A 20-YEAR STUDY SHOWS NO LINK BETWEEN MID-LIFE DIET and the future risk of dementia.

If we eat a specific food or follow a particular diet approach, can we lower our risk of Alzheimer’s disease? Can we delay this memory-robbing condition? I believe that what we eat affects our aging brain’s resilience.

Walnut consumption appears to improve cognitive function. Eat blueberries, and you may get a memory boost. Fish oil supplements may drop your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Of course, these observations do not mean that a good diet lowers our risk of memory loss.

Historical studies of the potential cognitive benefits of the so-called Mediterranean diet — broadly defined as a diet rich in vegetables, legumes, fruits, fish, and unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, and low in dairy, red meats, and saturated fats — have yielded mixed results.

Some observational studies comparing cognitively normal people who ate a Mediterranean diet with others who ate a Western-style diet (with more red meat, sugar, and saturated fats) show that the Mediterranean diet is linked with lower dementia risk.

A follow-up observational study showed lower sugar (glucose) metabolism and higher levels of beta-amyloid protein — both associated with Alzheimer’s — in those not closely following the Mediterranean diet compared to those who did.

One analysis of the MIND diet (a hybrid Mediterranean-Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet reported that, after an average follow-up of 4.5 years, those adhering most closely to it had a more than halving (53 percent) of Alzheimer’s disease risk.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mind-diet

On the other hand, two 2019 studies included thousands of individuals and had decades of follow-up. Researchers discovered no evidence that a Mediterranean diet lowers dementia risk or that diet quality affects dementia risk.

A new Swedish study adds another data point suggesting that a Mediterranean diet is not associated with dementia risk reduction.

Diet and dementia

Let’s examine the new Swedish study published this month in Neurology. The study’s authors begin by observing that dementia cases are likely to triple in the next three decades, highlighting the imperative to discover modifiable risk factors.

In this context, the Swedish researchers sought to determine if adherence to conventional dietary recommendations or a modified Mediterranean diet is associated with a subsequent lower risk of developing any form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, or accumulation of Alzheimer’s disease-related β (beta)-amyloid pathology.

Researchers looked at the prospective Swedish population-based Malmö (Sweden) Diet and Cancer Study (MDCS) from 1991 to 1996 with a follow-up for dementia until 2014.

The study included over 34,000 volunteers without dementia, with 41 percent eligible. The subjects completed a seven-day diary, a detailed food frequency questionnaire, and a one-hour interview. The participants had an average age of 58.

The researchers adjusted for demographics, co-morbidities, smoking, physical activity, and alcohol. Here are the results after a median follow-up of 19.8 years

• Nearly seven percent developed dementia.
• Adherence to a modified Mediterranean diet was not associated with a lower risk of all-cause dementia.
• Diet was not associated with abnormal β (beta)-amyloid pathology.

In this 20-year follow-up study, adherence to a modified Mediterranean diet did not appear to be associated with subsequent reduced risk for developing any dementia type, Alzheimer’s dementia, vascular dementia, or Alzheimer's disease-related pathology.

While it remains unclear whether diet can meaningfully affect memory loss risk, I cannot end this piece without giving you some tools that offer some promise in reducing dementia risk:

The information I provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a medical professional or healthcare provider if you seek medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment. I am not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this blog.