August 23, 2016.
According to a study conducted by a team of researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in the United States, a balanced diet based on the Mediterranean diet would reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Lower risk of dementia and memory loss
A study published in the medical journal American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry reveals that a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet based on the Mediterranean diet and a normal Body Mass Index (BMI), would significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
To achieve these results, researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles subjected nearly 1,000 patients to regular questionnaires over four and a half years. They could see that the risk of dementia and memory loss was reduced by 53% in people who had followed their directions and 35% in those who had allowed themselves some deviations.
The Cretan diet effective in the fight against Alzheimer’s.
In addition, participants with higher than normal BMIs had an 11% increased risk of accumulation of amyloid and tau proteins, proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Concretely, the Cretan diet would reduce risk factors for vascular damage.
” This study is the first to demonstrate how lifestyle factors can directly influence the accumulation of abnormal proteins in patients with very mild cognitive impairment ”, Explained Dr. David Merrill, professor at UCLA and lead author of the study. ” Thereby the influence of lifestyle on the risk of Alzheimer’s is confirmed by observations at the molecular level and even before the onset of severe cognitive decline “.
For more information: Mediterranean or Cretan diet