People who eat a Mediterranean diet enriched with green leafy vegetables and low in meat are more likely to retain cognitive performance as they age. This is reported in a press release on MedicalXpress.
Researchers tested the cognitive abilities of more than 500 people, aged 79, who did not suffer from dementia. The participants passed tests for memory, knowledge of words, speed of thinking, problem solving. They also completed the previous year’s eating behavior questionnaires. More than 350 people have also had brain scans.
The people who adhere the most strictly to the Mediterranean diet were found to have the highest cognitive scores, even after adjusting for external factors such as smoking, physical activity and illness.
However, the study found no link between diet and physiological signs of brain health. Markers of healthy brain aging, such as more gray or white matter or less white matter lesions, did not differ between those who regularly eat the Mediterranean diet and those who do not. The authors note that other structural characteristics of the brain may be correlated with mental performance.