But you give us nothing specific, so useless.
How diet affects Alzheimer's disease and small vessel disease
Abstract
Introduction
The number of people with memory disorders is increasing worldwide. Changing certain lifestyle factors can prevent the development of those disorders. Diet is a central factor that can be changed.
Methods
A systematic literature search was conducted to identify peer-reviewed articles that examined the relationship between a plant-based diet and Alzheimer's disease or SVD.
Results
Whole-food, plant-based diets also seem to be a healthy choice for the brain. Berries, vegetables and fibre seem to be especially important. The amounts of saturated fat, refined carbohydrates and alcohol should be minimised. Single components (dietary supplements) are not beneficial if one has no deficiencies.
Conclusions
A plant-based diet containing plenty of fibre, vitamins, and polyphenols seems to be a good choice for our memory and brain health.
1 INTRODUCTION
The number of memory disorders grows as people age. This causes many lost work years and lowers their quality of life now and in the future. Alzheimer's disease, in which beta-amyloid accumulates in the neurons, is a common cause of dementia. About 50 million people suffer from this disease globally, and the number is estimated to more than double by 2050.1 Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a major cause of vascular memory disorders.2 Alzheimer's and SVD are present simultaneously in many cases and cause the so-called mixed dementia. Memory disorders decrease the quality of life, whatever their underlying cause is. People also lose many healthy working years, making these diseases very expensive for society. Many countries already have national guidelines for the prevention and treatment of these diseases.3 However, more information about lifestyle factors that affect the prevention and treatment of these diseases should also be included in these guidelines.
The published results of the Finnish FINGER study quite recently showed that losing one's memory can be effectively prevented with lifestyle changes.4 Study participants in this multidomain intervention received information on a healthy diet, and the intervention group also received nutritional guidance both individually and in groups. The intervention group also met with a nurse and a physician for management of vascular risk factors, increased exercise and cognitive training. Thus, we cannot know for sure the individual effects of any dietary changes. However, epidemiological studies have shown that diet is related to a risk of memory disorders. It is important to observe that it is hard to show direct causality in epidemiological studies between food choices and memory because often those people who eat healthily are also non-smokers who have other potentially protective habits such as exercising.5
However, according to the FINGER study researchers, ‘Elderly people should eat more vegetables, fruits, berries, fish and whole grains and increase also amounts of vegetable fats and vitamin D… It [is] also important to encourage [them] to quit smoking and not to drink alcohol’.6 We cannot say for sure, but the results of this intervention study indicate that a plant-based diet that contains fibre and vegetable fats seems to be good for brain health and memory. A follow-up study from this same cohort (and other intervention and follow-up studies) will probably show more detailed information about how single nutritional factors influence cognition/memory and the risk they pose for memory diseases. This article reviews the current knowledge of these single components of our diet and their effects on the development and treatment of Alzheimer's disease and cerebral SVD.
A systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed to identify peer-reviewed articles that examined the relationship between a plant-based diet and Alzheimer's disease or SVD in the past 14 years (2006–2020). The exact search date range was 1 January 2006, through 31 December 2020. Google searches were performed to identify additional articles that may have been missed in the database search. A Boolean search strategy was conducted with the following keywords and logic: (‘diet’ or ‘dietary patterns’ or ‘dietary factors’ or food’ or ‘nutrition’ or ‘plant based’ or ‘whole food plant based’ or ‘WFPB’ or ‘Mediterranean diet’) and (‘Alzheimer's disease’ or ‘dementia’ or ‘SVD’ or ‘cerebral SVD’ or ‘cognitive impairment’ or ‘cognitive decline’).
A study was included in the review if, according to its abstract, it provided information about a relationship between a plant-based diet and memory disorders (Alzheimer's disease, SVD or cognitive impairment). No limitations were set on a study's setting or country. Studies whose authors had potential conflicts of interest were excluded. Five studies were selected after screening all abstracts based on these criteria, and the references of the studies were additionally screened to identify eligible studies. On the basis of the aforementioned exclusion and inclusion criteria, a total of 33 studies were identified and included in this systematic review. Two more articles were included in the revision phase according to the reviewers’ comments.
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