Dementia Discussions: Is There a Diet to Stave off Dementia?
Are you wondering if there is a diet to stave off dementia? If so, read on to discover what you need to know today.
Watching someone you love become someone else as their brain slowly drifts away because of dementia is heartbreaking. It’s like you lose them years before they pass away.
And if you’ve experienced this, you’re likely wondering how you can avoid the same fate (well, other than changing your genetics).
There are no guarantees in life, but some emerging research shows that eating, and avoiding, certain foods can reduce your risk of developing dementia.
If you are curious about what foods and diets may help, keep reading - your future health is on the line!
So, let’s dive right in and break down some of the top “dementia diets” for you.
A Quick Word About Research
Since dementia looks different for everyone and develops over a long period of time (called disease latency), research studies can take decades. New information takes longer to come out because of the disease latency, so please take any “new” discoveries with a grain of salt.
The Mediterranean Diet
About seventy years ago, researchers who looked at aging and body composition noticed that people who lived along the mediterranean sea lived longer, were healthier, and maintained healthy brain function longer. Being researchers, they wanted to know why that was.
And while some of it is genetics, they found that the diet of the Mediterranean people not only helps them maintain healthy weight and vitals (like blood pressure and cholesterol) but also increases activity and decreases destruction in the brain.
Hence, the Mediterranean diet was born. It’s a relatively simple diet - it doesn’t involve any special shakes, food replacements, or fasting. It focuses on non-processed high-quality foods rich in natural oils like fish and olive oil, fresh fruits and vegetables, and grains like quinoa.
They studied this diet in over 4,600 women. They found that those who followed the diet relatively closely (the source didn’t define what that meant) had measurable brain differences from those who didn’t.
One way these differences were noticed was by considering telomeres. Telomeres are like the end caps of your DNA chromosomes. They keep the integrity of the DNA, keeping what you want inside the chromosome and what you don’t want out. According to this study, women who ate a more Mediterranean diet had longer and higher quality telomeres, which scientists consider protective when it comes to brain aging.
But that’s not all. The diet also has shown a lower risk for heart attacks, heart disease, strokes, memory loss, and loss of cognitive abilities.
If you’ve ever heard about the MIND diet, then you may not be surprised to learn that the Mediterranean diet represents the “MI”- part of the MIND diet. We’ll take a closer look at this one later on.
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The DASH Diet
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet (DASH) is similar to the Mediterranean diet in that it promotes healthy fats, grains, clean proteins, and produce. However, it encourages fewer servings of processed foods and allows for more servings of dairy than the Mediterranean diet.
It has similar impressive statistics regarding body changes, too. These changes are especially pronounced regarding weight loss, reduced cholesterol, and reduced blood pressure. As its name suggests, reducing blood pressure (hypertension) is what this diet was mainly created to do.
If anything, the DASH diet is the Mediterranean diet - just a little more “Americanized.”
What is the Difference Between the DASH Diet and The Mediterranean Diet?
There are very few differences between the DASH and Mediterranean diets. The main ones are that the DASH diet doesn’t encourage as much fish as the Mediterranean diet suggests and that the DASH diet allows for more dairy.
Why is this relevant? Well, researchers who look at dementia have discovered that combining these two diets may create the best “dementia diet” for brain health. They took the core principles of each and combined them to create the MIND diet.
The MIND Diet
The combination of the two above diets is referred to as the “MIND” diet, or Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. In this context, neurodegenerative delay relates to many brain-related aging disorders, including dementia.
What Is Different About The MIND Diet?
Well, not much.
The most significant difference is that the other two diets (DASH and Mediterranean) don’t specify the types of vegetables people should eat. The MIND diet, however, states that leafy greens like kale, spinach, lettuce, arugula, and chard may be the “most” efficient vegetables to eat for maintaining brain health.
The MIND diet is pretty much what you’d think of when it comes to “eating healthy.” Something that we all know we’re supposed to be doing, but is more complicated than it sounds to implement and stay consistent with.
One big bonus about the MIND diet? It keeps the Mediterranean suggestion of one glass of wine daily (yes, just one). Red wine specifically, but you could get away with white a few times a week.
Note: Resveratrol is the main beneficial component of red wine as it has strong antioxidant properties. However, for many people, alcohol of any kind, including wine, can do more damage to the brain than good - especially if they struggle with cognitive difficulties. Moreover, sulphites often used in wine-making can bring about additional problems. The solution? Try eating a handful of organic red grapes from time to time instead.
What Not to Eat for Dementia
Just as important as knowing what to eat or what type of diet best supports the prevention of dementia, so too is it important to know what not to eat.
The American diet (Standard American Diet) is known globally for its low-quality, highly processed nature, loads of sugar, and elevated levels of unhealthy poor-quality fats.
Those are all the things you want to avoid when it comes to eating to prevent dementia.
Specifically, try to eat as little red meat as possible (unless it is 100% grass-fed). You can still get iron from leafy greens, which the MIND diet recommends anyways. You also want to avoid the saturated fats that come from things like margarine, industrial seed oils, and anything you can order at a fast-food restaurant.
Don’t know what else to eat? Check out my meal plans or recipe e-books! Allow me to create a custom meal plan for you to optimize your brain health, or instantly download a recipe e-book with brain-healthy recipes that you can get started with today.
Have a sweet tooth? Processed flour and sugar could create cerebral inflammation and slow down your brain. So see if you can transition to dark chocolate or fruit with yogurt instead. Better yet, fill up on protein instead of the empty calories found in sugary treats.
The “Dementia Diet”: Some is Better Than None
When it comes to reframing any health behaviour, we first aim for what’s called “harm reduction” - a fancy way of saying that little steps matter.
Even research participants who ate the Mediterranean diet less than 50% of the time still saw an improvement in their brain health vs. those who continued to eat the Standard American Diet.
Start by reducing your intake of processed foods and switch to using olive oil for cooking. Or, better yet, get free nutrition counseling on what small changes you can start with that will help prevent dementia in the long run.
Interested in learning more about how your food impacts your brain? Please read my story and my clients’ testimonials on my neuronutrition site. Get started today!
As always, I welcome your thoughts and value your feedback. Let me know your thoughts by dropping me a line or commenting below.
[Medical Disclaimer]
Please consult with your doctor(s) before starting any new mental or physical health improvement program. The advice I offer is not intended to replace that of your medical practitioner. I am not a medical professional, nor am I qualified to diagnose, cure treat, or prevent disease. The advice I provide on this website is intended for a broad and diverse audience, and as such, deals with general lifestyle concepts, not specific healthcare advice. This material disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the advice expressed herein.