Doctor study: Mediterranean diet helps prevent dementia

Experts from Newcastle University have found that individuals following a Mediterranean-style diet have up to a 23% lower risk of dementia than those following a different diet.

This research, published today in BMC Medicine , is one of the largest studies of its kind, as previous studies have been limited to small sample sizes and low numbers of dementia cases.

The scientists analyzed data from 60,298 individuals from the UK Biobank, a large cohort of people from across the UK, who had completed a diet assessment.

The authors assigned a score to individuals based on how well their diet matched the main characteristics of a Mediterranean diet. Participants were followed up for nearly a decade, during which time 882 cases of dementia occurred.

The authors took into account each individual's genetic risk of dementia, estimating the so-called polygenic risk – a measure of all the different genes that are related to dementia risk.

Dr Oliver Shannon, Lecturer in Human Nutrition and Aging at Newcastle University, led the study together with Professor Emma Stevenson and Professor David Llewellyn, joint senior author.

The research also involved experts from the universities of Edinburgh, UEA and Exeter and is part of the NuBrain consortium, funded by the Medical Research Council.

“ Dementia impacts the lives of millions of people around the world and currently options for treating this condition are limited. Finding ways to reduce the risk of developing dementia is therefore a major priority for researchers and doctors. Our study suggests that a more Mediterranean-like diet could be a strategy to help individuals reduce the risk of dementia ."

The authors found that there was no significant interaction between polygenic risk of dementia and associations between Mediterranean diet adherence. According to the authors, this could indicate that, even for those with a higher genetic risk, a better diet could reduce the likelihood of developing the condition.

This finding was not consistent across all analyses, and the authors propose further research to evaluate the interaction of diet and genetics on dementia risk.

John Mathers, professor of human nutrition at Newcastle University, said: 'The good news from this study is that, even for those with a higher genetic risk, a better diet reduces the likelihood of developing dementia.

"While more research is needed in this area, this reinforces the public health message that we can all help reduce the risk of dementia by eating a more Mediterranean-like diet."

The authors caution that their analysis is limited to individuals who reported having a White, British, or Irish ethnic ancestry, as genetic data was only available based on European ancestry, and that more research is needed across a number of populations to determine potential benefit. Based on the data collected, a Mediterranean diet with a high intake of healthy plant-based foods may be an important intervention to incorporate into future dementia risk reduction strategies.

The protective effect of this diet against dementia was evident regardless of a person's genetic risk, so it is likely to be a beneficial lifestyle choice for people who want to make healthy food choices and reduce their risk of dementia." .

“Future dementia prevention efforts could go beyond generic healthy diet advice and focus on supporting people to increase their consumption of specific foods and nutrients that are essential for brain health.”

So if the Mediterranean diet prevents dementia, why do we let ourselves be led by German and French Nordics who don't follow this diet? Mystery…

---

---

The article Medical Study: The Mediterranean Diet Helps Prevent Dementia comes from Economic Scenarios .

---

This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/dieta-demenza-prevenzione/ on Thu, 16 Mar 2023 20:46:00 +0000.