Everyone knows that a traditional Mediterranean diet rich in fruits and vegetables can do miracles for your health. Previous studies have shown that it can help you lose weight, lower blood pressure and ‘bad’ cholesterol, improving the health of your heart. But, according to a new study, this diet can also protect the brain against Alzheimer’s and other memory problems.

 

The Mediterranean diet bases mostly on a high intake of fruits and vegetables, grains, fish and poultry, foods said to be high in antioxidants and omega 3, offering the body its most needed elements necessary in keeping it young and thus in preventing diseases.

 

For the new study, Nikolaos Scarmeas, assistant professor of clinical neurology at the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain at Columbia University Medical Center and colleagues examined data on 1,393 individuals with healthy brains and 482 patients with mild cognitive impairment. The participants were questioned about their eating habits.

 

Over a follow-up period of more than four years, 275 of the 1,393 participants developed mild cognitive impairment. Those following a Mediterranean died had a 28 percent lower risk of developing mild cognitive impairment than the one-third of participants who had the lowest scores for Mediterranean diet adherence. 

 

Of the group of patients with mild cognitive impairment, 106 developed Alzheimer’s during the follow-up period. Those following a Mediterranean diet again fared better, with 48 percent of them having a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s compared to the others.

 

“Among behavioral traits, diet may play an important role in the cause and prevention of Alzheimer's disease,” Dr. Scarmeas said.