What if we could warn dementia much earlier than you think? A team of researchers from the University of Oxford has just revealed a crucial discovery: adopting a good diet between 48 and 70 years old would have a direct impact on brain health. This nutritional turning point could significantly reduce the risk of developing a form of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Eating well helps keep the brain alert
Published in the journal Jama Network Openthe British study followed more than 500 volunteers for more than a decade. Thanks to repeated MRIs and cognitive tests, researchers observed that participants who adopted a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes and fish, but poor in added sugars, benefited from better connectivity in the hippocampus, the region of the brain linked to memory and learning. “”Eat better at this time of life strengthens the brain networks involved in language, memory and visual functions“, Specify the authors. These changes are not harmless: they reflect better brain resilience in the face of aging. Another key factor, noted in this same study: people with less abdominal fat show higher cognitive performance, including more flexible thought and more effective memory. For scientists, these results must alert.”The generalized transition to unbalanced eating habits promotes pathologies such as obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular disease, which are all linked to increased risk of dementia“, they warn. The particularly sensitive hippocampus undergoes the effects of these metabolic disturbances.
Acting against Alzheimer
American work carried out in Stanford in the magazine Nature aging have also highlighted two major organic aging peaks at 44 and 60 years old. These periods mark internal upheavals which weaken metabolism, the heart and the brain. To alleviate them, researchers recommend an impeccable lifestyle: more physical activity, restful sleep, and above all a balanced diet. Prevention goes further. An international reference study published in The Lancet estimated that nearly one in two Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s could be avoided by acting on 14 modifiable factors, including high cholesterol, loss of vision, hypertension, depression, social isolation or smoking.