Blackmores Institute

Conducting a longitudinal analysis of data from the 45 and Up Study – one of the largest ongoing studies designed to understand how Australians are ageing – a total of 139,096 participants completed food frequency questionnaires at the beginning of the trial and then at follow-up six years later.
 
 Researchers found that high consumption of fruits, vegetables and protein-rich foods was associated with lower odds of memory loss. High consumption of fruits and vegetables was also associated with lower odds of developing comorbid heart disease (p ≤ 0.001). 
 
 Interestingly the researchers found that subjects who were aged over 80 years with a low intake of grain (cereals) had the highest odds of memory loss and comorbid heart disease than people in other age groups (p&lt;0.01).
 
 “Our results highlight the associations between high fruit and vegetable consumption and low odds of memory loss, and the comorbid heart disease in people with memory loss. Epidemiological studies support the protective effect of fruit and vegetable against cognitive impairment and dementia as antioxidants are rich in fruit and vegetables, which protect the oxidative and neuronal damage in the brain.
 
 “Previous studies have reported the link between increased level of homocysteine associated with the risk of cognitive function and heart disease. Folate deficiency is linked with an increase in the level of homocysteine, which has direct neurotoxic effects in cell lines and animal models. Fruit and vegetables are high in folate, which may partly explain the inverse association between fruit and vegetable consumption and memory loss, as well as the comorbid heart disease in our study.”
 
 Our results show that higher consumption of protein-rich food (including meat and protein food alternatives, and milk and milk alternatives) was significantly associated with better memory than people with lower protein-rich food consumption. 
 
 Although results from previous epidemiological studies on the associations between protein-rich diet and memory or cognition have been inconsistent, research carried out previously by this group has found a protein-rich dietary pattern, with milk and soy milk, prevented the cognitive decline in older people. 
 
 “Another possibility for the association in the present study may be due to fish and seafood consumption, which were included in the food group of meat and protein food alternatives. Fish plays an important role in memory loss prevention, due to presence of anti-oxidative omega-3 fatty acids and their effects on the attenuation of cerebrovascular disease, improvement of mood-related disorders, and their support of neuronal health”
 
 Researchers also looked at socio-demographic and health behaviour factors as covariates and found that those who were in the older age group, male, widowed with low education level and living in a low socioeconomic area reported significantly higher percentage of memory loss compared to their counterparts (p&lt; 0.001).
 
 “We also found participants who were underweight, smoked, and had inadequate physical activity reported significantly higher percentage of memory loss.”
 
 The study found that compared with people who had no comorbid heart disease or diabetes in people with memory loss, people with comorbid heart disease or diabetes were more likely to report memory loss, a finding consistent with previous studies.
 
 “By using large longitudinal data, our results provide strong evidence of the association between food groups and memory as well as comorbidities. This evidence could be used to design public health intervention programs, in particular, effective diet-focused health promotion interventions in the prevention of memory loss, comorbid heart disease and diabetes in people with memory loss,” the authors concluded.
 
 Source:
 Int J Public Health. 2020. DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-020-01337-y">10.1007/s00038-020-01337-y</a>

An Australian study has found that high consumption of fruits, vegetables and protein-rich foods is associated with lower odds of memory loss.

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