Photo by Flickr user Pedro Ribeiro Simões (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/13910019233)
Despite the many studies that seem to show this effect, the results are not consistent and thus require further study.
A new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease aimed to compare a variety of diets and their effects on cognitive dysfunction, including Alzheimer’s Disease, all-type dementia, and all-type cognitive impairment in Swedish elderly men.
1,138 Swedish elderly men aged 70 years old were followed over 12 years. Dietary information was collected using a 7 day diet record book that was filled out by all participants.
Diets examined were: the WHO recommendations/Health Diet Indicator, a Mediterranean-style diet, and a low carbohydrate/high protein diet.
Dietary information was then compared with and correlated with incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease, all-type dementia, and all-type cognitive impairment.
Important Findings:
At the end of the 12 year follow-up:
4% of men developed Alzheimer’s Disease.
6% of men developed all-type dementia.
4% of men developed all-type cognitive impairment.
There were no strong associations between diet and any of the cognitive dysfunction examined in this study.
There was a possible beneficial relationship between a Mediterranean-style diet and all-cognitive impairment.
The results of this study did not find any significant associations between diet and cognitive dysfunction in Swedish elderly men, adding to the already inconsistent results found between studies. The did see a trend toward a possible beneficial relationship between a Mediterranean-style diet and all-cognitive impairment, however, these results were not statistically significant.
Photo by Flickr user Pedro Ribeiro Simões (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosimoes7/262478037)
It is possible that perhaps the sample size was too small to see any effect, or there are other factors involved that have a stronger influence on cognitive dysfunction than diet alone.
The three diets in this study are somewhat similar, in that they are all considered to be relatively “healthy” diets compared to a Western-style diet. Inclusion of this diet would have been important for this study, as this type of diet is consumed by a significant number of people throughout the world.
It is possible that there weren’t enough participants in this study to be sensitive enough to pick up any real differences in terms of associations with cognitive dysfunction. It’s also possible (and likely) that there is single type of diet for every individual, and there are other factors involved that contribute to the development (or lack thereof) of cognitive dysfunction.
The Mediterranean diet is frequently touted as being highly beneficial toward human health, however, some studies have
Photo courtesy wikimedia.com (Public Domain)
suggested that in the locations where this type of diet originated, adherence has dropped as more people adopt a more Western-style diet.
A new study in the journal Nutrition aimed to examine adherence to the Mediterranean diet by Greek youths and to attempt to understand possible trends by comparing adherence to a variety of demographic, lifestyle, and socio-economic factors.
A total of 525 Greek youths living in Athens or Heraklion, between the ages of 12 and 18, were included in this study.
Adherence to the Mediterranean diet was determined by questionnaires. Other data used in the analysis included: gender, age, height, weight, place of residence, parents education, parents employment, family structure, number of times “going out” per week, hobbies, TV watching, and sleeping habits.
Important Findings:
21% of Greek youths had a strong adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
Strong adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with:
Mother’s educational level.
Living with both parents.
Living in a smaller city.
Weak adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with:
Using the computer 4 or more hours per day.
A lack of physical activity.
There was no correlation with adherence to the Mediterranean diet and body mass index.
The results of this study show that only 21% of Greek youths maintain a relatively strict Mediterranean diet. Youths with mothers
Photo By Fredler Brave (Fredler Brave; uploaded to Wikipedia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commonshaving higher education levels, youths living with both parents, and youths living in a smaller city all seemed to correlate positively with strong adherence to the Mediterranean diet, while youths with mothers who had lower educational levels resulted in a poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet.
Not included in this study was economic information, which, as we’ve seen in previous studies, may also have a strong influence on adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Economic factors could also have associations with the factors in this study shown to have influence on Mediterranean diet adherence.
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