A Good Diet for the Brain - may also slow age dependent cognitive decline.
For years, clinicians and researchers have dedicated tremendous effort in search of a connection between a specific type of diet with cardiovascular health and general wellness. I am happy to report that today we can easily say that indeed there is one!
However, is there also a connection between a specific diet and a healthy brain? While most of experts would not give a clear answer to this question, we cannot deny a simple fact: hundreds of studies have shown a link between a Mediterranean-style diet—which focuses on fresh produce, extra-virgin olive oil, legumes, nuts, and fish—and a positive impact on brain health, like significant slower age-dependent cognitive decline.
The available science says that for instance this type of diet may protect the brain from damage just by keeping its blood vessels functional and healthy, taming inflammation, and eliminating various dangerous toxins that we produce as by-products, all factors that have been demonstrated to harm normal brain function and activity.
Today we can say with confidence that “what we eat matters for our brain health in the short and the long run”. Studies have shown that adherence to a Mediterranean diet lifestyle is associated with more than 30% reduced risk of stroke and dementia, and for subjects with other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, following this diet may have a milder disease.
Unfortunately, despite the strong evidence supporting that a healthy diet, like the
Mediterranean diet, can provide tremendous benefits to our brain, recent data show that in the USA only a small percentage, only about 6-8 % of people, follow a Mediterranean diet.
While do not know the exact reasons, I would like to speculate on some of them.
Some people just do not want to change their current eating habits, others may not know how to incorporate a healthy diet into their regular eating habits. In other instances, some individuals are worried about the higher cost of following this diet, or afraid that they do not have the skills to cook with ingredients they are not familiar with such as fish, olive oil, and legumes, just to mention a few.
In fact, the Mediterranean diet includes consuming at least three servings per day of fruits and vegetables; one serving of beans, nuts, or seeds at least three times a week; and a daily dose of olive oil. By contrast, it discourages the use of red meat and processed meats, sweets, fried foods, and butter.
Nowadays all these ingredients are easily available everywhere, and I dare to say mostly affordable or at least not more expensive than some of the foods that are to be avoided. The adoption and adherence to healthy eating habits, a good diet for the brain like following a Mediterranean diet is not and should not be a challenging or difficult task.
We must start with easy steps, by embracing one food at a time until we fully adhere to the complete Mediterranean dietary approach, which should be envisioned not as a once or twice a week event but as regular new normal eating style to enjoy the full healthy benefits. And most importantly, as I always say please remember that” it is never too early and never too late" to start a diet that besides being good for our body will also be good for our brain!
Love your food; love your brain!
If you would like to read more about the Mediterranean diet, here is an article from Harvard Health.
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Domenico Praticò, MD, holds the Scott Richards North Star Charitable Foundation Chair for Alzheimer’s Research and serves as a Professor and Founding Director of the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple, as well as a Professor of Neural Sciences at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.
For more information on the research conducted by Dr. Domenico Pratico, please visit this link.
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