Question: Can Diet and Nutrition Reduce My Risk of Alzheimer's Disease?
Answer: Research suggests that adopting a "brain-healthy" diet can reduce our risk of Alzheimer's. What's a brain-healthy diet? First, it's a diet that avoids saturated fat and cholesterol. Second, it's a diet that includes:
- Dark-skinned fruits and vegetables, such as eggplant, red bell peppers, beets, broccoli, spinach, Brussels sprouts, red grapes, cherries, oranges, and all kinds of berries (blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, strawberries, and raspberries are great choices). Dark-skinned fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of naturally occurring antioxidants, which protect the brain from free radical formation.
- Coldwater fish, such as tuna, mackerel, anchovies, trout, herring, salmon, sardines, and whitefish. Coldwater fish contain omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial to cell membranes.
- Other foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, such as green leafy vegetables, avocados, Brazil nuts, cashews, pistachios, walnuts, canola oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil, and peanut oil. Nuts also contain vitamin E, which is a potent antioxidant.
Supplements like vitamins B-12, C, E, and folate may also help maintain a healthy brain. In fact, a 2007 international study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry found that those with a folate deficiency were over three times as likely to develop dementia than those with adequate folate levels. However, it's better to obtain these nutrients directly from food, if possible.
Sources:
Brain health. Alzheimer's Association. October 18, 2007. http://www.alz.org/we_can_help_brain_health_maintain_your_brain.asp
Changes in folate, vitamin B-12, and homocysteine associated with incident dementia. Kim, JM, Stewart, R, Kim, SW, Shin, IS, Yang, SJ, Shin, HY, & Yoon, JS. 2007. http://press.psprings.co.uk/jnnp/january/jn131482.pdf
Food for thought: This supernutrient promises to keep you sharp, focused, and mentally agile. Crook, T. 2008. Prevention, 131-132.
Shankle, W. R., & Amen, D. G. 2004 Preventing Alzheimer's: Ways to help prevent, delay, detect, and even halt Alzheimer's disease and other forms of memory loss. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
