What you eat when you’re young and middle aged can affect how your brain functions as you age, new research shows.
After the age of 65, our cognitive performance often begins to decline, with more severe conditions like dementia often aggravating these effects. Previous research has shown that maintaining a healthy diet in your 60s and 70s can help stave off this age-related cognitive decline, but there have been fewer studies into how our eating habits throughout our life span impact cognitive aging.
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In a new study, researchers form Tufts University analyzed data collected from over 3,000 individuals for nearly seven decades to determine how eating patterns throughout a person’s life span—from age 4 to 70—can impact their cognitive abilities later in life.
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High quality diets were considered those rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains and lower in sodium, added sugars and refined grains, as defined by the 2020 to 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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In their analysis, the team found clear association between dietary quality and cognitive ability in later life. For example, only 8 percent of those with low-quality diets maintained high cognitive abilities into their 70s, whereas only about 7 percent of those with high-quality diets saw a significant decline in cognitive ability compared with their peers.
“These initial findings generally support current public health guidance that it is important to establish healthy dietary patterns early in life in order to support and maintain health throughout life,” Kelly Cara, a recent graduate of the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, said in a statement.
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“Our findings also provide new evidence suggesting that improvements to dietary patterns up to midlife may influence cognitive performance and help mitigate, or lessen, cognitive decline in later years,” Cara said.
The exact mechanisms behind these associations is unclear, but the researchers say that healthy eating—particularly a diet that is rich in plant-based foods rich in antioxidants and unsaturated fats—can support brain health by reducing damage caused by toxic metabolic byproducts and improving blood flow to the brain.
Of course, the study is purely observational and involved Caucasian individuals living in the U.K., but it is the first of its kind to track diet and cognitive ability throughout the life span, and may help inform early intervention strategies and diagnoses in the future.
Cara will present this research at NUTRITION 2024, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Chicago, on Monday July 1.
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Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Dr. Debi Johnson is a medical expert and health journalist dedicated to promoting well-being. With a background in medicine, she offers evidence-based insights into health trends and wellness practices. Beyond her reporting, Dr. Debi enjoys hiking, yoga, and empowering others to lead healthier lives.
