A new study has shown a dramatic new benefit from what is commonly called the “Mediterranean Diet” – it can actually improve the health of your brain.
For years the advantages of the Mediterranean Diet have been touted as a way to improve physical health. This eating pattern, emphasizing high concentration of seafood and plant-based foods, along with healthy fats, nuts and legumes, has been shown to bring a host of benefits, from lowering blood pressure to reducing the risk of breast cancer. But now a study published in the journal Neurology shows that this type of diet can help slow the shrinkage of the brain that commonly occurs with aging. We found a recent related article on the website Medical News Today (you’ll find the link here.)
The study followed more than 670 older participants, some of whom ate a Mediterranean Diet while others did not. After seven months a brain scan compared brain volume. Those with the healthier diet had significantly less brain shrinkage – a difference equivalent to five years of aging, say the study authors. In other words, eating the healthier diet protected the brains of some study subjects against five years’ worth of cumulative aging effects.
If you’re interested in maintaining your independence and not becoming a burden to your loved ones, this is important news for you, and it certainly seems to provide one more good reason to change to your diet. Brain shrinkage has been linked to dementia, but it also seems to trigger a host of other detrimental side effects that can greatly affect seniors, including loss of sensory abilities and impaired mobility. And the good news is, the Mediterranean Diet is not only good for you, it’s delicious, too.
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(originally reported at www.medicalnewstoday.com)
