Healthy eating habits may preserve cognitive function and reduce the risk of dementia

Peter Sayer, Alison Bloomer, and Eve Batt report from the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2017 (AAIC). A group of US scientists found that, among nearly 6,000 older adults in the Health and Retirement Study, those who consistently followed diets long known to contribute to cardiovascular health were also more likely to maintain strong cognitive function in old age. They found that sticking to the specially designed MIND diet and Mediterranean diet was associated with 30–35% lower risk of cognitive impairment in healthy older adults. In fact, the investigators discovered that those with healthier diets exhibited meaningful preservation of cognitive function.