Including unhealthy foods may otherwise reduce the positive effects of a healthy diet

Eating a healthy diet, such as a Mediterranean diet, has a positive effect on health, but little is known about the effects of including unhealthy foods in an otherwise healthy diet. Researchers at the Rush University Medical Center now report that the benefits of a Mediterranean diet are diminishing among people who frequently eat unhealthy foods.Their research results are Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: Journal of the Alzheimer’s Disease Association In January 7.

“Eating a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, fish and whole grains can have a positive impact on human health,” said Dr. Puja Agarwal, a nutrition epidemiologist and assistant professor of internal medicine at Rush Medical College. Stated. “But when combined with fried food foodIt turns out that the benefits of eating part of the Mediterranean diet, such as sweets, refined grains, lean meats, and processed meats, appear to be diminishing. “

The Mediterranean diet is associated with a slower rate of cognitive decline Senior citizens..

The· Observational study Included 5,001 seniors living in Chicago as part of the Chicago Health and Aging Project, a cognitive health assessment of adults aged 65 and over, conducted from 1993 to 2012. Every three years, study participants filled out a tested cognitive assessment questionnaire.Answered questions about basic information processing skills and memory, and how often they consumed 144 Food..

The researchers analyzed how closely each of the study participants adhered to a Mediterranean diet that included daily consumption of fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Olive oil, Fish, potatoes, unrefined cereals, and moderate wine consumption. They also evaluated how well each participant followed a Western diet, including fried foods, refined grains, sweets, lean and processed meats, full-fat dairy products, and pizza. They assigned a score of 0 to 5 for each food and summarized the total Mediterranean diet score for each participant along the range of 0 to 55.

Next, the researchers investigated the association between Mediterranean diet scores and changes in participants’ overall cognitive function, episodic memory, and perceptual rate. Participants with slow cognitive decline over the years of follow-up were the closest to the Mediterranean diet, limiting foods that were part of the Western diet, but more Western diets. Participants who ate did not have the beneficial effects of healthy food ingredients by delaying cognitive decline.

There was no significant interaction between age, gender, race, or education and the association of high or low levels of Western dietary foods with cognitive decline. The study also included models of smoking status, obesity index, and other potential variables such as cardiovascular status and findings.

“The Western diet can have a negative impact on cognitive health,” says Agarwal. “Individuals with higher Mediterranean diet scores compared to those with the lowest scores were cognitively equivalent to being 5.8 years younger.”

Agarwal said the results complement other studies showing that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease, certain cancers, and diabetes and also supports previous studies on the Mediterranean diet and cognition. It was. The study also has a unique score matrix based on the amount of serving consumed by each dietary component, with most dietary patterns showing improved cognitive function in the elderly, including the Mediterranean, MIND, and DASH diets. I am also paying attention to that.

“If we can incorporate green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, berries, olive oil, and fish into our diet, it’s better for our aged brain and body. Other studies include red and processed meats, Shows fried foods, and low whole grains. Intake is associated with higher inflammation and faster cognitive decline in older people, “said Agarwal. “To benefit from diets such as the Mediterranean and MIND diets, you need to limit your consumption of processed foods and other foods. Unhealthy food Fried foods, sweets, etc. “

Research and its discoveries cannot be easily generalized.Future longitudinal study of diet Middle-aged awareness is needed to extend these findings.