A heart-healthy diet may also protect against forgetfulness in old age.
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It emphasizes fruits, vegetables, nuts, low-fat dairy, and grains while minimizing red meat, sugar, and sodium intake.
Study on Cognitive Decline
A recent research of over 5,000 middle-aged women assessed their DASH diet compliance of their daily food intake.
In the vicinity of thirty years later, on average, the women were queried regarding six categories of routine cognitive impairments. Such as challenges in recollecting recent events or a shopping list.
If they provided at least two reports, it would suggest a deterioration in their cognitive functions.
Reduced Cognitive Decline with Heart-Healthy Diet
Individuals who followed a heart-healthy diet that closely resembled the DASH guidelines had a 17% reduced likelihood of experiencing this cognitive decline.
Benefits for Heart and Mind
Experts claim low-inflammatory diets like DASH improve mental health and heart, cholesterol, and blood pressure.
Senior author of the study and professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in the United States, Yu Chen, stated, “Our findings suggest that maintaining a healthy diet during middle age may benefit not only the heart but also the brain over time.”
In addition to lowering blood pressure, reducing sodium, sugar, and fat intake may also protect against Alzheimer’s disease.
This simple diet recommends eating more veggies, less meat, and less cake and ice cream.
Cognitive Challenges Examined
Scholars examined participants from an enduring women’s health study who were questioned regarding their dietary habits from the age of 35 to 65, and subsequently regarding six cognitive concerns as they approached the age of 65.
Memory problems were the biggest concern, with 40% of women reporting recent memory changes.
Also, 17% of respondents had problems recalling recent events and 19% had trouble recalling short lists like grocery lists.
The study’s three remaining cognitive impairments were relatively infrequent, impacting a maximum of six percent of the female participants.
Challenges included difficulties comprehending or adhering to verbal directives, difficulties engrossed in group discussions or captivated by the plot of television programmes, as well as difficulties navigating through familiar streets.
The ladies were divided into four DASH-compliant diet categories 33 years ago, on average.
Moving from the fourth to the third diet group enhanced health and lowered cognitive problem risk by 7%.
This was true even when smoking, lesser education, and high BMI were regarded as causes of later-life memory problems.
However, the researchers did not examine social interaction, physical exercise, or sleep length confounding variables.
Diet’s Role in Cognitive Health
Memory loss is a normal consequence of ageing; therefore, the study classified women as potentially declining in mental ability only if they reported two or more cognitive issues from the supplied list of six.
Although the cognitive issues examined in the research posed challenges for the elderly, they may, in certain instances, indicate moderate cognitive impairmentโa precursor to dementia diagnoses such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Thus, experts believe that a healthy diet that avoids memory loss in old life may help prevent Alzheimer’s.
The degree to which women adhered to the DASH diet was determined by inquiring about the items they consumed.
On a scale of one to five, they rated eight food categories; a low intake of red meat, salt, and sweet foods such as cake and ice cream resulted in lower scores; a high intake of fruit, including fruit juice, vegetables (excluding potatoes), legumes (peas and beans, nuts, and seeds), low-fat dairy, and grains received higher scores.
With the highest scores (40 out of 40), women comprise the group that follows the DASH-compliant diet the most.
In contrast to the women in the lowest group of four, who adhered to the least compliant diet, the likelihood of these women experiencing at least two cognitive problems was reduced by 17%.
