A new study has found that adopting a healthy and anti-inflammatory diet that depends on unprocessed foods could support brain and cognitive health and stave off the risk of dementia.
This finding is particularly beneficial for people with cardiometabolic conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart diseases or stroke, who face higher risk of dementia.
Anti-inflammatory Diet
Anti-inflammatory diet relies on healthy foods, such as whole grains, fish, legumes, fruits and vegetables. The anti-inflammatory elements in these foods can neutralize free radicals and inflammatory markers in the body. A good example of this diet is the Mediterranean diet, which is based on fruits and vegetables, whole gains, beans and healthy fats.
According to researchers, adopting a “pro-inflammatory” diet that relies on red meat and processed and ultra-processed foods, including sodas, fries, sugary cereals and ice cream, that are rich in saturated fats, can increase the activity of free radicals. These free radicals can cause cellular damage and increase the risks of Alzheimer’s disease as well as dementia and other chronic diseases.
In addition, previous research has found that highly-processed foods can lead to higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers, and increase the risk of stroke and heart diseases.
Moreover, a recent study showed that ultra-processed foods can increase cardiometabolic risk factors in children, putting them to a higher risk of cardiometabolic diseases in adulthood.
Anti-inflammatory Diet Benefits
The new study, published in the JAMA Network Open journal, highlights the benefits of the anti-inflammatory diet. Embracing an anti-inflammatory diet, instead of a pro-inflammatory diet, lowers the risk of dementia by 31%, especially for older adults with cardiometabolic diseases.
According to the study lead author, Abigail Dove, the anti-inflammatory diet has a direct link to the reduced risks of dementia. “Following an anti-inflammatory diet was related to lower risk of dementia, even among people with cardiometabolic diseases who are already at elevated risk of dementia,” she told CNN.
Dove explained that people with cardiometabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke, who adhered to an anti-inflammatory diet had a two-year delay in dementia onset compared to people with cardiometabolic diseases and pro-inflammatory diet.
Furthermore, the brain scans of people who stuck to anti-inflammatory diet showed remarkably lower levels of brain biomarkers of neurodegeneration and vascular brain damage, according to Dove.
How the Study Worked
Over 15 years, the study tracked the dietary patterns of more than 84,000 dementia-free adults over the age of 60 who have cardiometabolic conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and/or heart disease, and follow an anti-inflammatory diet.
The study authors classified 206 foods and 32 drinks according to their inflammatory and anti-inflammatory levels. Each person was asked about their consumption of these nutrients. Researchers examined the medical records over the period of the study to determine any link between eating inflammatory foods and dementia diagnosis.
Moreover, around 9,000 of the participants underwent MRI brain scans. The scans showed that people with cardiometabolic conditions who ate the most anti-inflammatory foods had larger volume of grey matter, which indicates less neurodegeneration, and lower white matter intensities, which indicate vascular brain damage.
Positive Findings
The new study comes in line with previous research that shows an association between inflammatory foods and brain health.
In the light of this, Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine who was not part of the study, said: “It is highly likely that a higher quality, less inflammatory diet directly impacts multiple pathways related to brain and neurocognitive health over time.”
Commenting on the new study findings, Katz added: “Even after one is contending with a chronic, cardiometabolic condition, the adoption of a higher quality diet appears to offer some protection to the brain, reducing and delaying both functional and anatomical signs of degradation.”
