Dr Sarah Jarvis
With so much advice out there, how do you know where to start? Let’s be clear – a diagnosis of dementia doesn’t mean your life is over. Lots of people who have dementia live productive lives for years.
In time, though, dementia does affect quality of life, so the idea that we can stave it off with diet is welcome. The best evidence for good brain health is to look at your whole diet, rather than focusing on a single superfood or supplement.
The best studied diet for preventing dementia, as well as heart attack and stroke, is the Mediterranean diet. We’re not talking Turkish pastry sweets or greasy kebabs. It’s about vegetables, fruits and whole grains, and getting most of your fat from olive oil rather than butter. You should be eating more fish and less dairy food than the average British diet, and keeping red meat, sugar and saturated fat to a minimum.
The DASH diet stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. High blood pressure is a major culprit for vascular dementia, and may also play a role in other forms.
You may notice a bit of a theme emerging – like the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet is high in veg and fruit, low in total fat and saturated fat. However more low-fat dairy foods (low-fat yogurts, skimmed or semi-skimmed milk etc) is encouraged and there’s less focus on eating more fish. A second study took this one stage further. They compared people on a “normal” DASH diet and the same diet with extra emphasis on cutting down salt in food.
DESPITE EXCITEMENT ABOUT WHETHER CURRY SPICE TURMERIC COULD PREVENT DEMENTIA, THE AMOUNT YOU GET IN A CURRY IS NOT LIKELY TO HELP!
The DASH diet lowered blood pressure, but keeping salt intake low as well was even more effective.
The MIND diet is built on studies looking at “superfoods” like nuts, beans and berries. People in the MIND diet studies were asked to stick to a Mediterranean diet, but also make an active effort to increase “brain-friendly” foods – fish once, berries at least twice, beans three times and nuts five times a week. They were asked to avoid daily helpings of butter, margarine, pastries and sweets and eat cheese and fried/fast food less than weekly.
They were followed up for almost 5 years and compared to people not following the diet. Not only were they less likely to develop Alzheimer’s, their working memory and rate of picking up new ideas was better. The biggest benefits – reducing the risk of dementia by over 50% – came from following the diet strictly, but even following it most of the time achieved a 30% drop in dementia rates.
Huge amounts of research has been done on the health effects of caffeine, found in tea and chocolate as well as coffee. In “moderate amounts” (up to 4 coffees or 8 cups of tea a day) there’s no evidence it increased cancer or heart problems. Even better, a couple of cups of coffee a day could play a part in cutting the risk of dementia. It’s difficult with diet studies to get hard evidence, but I’m confident I can tell most folk to drink up without worrying!
Lots of my patients moan that a healthy diet means giving up the foods they love. You don’t need to turn your diet on its head overnight. Your tastebuds adapt – I’ve not eaten pastry for 30 years, and hate the thought of it now. I love strong cheese, but eating it less often means it’s a real treat. Start on the cookery pages of My Weekly – great healthy alternatives with every bit as much taste! Next week: Coping with hair loss
THEY MAY NOT BE PART OF YOUR DIET, BUT INCREASING EXERCISE AND STOPPING SMOKING ARE BOTH POWERFUL TOOLS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST DEMENTIA
‘‘ THE BEST STUDIED DIET FOR PREVENTING DEMENTIA IS THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET’’