STICKING to a Mediterranean diet could reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a study claims.
Eating lots of leafy greens, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, olive oil, beans, nuts and fish reduces the amount of proteins that build up on the brain — a cause of the condition, researchers found.
They studied how closely people kept to the MIND diet, which has been developed for brain health, and Mediterranean diet to see how it affected their chances of Alzheimer's.
Dr Puja Agarwal, of the RUSH University in Chicago, said the results are “exciting”.
He said: “Improvement in people’s diets in just one area was associated with fewer amyloid plaques in the brain similar to being about four years younger.
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“While our research doesn’t prove that a healthy diet resulted in fewer brain deposits of amyloid plaques, we know there is a relationship.
“Following the MIND and Mediterranean diets may be one way that people can improve their brain health and protect cognition as they age.”
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, which is suffered by around 850,000 in the UK.
It is thought to be caused by a build-up of proteins called amyloids and tau in the brain.
These deposits form plaques around brain cells or tangles within them respectively.
Previous research has linked the mediterranean diet — consisting of whole grain cereals, fruits, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, fish and potatoes — with a host of h
The MIND diet is based on the mediterranean diet, but with an extra emphasis on leafy greens and eating chicken or turkey at least twice a week.
Both regimes recommend people drink a small amount of wine each week.
The latest study, published in Neurology, tracked diets in 581 elderly people with an average age of 84.
They were given questionnaires each year asking them how much of each food they ate until they died.
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After they died, researchers looked at their brains to see how many amyloid plaques or tau tangles had built up.
People who scored highest for adhering to the Mediterranean diet had average amounts in their brains similar to being 18 years younger than people who scored lowest.
Those who stuck to MIND most had average plaque and tangle amounts similar to being 12 years younger than those who scored lowest.
Professor Argawal said: “Our finding that eating more green leafy vegetables is in itself associated with fewer signs of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain is intriguing enough for people to consider adding more of these vegetables to their diet.
“Future studies are needed to establish our findings further.”