To Help Ward Off Alzheimer’s

The field of nutrition is changing drastically now with diets designed to boost brain health, targeted mostly towards older adults. Scientists from Toronto, Rush University Medical Center and Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health published the Canadian Brain Health Food Guide and the MiND Diet, both of which suggest certain nutrients – mostly found in plants, grains, beans, nuts, vegetable oils and fish – protect cells in the brain while fighting inflammation and oxidation.

While neither study is a proved fact yet, both have yielded promising results in observational studies. The Canadian study resulted in a 36 percent drop in the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease while the Rush/Harvard study lowered Alzheimer’s risk by 53 percent. Both are now being subject to further and more rigorous clinical trials this year.

The MiND diet calls for two servings of vegetables and three servings of whole grains per day and fix half-cup portions of berries per week. It also recommends one serving of fish or seafood per week.

The Canadian study calls for five servings of vegetables and four servings of fruit per day and does not make any recommendations for whole grains. However, it suggests that three servings of fish or seafood be consumer per week.

Both diets concur that sweets, pastries, butter, red meat, and fried and processed foods should be avoided.

It’s not sure what this means for the brains of older adults, because more studies need to be complete, but it is proved that a poor diet can increase the risks of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.

Key Points:

• Certain nutrients and vitamins help protect cells in the brain. Don’t eat junk food.
• A poor diet can increase the risk of diseases, which can compromise cognitive function
• Concentrate on eating an assortment of foods that are good for you, so you don’t have to worry about missing key nutrients that will boost your brain health.

Diets designed to boost brain health, targeted largely at older adults, are a new, noteworthy development in the field of nutrition. The latest version is the Canadian Brain Health Food Guide, created by scientists in Toronto. Another, the MIND diet, comes from experts at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.