Reduce Alzheimer’s risk: These two diets help

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. This is where protein is deposited in the brain, and nerve cells die off. What is probably the most dreaded disease of old age manifests itself in word-finding and orientation disorders, a dwindling short-term memory and can even bring about personality changes. As a result, those affected no longer even recognize their closest confidants.

The dramatic thing is that once the disease has broken out, it can at best be delayed, but it can no longer be stopped or even cured.

The number of Alzheimer’s patients will increase by 40 percent by 2030

The number of diseases has increased dramatically in recent years – and will continue to increase in the future. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the number of Alzheimer’s patients will increase by more than 40 percent by 2030. The forecasts can be traced back to demographic change. However, each individual can do something to reduce their personal risk of illness, for example by maintaining social contacts, their level of education and a healthy lifestyle. The risk factors also show that the latter point in particular, with the main focus on nutrition, is of great importance in the fight against dementia. Besides favoring social isolation and depression

the emergence of the disease.

Researchers at Rush University have now been able to collect new, concrete information, especially when it comes to nutrition. In a Study the scientists examined the brains of elderly, deceased women and men. They discovered parallels in the brains that showed little or no evidence of Alzheimer’s in the tissue.

Study examines the impact of eating habits on brain health

The beginnings of the study go back to the 1990s. At that time, 581 subjects with an average age of 84 years were asked to complete a detailed questionnaire about their dietary behavior each year, with 66 percent meeting criteria for Alzheimer’s disease:

• The subjects received one point for every food that scientifically contributes to a healthy brain.
• Likewise, there was a point deduction for each unhealthy food.

The average of the subjects died seven years after the start of the study. 39 percent of the participants were diagnosed with dementia shortly before death. After examining the brains, the US research team came to the following conclusion:

• The subjects who consumed larger amounts of processed products had higher-than-average levels of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in brain tissue, which are thought to be typical of Alzheimer’s disease. The “red list” includes: pastries, sweets, fried foods and fast food.
• The subjects who ate according to the principles of the so-called MIND diet not only had a younger brain, but also a much healthier one than the control group.

According to the scientists, the study was able to demonstrate the negative long-term effect of highly processed foods on brain function.

MIND diet keeps the brain young, fit and healthy

The MIND diet is a diet developed by Rush University that combines the principles of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet. Both concepts prevent cardiovascular diseases and strengthen brain function. The basic principles of the MIND diet are easy to remember:

• There is a lot on the menu fresh vegetables, legumes, nuts and olive oil.
• Red meat, butter and margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, fried foods and fast food, on the other hand, are only permitted to a limited extent – however, there should not be more than five small portions of sweets per week, fast food is permitted once a week.
• In addition, the diet is integrated ten different food groups that have been shown to boost brain function. These include Green leafy vegetables like kale and spinach, other vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil, and small amounts of red wine (max. 100 Milliliter pro Tag).

Green leafy vegetables particularly beneficial

The scientists emphasize that individual foods have a particularly protective effect. Green leafy vegetables in particular are one of them and should be at least once a day be on the menu. For example:

• Spinach,
• Kale,
• Cauliflower,
• Swiss chard or
• Lamb’s lettuce.

What the foods mentioned have in common is their folate content. Together with vitamin B6 and vitamin B12, it supports the breakdown of homocysteine, which occurs naturally in the body but can have a damaging effect on nerve cells and blood vessels in excessive doses.

Brain 19 years younger than actual age

According to study leader Puja Agarwal, those who ate a portion of spinach, kale, chard or similar every day had a brain structure that was 19 years younger than their actual age. “It’s intriguing that eating green leafy vegetables is associated with fewer signs of Alzheimer’s,” Agarwal said. “Although our research cannot yet prove that a healthy diet leads to reduced accumulation of amyloid plaque in the brain, we do know that there is a connection.”

Like the researchers in one Message write that the MIND diet not only has a positive effect on brain health, but also reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes.

Three risk factors for dementia that cannot be influenced

However, the risk of disease cannot be completely eliminated. In addition to factors that can be influenced, such as lifestyle and diet, etc., there are three factors that cannot be influenced:

• Alter: From the age of 60, the incidence of dementia doubles every five years
• Gender: Women are more at risk of dementia than men
• Genetic factors: A certain variant of the ApoE gene (important for the transport of cholesterol in the blood) influences the probability of developing Alzheimer’s dementia. Symptoms of the disease appear particularly early in carriers of ApoE4.

Among the early signs of dementia, medical professionals include the following signs:

• You keep forgetting appointments.
• If several people are involved in a conversation, you have difficulty following.
• You can no longer remember the content of conversations after a short time. On the other hand, events that happened a long time ago are still very present in your mind.
• You have trouble finding yourself on your own Apartment or to find your way in the well-known supermarket.
• You find yourself in a place or a room and have forgotten what you were supposed to be doing there.
• You find it difficult to prepare a meal that requires multiple individual steps.
• When reading, you have to repeat passages several times in order to understand them and can no longer concentrate as well.
• They have become more sloppy and careless.
• You often lack the right words