Overview
- Researchers reporting in Neurology on Wednesday found that the type of plant foods people eat tracks with Alzheimer’s and related dementia risk.
- The Hawaii- and California-based Multiethnic Cohort followed 92,849 adults for about 11 years and identified 21,478 dementia cases using Medicare claims.
- People with the highest scores for overall plant intake had a 12% lower risk, those with the most healthful plant foods had a 7% lower risk, and those with the most unhealthful plant foods had a 6% higher risk.
- Diet shifts over a decade mattered, with large increases in low-quality plant foods linked to a 25% higher risk and large decreases linked to an 11% lower risk.
- Separate large studies of DASH and MIND eating patterns have tied heart-healthy diets to better cognitive scores and slower brain aging, suggesting shared pathways between cardiovascular and brain health.