Simple daily diet tweak in your 20s and 30s ‘can slash your risk of dementia as you age’
EAT your greens to stave off dementia, say scientists.
A study found eating lots of fruit and vegetables in your youth can protect your brain decades later.
What you eat even in childhood and your 20s and 30s can set you up to be sharper after retirement, as healthy young people typically went on to eat well for their whole lives.
Data from 3,059 Brits found only eight per cent of people who ate junk diets still had “high cognitive ability” in their late 60s, compared to 36 per cent with a good diet.
Meanwhile, 58 per cent of people in the low ability group ate unhealthily, compared to just eight per cent in the high ability group.
It shows people with bad diets were significantly more likely to suffer brain decline.
Adjusting our diet at any age is likely to improve our brain health
Dr Kelly Cara
This could mean their memory and thinking speed tails off in old age, potentially leading to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
Study author Dr Kelly Cara, from Tufts University, said: “This suggests that early life diet may influence our dietary decisions later in life and that the cumulative effects of diet over time are linked with the progression of our cognitive abilities.
“Our findings also provide new evidence suggesting that improvements to dietary patterns up to midlife may help to lessen cognitive decline in later years.
“Adjusting dietary intake at any age is likely to improve our health in many ways, including our brain health.”
Two thirds of adults in the UK do not manage to eat their five-a-day.
We have some of the highest rates of fruit and veg consumption in the West but millions still miss out on vital nutrients.
Dr Cara added: “Diets that are high in whole or less processed plant-food groups including leafy green vegetables, beans, whole fruits and whole grains may be most protective.”
Dementia affects around one million people in Britain and is the leading cause of death.
Tips to age well
There are a number of habits you can take up to care for your health and wellbeing as you age.
Age UK shared the following tips:
- Do things that you enjoy everyday – whether that’s cooking, seeing friends or enjoying a good book
- Stay hydrated – drink six to eight cups of water a day
- Eat plenty of fruit and veggies to lower your risk of heart disease and certain cancers, have beans, pulses, fish, eggs and meat to repair your body after injury, starchy carbs for energy dairy to help keep bones strong
- Manage long-term health conditions to prevent them progressing or having a greater impact on your health
- Quit smoking and reduce alcohol intake to no more than 14 units a week
- Make mental health a priority and get treatment for it, as it can also impact physical health
- Make sure you’re getting quality sleep
- Keep socialising – and call a friend or loved one if you can’t make it out the house
- Be physically active to lower the risk of depression and dementia, heart disease, stroke, Parkinson’s and some cancers