Category: Brain Health

A popular diet high in certain foods will reduce the risk of stroke by a great deal.

People on a vegetarian diet high in nuts, soy, and vegetables are at a lower risk of stroke compared to those who follow dietary patterns that include meat and fish, a study has found.

A stroke is a life-threatening event which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks and bleeds.

This medical condition accounts for 1 out of every 19 deaths in the United States.

Dr Chin-Lon Lin, study co-author, said:

“Stroke is the second most common cause of death worldwide and a leading cause of disability.

Stroke can also contribute to dementia.

If we could reduce the number of strokes by people making changes to their diets, that would have a major impact on overall public health.”

More than 12,000 Thai participated in this study: they were Buddhist with an average age of 50-years-old and no history of stroke.

Buddhist communities encourage vegetarianism and reject drinking alcohol and smoking.

The term vegetarian in the study was defined as a person who does not eat meat or fish.

Participants who were vegetarian had more vegetables, soy, and nuts in their diet but ate less dairy and fat.

Vegetarians had a higher intake of plant protein and fibre than non-vegetarians.

Fruit and egg intake was similar in both groups.

Vitamin B12 levels were lower in vegetarians compared to non-vegetarians.

During the nine years following, there were 27 strokes amongst vegetarians, whereas there were 125 strokes among the other group.

The risk of hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in the brain) was 65 percent lower for vegetarians

Also the risk of ischaemic stroke (blockage of an artery in the brain) was reduced by 60 percent in vegetarians.

Dr Lin said:

“Overall, our study found that a vegetarian diet was beneficial and reduced the risk of ischemic stroke even after adjusting for known risk factors like blood pressure, blood glucose levels and fats in the blood.

This could mean that perhaps there is some other protective mechanism that may protecting those who eat a vegetarian diet from stroke.”

The study was published in the journal Neurology (Chiu et al., 2020).

For each extra hour of this activity, brain aging is reduced by a further 1.1 years.

A single hour of light physical activity per week is enough to reduce brain aging by one year, new research finds.

Light physical activities include a casual walk and doing household chores.

For each extra hour of this sort of activity, brain aging is reduced by a further 1.1 years.

Light physical activity is also linked to larger brain volumes.

The study’s authors write:

“Achieving 10 000 or more steps per day was associated with higher brain volume compared with those achieving fewer than 5000 steps per day.”

Since the brain tends to shrink with age, larger brain volume is a sign of healthy aging.

Exercise is, of course, also very good for the body, tending to lower the risk factors for many diseases.

The standard Physical Activity Guidelines in the US are to do 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity per week.

However, many do not reach this level.

Dr Nicole Spartano, the study’s first author, said:

“Every additional hour of light intensity physical activity was associated with higher brain volumes, even among individuals not meeting current Physical Activity Guidelines.

These data are consistent with the notion that potential benefits of physical activity on brain aging may accrue at a lower, more achievable level of intensity or volume.”

The study included 2,354 people who were involved in the Framingham Heart Study.

All wore an accelerometer for at least 3 days to measure their activity.

Brain scans assessed their brain aging.

Dr Spartano continued:

“We have really only just begun to uncover the relationship between physical activity and brain health.

We couldn’t do this research without the commitment of the Framingham Heart Study participants who have given so much to the medical community over the years.

Our research also hinges on the multi-disciplinary team of investigators at Boston University and external collaborators.”

The study was published in the JAMA Network Open (Spartano et al., 2019).

The more people ate, the better their thinking skills over time.

Eating two teaspoons of nuts each day is linked to better memory, thinking and reasoning, new research reveals.

Those eating a small amount of nuts regularly had 60 percent better cognitive skills than those not eating them, the study found.

Nuts contain antioxidants that can help to reduce inflammation, which protects the brain against cognitive decline.

The conclusions come from a study that tracked 4,822 people over 55-years-old in China from 1991 to 2006.

All were given tests of cognitive function, including memory, thinking and reasoning.

The results revealed that 10 grams of nuts per day or higher was linked to a 40 percent reduction in the risk of cognitive decline.

The more nuts people ate, the better their thinking skills over time.

Dr Ming Li, the study’s author, said:

“By eating more than 10 grams (or two teaspoons) of nuts per day older people could improve their cognitive function by up to 60 per cent — compared to those not eating nuts — effectively warding off what would normally be experienced as a natural two-year cognition decline.”

The nut most people ate in the study was peanuts — 17 percent were regular consumers of them.

Dr Li said:

“Nuts are known to be high in healthy fats, protein and fibre with nutritional properties that can lower cholesterol and improve cognitive health.

While there is no cure for age-related cognitive decline and neurogenerative disease, variations in what people eat are delivering improvements for older people.”

Aging populations around the world can change their diet to slow down natural decline, Dr Li said:

“As people age, they naturally experience changes to conceptual reasoning, memory, and processing speed.

This is all part of the normal ageing process.

But age is also the strongest known risk factor for cognitive disease.

If we can find ways to help older people retain their cognitive health and independence for longer — even by modifying their diet — then this absolutely worth the effort.”

The study was published in The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging (Shi, 2018).