Green veggies and tea could halve risk of Alzheimer’s

TRIBAL ELDER MAASAI

EATING green vegetables and drinking tea could halve your risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

A study tracking hundreds of elderly people found those who ate more vegetables such as spinach and broccoli were less likely to get most common form of dementia.

The reduced likelihood was calculated after researchers took into consideration other major factors such as levels of education as well as mental and physical activity. The products are rich in nutrients called flavonols – known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory abilities.

In particular kaempferol – abundant in leafy greens such as spinach, broccoli and kale as well as tea – slashed the risk by 51%.

Lead author Dr Thomas Holland, of Rush University in Chicago, said: “These are promising findings. Eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking more tea could be a fairly inexpensive and easy way for people to help stave off Alzheimer’s dementia. With the elderly population increasing worldwide, any decrease in the number of people with this devastating disease, or even delaying it for a few years, could have an enormous benefit on public health.”

Dr James Connell, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, was more cautious about the study. He said: “People self-reported their eating habits which can lead to mistakes in reporting and a tendency to underestimate unhealthy behaviours.”

More than six in 10 people with dementia have Alzheimer’s, with 520,000 sufferers in the UK.

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