Healthy diets make brighter brains

A Study following nearly 28,000 people aged 55 and older at high cardiovascular risk, which monitored their diets for 5 years and tested declines against thinking and memory tests, found a smaller drop in brain power for those who ate well. "The American Academy of Neurology has published the results in the journal Neurology. The healthy eating linked to the stronger cognitive health was a diet with not much red meat, moderate alcohol and lots of fruits and vegetable, nuts and fish. The 27,860 over-55s included for the analysis, from across 40 countries, were studied over an average of around 5 years. Certain health conditions were excluded at the start of the study of people at high risk of cardiovascular disease. None of the participants had diabetes or a history of heart disease, stroke or peripheral artery disease; nor had any recently experienced serious disease outcomes such as a stroke or congestive heart failure. Participants who experienced heart disease or stroke during the study were no longer followed for diet and mental power. To take a baseline measure of cognitive health and monitor any decline, thinking and memory skills were tested at the start of the study, then 2 years and about 5 years later. A maximum of 30 points was possible against these thinking and memory tests and cognitive decline was noted when scores dropped by 3 points or more, which happened for 17% overall - a total of 4,699 participants."

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