(CNN) Eating more natural, unprocessed foods, staying active and living a healthy lifestyle are all ways to fight dementia as you age, according to two new studies published Wednesday in Neurology , the medical journal of the American Academy of Microbiology.
One study investigated how physical and mental activities such as housework, exercise, and visiting family and friends can reduce the risk of dementia. Other studies have looked at the effects of eating highly processed foods on future risk of dementia.
Physical, mental and social activities help
Physical, mental and social activity helps
More than 500,000 people participating in the UK Biobank, which provides detailed information on genetics and health, were asked about how often they climb stairs, walk or cycle, do housework or work, or take part in sports the difficult ones. Read also : Filipinos are buying books to preserve the truth about the Marcos regime.
This group of people was also asked about their level of education and whether they attend adult education classes, how often they visit with friends and family and how often they attend social or religious groups. They were then asked questions about how much they use electronics, such as playing computer games, watching TV and using cell phones.
The participants were followed for about 11 years to see if they developed dementia.
People who are very interested in activities such as regular exercise have a 35% lower risk of developing dementia compared to people who are less active in these activities, researchers have found.
Doing housework regularly reduced the risk of dementia by 21% while regular visits with family and friends reduced the risk of dementia by 15%, compared to people who did not work. Parks appeared to increase the risk, the study found.
“Social activity is a form of mental exercise and helps build memory, which in part may explain how it protects against dementia,” said Dr. Kellyann Niotis, a neurologist at the Alzheimer’s Prevention Center. at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. did not participate in the study.
People who do regular social activities also have more proteins that protect the brain and can feel the meaning of life – all these are important for mental health. As a bonus, exercising with others can increase their individual benefits, she says.
Everyone in the study benefited from the protective effects of physical and mental activity, whether they had a family history of dementia or not, the researchers found.
A key feature of the study was that people were asked to recall, randomly, their actions, and were asked only once at the beginning of the study about their behavior.
“Further research is needed to confirm our findings, but our results reinforce that making these simple lifestyle changes can be beneficial,” said study author Dr. Huan Song, a research professor at Sichuan University in Chengdu, in a statement.
Ultraprocessed foods hurt
Replacing unprocessed foods such as cookies, ice cream and chips with unprocessed, whole foods can help fight dementia, a new study from UK Biobank has found. To see also : Food bank needs help amid economic struggles.
“The results show that not only are processed foods harmful to mental health, but removing them from your diet can improve cognitive outcomes and reduce the risk of dementia,” said Niotis, who was not involved in the study.
Highly processed foods are usually high in fat, salt and sugar, while at the same time low in protein and fiber.
“(Researchers) showed that replacing 20% of the weight of highly processed food in the diet with an equal amount of unprocessed/less processed food was associated with a 34% lower risk of dementia and a 39% lower risk of coronary artery disease (but not Alzheimer’s disease),” said Maura Walker, assistant research professor at Boston University and Nicole Spartano, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine in an editorial coming. They did not participate in the study.
Less processed foods and unprocessed foods are defined as whole foods in which the vitamins and nutrients are still present. Raw and frozen vegetables, whole grains, legumes and beans, fruits, nuts, meat, seafood, herbs, spices, garlic, eggs, and milk can all fit into this category.
“Our results also show an increase in unprocessed or less processed foods by just 50 grams a day, which is equivalent to half an apple, corn, or a bowl of cereal, while at the same time reducing the amount of processed foods by grams 50 a day. , comparable to chocolate bars or fish sticks, is associated with a 3% reduction in the risk of dementia,” said study author Huiping Li, of the Institute of Physical Medicine of Tianjin Medical University in China, in a statement.
“It’s interesting to know that small, manageable changes in diet can make a difference in the risk of dementia,” Li said. Studies can only establish association, not causation, and further studies are needed.
Highly processed foods go through many stages during manufacturing and may contain many ingredients added to enhance flavor and extend shelf life. Examples include soft drinks, hot dogs, french fries, sweetened breakfast cereals, soups, packets of soup, chicken, candy, chips, ice cream – the list goes on.
“Highly processed foods are meant to be delicious (but) these foods may contain ingredients or chemicals from packaging or produced during heating, all of which have been shown in some studies to have a negative effect on the mind and memory skills,” said Li.
