prevent dementia and that a longer follow-up period was necessary for stronger conclusions.

According to Alzheimers.org, more than six million Americans are living with the disease, the most common form of dementia. It added that more than 1 in 3 seniors dies from forms of dementia a year, a higher mortality rate than breast and prostate cancer combined.