Diet for a young brain that protects against Alzheimer's is named in Japan

As humanity ages thanks to medical advances, more and more people around the world have begun to live to see senile dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Therefore, scientists wondered how they could be prevented.

In particular, Japanese researchers focused on diet. According to the Nikkei newspaper, scientists from Kyushu University and other research institutions took as a basis the work of their colleagues from Europe and the United States, who found that sufficient vegetable consumption protects against cognitive decline in old age, and tested their data on the Japanese.

The large-scale study lasted 24 years and involved 1,071 people - 619 women and 452 men aged 60 and over. None of the subjects had any symptoms of dementia at the start of the study. The participants were asked about their use of diabetes and hypertension medications, level of education, smoking frequency, alcohol consumption and physical activity. They were then divided into 8 groups: 4 groups based on vegetable consumption and 4 groups based on fruit consumption.

During the study, 464 people were diagnosed with dementia - in 286 cases it was Alzheimer's disease, and in 144 cases it was vascular dementia. There were 151 men and 313 women in this group. It was also found that 759 participants had died by the end of the study.

After analysing the data obtained during the observation of these people, the scientists concluded that only vegetable consumption has an impact on the development of dementia, while fruit had no significant effect on the results. At the same time, the protective effect of vegetables was manifested in those who ate 270 grams of these products per day. And the risk of dementia was significantly lower in those who ate about 400 grams of vegetables per day compared to those who consumed 107 grams.

In general, Japanese scientists have come up with a recommendation to consume 350 grams of vegetables and 200 grams of fruit per day. This is the amount of plant products that can prolong the youthfulness of the brain.

The researchers also decomposed the diets of those who had the lowest risk of developing dementia into nutrients. It turned out that vitamin A, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin C, magnesium, calcium and potassium protect against senile dementia. Vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin and calcium are good protectors against vascular dementia, and the last two of these elements are also effective against the development of Alzheimer's disease. In addition, the consumption of fibrous foods, i.e. fruits and vegetables, has been shown to improve overall health.

As OBOZREVATEL wrote, those with coronavirus also face the risk of cognitive decline. In particular, those who have had a severe illness.