Can Eating a Certain Way Help Protect Your Brain From Memory Loss?

Last month, Dr. Maraganore explained the theory of the Mediterranean diet, and how it can be incorporated into food choices during the holidays; in Part 2 of this series, he discusses details behind recent research which indicate the impact of a Mediterranean diet on brain health.

Last year, an estimated 47 million people were living with dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. That number is expected to triple by 2050. Historically, neurologists have focused on treating and managing the disease and little was known about how our daily activities and habits in our younger years alter our risk for developing Alzheimer’s later in life.

Until now.

The focus of brain health research has experienced a dramatic shift. We now see an emphasis on identifying lifestyle factors which decrease one’s likelihood of developing dementia. These factors include exercise, diet, continued “brain activity” (i.e., learning a new language or musical instrument) and a host of other modifiable behaviors. This is actually very good news, because for years we understood dementia as an unavoidable disease, especially when genes are responsible. But, due to exciting new research findings, we are approaching dementia, Alzheimer’s and other cognitive diseases with a much different plan of attack: Prevention. Indeed AARP recently launched the Global Council on Brain Health, an international collaborative of scientists, doctors and scholars, whose mission is to provide a trusted source of information on what you can do to right now at home to keep your brain as healthy as it can be.

As far as we know today, the two most impactful things you can do to prevent or delay dementia are exercise and eat a Mediterranean diet, which by its nature is rich in anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and heart-healthy foods.  We will discuss exercise in a future post.  As far as the Mediterranean diet, the research speaks for itself!

Scientists in Spain set up a clinical trial to determine if a Mediterranean diet delayed memory loss by asking one group to follow a low fat diet and another group to follow a Mediterranean diet with added nuts and extra-virgin olive oil.  The group eating the Mediterranean diet experienced significantly improved cognitive function while the group following a low fat diet experienced cognitive decline over time (3).

Researchers in New York gave participants diet questionnaires to determine the “Mediterranean-ness” of their daily diet and compared this to the actual size of their brains.  Those who ate the most Mediterranean of diets, in particular those eating more fish and less red meat, had thicker brains and less brain shrinking over time than those eating less fish and more red meat.  In fact, the brains of those eating a highly Mediterranean diet appeared to be 5 years younger than they actually were (2)!

The Alzheimer’s Association recently studied the vast library of research on Alzheimer’s prevention to give a formal report to the World Dementia Council.  They found that the evidence suggesting that adopting certain healthy habits delays cognitive decline, including eating a Mediterranean is strong.  The evidence is so strong that they claim it is no longer acceptable to merely study it, but that this information should be widely shared so that people can take action at home. (1)

It is my hope that this blog post will motivate you to eat a healthier, more Mediterranean diet in this New Year.  For those readers who have dietary challenges such as allergies or diabetes, please consult an expert brain health dietitian, like those here at the Center for Brain Health, to help guide you.

Cheers to good health!

Dr. Demetrius Maraganore

1. Baumgart et al., Journal of Alzheimer’s & Dementia 11(2015) doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2015.05.016
2. Gu et al. Neurology (2015) doi:10.1212WNL.0000000000002121
3. Valls-Pedret C., Sala-Vila A., et al. JAMA Intern Med (2015) doi:101001/jamainternmed.2015.1688