It has been found in past studies that a typical Mediterranean diet, which includes foods such as vegetables, fish, olive oil and fruit, will considerably limit the threat of diabetes, cholesterol and hypertension and be beneficial to our overall mental and body health.
A recent research by the Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s disease and the Aging of the Brain at Columbia University, has confirmed these theories, and goes on to suggest that this type of diet may also be beneficial for the functioning of the brain, notably in diseases such as borderline dementia, which can eventually develop into Alzheimer’s disease.
This research team from Columbia University studied and questioned 482 patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment and 1,393 people who had no brain disorders at all. This group was questioned in particular on their daily dieting habits and food preferences.
The result of this study, that spanned over a period of nearly five years, revealed that those people who consumed foods rich in vegetables, fruit, fish and olive oil and fewer dairy and meat products, were 28% less likely to succumb to mild cognitive impairments than the other 30% whose diet was lacking in these food types.
275 people, who at the beginning of the research showed no signs of mild cognitive impairment, later contracted this ailment, while a third of those who followed a typically Mediterranean diet had about 17 % less chances of succumbing to mild cognitive impairment than those who did not have the same eating habits.
About four years following the set out of the research, 106 out of the 482 patients who already suffered from a mild cognitive impairment, contracted Alzheimer’s disease, while the patients who followed a diet rich in vegetables, fish, fruit and rich in monounsaturated fats, were 48% less likely to succumb to Alzheimer’s compared to those whose dieting habits were low in these food types.
In has already been determined in previous studies that there is definitely a correlation between eating habits and the development of Alzheimer’s disease, however this recent study is a premier. It is the first time a study has positively demonstrated that people following a typically Mediterranean diet will diminish the risks of developing mild cognitive impairment.
Although these results are significant and motivating, Scarmeas underlines that further clinical studies must be carried out to determine with certainty, that a typically Mediterranean diet will indeed provide a resistance against mild cognitive impairment, before these results can be judge as valid.
An expert from the Duke University Medical Centre affirms that it is nonetheless fundamental to follow healthier dieting habits as soon as possible, for changes in the way the brain functions, such as loss of memory, can begin at a very early stage, even before one realises the onset of the disease is in process.
The sooner the our diet is richer in vegetables, fruit, fish, olive oil and lower in dairy and meat products, the sooner our body will start building up a defence against mild cognitive decline or even Alzheimer’s.
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