Quick and easy BRAIN FOODS to help ward off DEMENTIA

One of the scariest things I have done in recent years is to take a genetic test to see if I am at increased risk of dementia. I did it partly because my father had begun to show signs of forgetfulness in the lead up to his death at the age of 74. he was still on the ball, but sometimes seemed to get a bit confused. I wondered, at the time, if this might be early signs of dementia.

So a few years later I decided, as part of a TV programme I was making, to get a genetic test. After looking around I opted for one from a California-based company called 23andMe.

After I logged on to its website and paid £125, it sent me a package with instructions — I had to deposit some saliva in a tube and send it back. Then, a few weeks later, the results pinged up on my computer.

I paused for a while before looking. Did I really want to know? Could I cope with it if it was bad news? What would I tell our four kids? After all, this is a genetic test. A bad result would increase the risk that they would also carry any dodgy genes. But I decided that if the news was bad I would really work on my lifestyle to mitigate some of that high risk.

I was hugely relieved to read that I do not have any ‘ bad’ versions of something called the APOe gene, which is strongly implicated in the development of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia.

According to the 23andMe website, my risk of developing Alzheimer’s by the age of 74 is about one per cent. My risk of developing it if I reach 80 is around six per cent. (If I’d had a bad variant of the APOe gene it would have been much higher.)

On average, we Brits have a one in six chance of developing dementia by the age of 80, with the risk doubling every five years after that.

Because we are living longer the risks are increasing rapidly, which is why dementia is now the leading cause of death in women in the UK (it is the second most common cause of death in men, after heart disease).

The disease affects more women partly because they tend to live longer, according to the Alzheimer’s Society. But scans also suggest that as we get older the rate at which brain cells die is faster in women than in men.

Given the terrible impact that dementia has on our brains, it is not surprising that surveys have shown it’s the disease that we fear most, ahead of cancer or heart disease, which is why our focus today is on dementia — and the encouraging fact that with simple lifestyle changes, including intermittent fasting, which is a central part of my Fast 800 diet, you can reduce your risk.

Today, in the third part of our unique eat To Beat Disease series that my wife, Dr Clare Bailey, and I have devised for the Mail, we’ll show you how to put intermittent fasting into practice with the delicious — and simple — recipes Clare and food writer Justine Pattison have developed using kitchen-cupboard basics.

Just what kind of impact lifestyle choices can have on our dementia risk was highlighted by research from exeter Medical School that was based on data from about 200,000 people from the UK Biobank study.

This showed that even people who were at greater risk, because of their genes, cut that risk by about a third through lifestyle choices such as not smoking, avoiding alcohol in excess, regularly exercising and following a good, varied diet.

Keeping to a healthy weight is also important because excess fat around the tummy not only leads to inflammation in the brain, but also a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Raised blood sugar levels are bad for the brain and roughly double your risk of getting dementia.

The good news is that one of the best ways of reducing your waist size and blood sugar levels is by the sort of rapid weight loss I encourage in my Fast 800 diet.

On top of that, there is mounting evidence that intermittent fasting — part of my 5:2 diet and the second phase of my Fast 800 diet — where you cut your calories two days a week

and eat healthily for the other five days, can help prevent dementia.

Some of the clearest findings of the benefits of intermittent fasting have come from a scientific hero of mine, Mark Mattson, professor of neuroscience at the National Institute on Aging in the U.S., who has spent decades researching the impact of intermittent fasting on the brain, showing how it can help combat memory loss and diseases such as dementia and Parkinson’s.

Much of Mark’s work has been with animals, trying to understand exactly why intermittent fasting is so good for brain health. When I last visited his lab he showed me some mice that had been specially bred to develop Alzheimer’s disease at an early age.

These mice normally develop the condition when they’re about 12 months old, the equivalent of being a middle-aged human. But when he put these mice on an intermittent-fasting diet he discovered that they didn’t develop dementia until they were well into old age.

Even more remarkably, when he examined their brains he found that those put on an intermittent-fasting diet had grown new brain cells, particularly in the hippocampus area, which is essential for learning and memory.

It turns out that intermittent fasting encourages the brain to produce higher levels of a protein called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). BDNF acts a bit like a fertiliser, stimulating the preservation and creation of new brain cells and new brain cell connections.

Other researchers have found that intermittent fasting may delay the onset of some forms of dementia and the development of symptoms such as cognitive decline.

In a review of existing studies published last year in the Journal Of Lipid And Atherosclerosis, the researchers said that intermittent fasting also appears to improve the activity of antioxidants — natural compounds that can protect cells from everyday damage — and have a protective effect on the hippocampus, the area deep in the brain that has a major role in memory.

More science is emerging all the time about the potential benefits of intermittent fasting, which I find terrifically exciting, particularly when talking about a disease like dementia, for which there is no cure at the moment.

Other well-established ways of reducing your risk of dementia include cutting out smoking, taking regular exercise and eating a Mediterranean- style diet, one that is rich in oily fish, olive oil, vegetables and nuts, the sort of diet the Fast 800 is based on.

Also, activities that are sociable, mentally challenging and which involve being active are good for the brain — such as dancing.

Although, sadly, we are not going to have much opportunity for being social for some time.

For more information on how the Fast 800 works, go to thefast800.com