Contrary to popular opinion, dementia isn’t a direct result of ageing which means there are various ways you can reduce your risk of this brain condition.
A healthy diet is one of the greatest weapons you can add to your arsenal of protection against the mind-robbing disease.
Fortunately, board-certified cardiologist, Dr Abeer Berry, took to her TikTok channel to outline three studies that suggest how to prevent dementia and reduce cognitive impairment naturally.
What’s more, all of this research involves easy dietary changes that you can implement into your daily routine.
1. Eat more strawberries
The first study that the cardiologist referred to looked at 35 healthy men and women between the ages of 66 and 78.
The participants were asked to consume 26 grams of freeze-dried strawberry powder or a placebo. The doctor explained that this amount is the equivalent of two servings of strawberries per day.
The strawberry-consuming group not only experienced an increase in their cognitive processing speed, but they also saw their systolic blood pressure drop.
2. Get dietary nitrate from vegetables
The second research paper is an observational study that looked into dietary nitrate intake and the reduction in cognitive impairment.
Dr Berry explained that dietary nitrate is metabolised into nitric oxide which has a positive effect on cardiovascular health. However, the researchers also uncovered that it could benefit your brain.
Looking at about 9,500 participants, the research team found that for every 50mg increased intake of dietary nitrate from vegetable sources, there was an eight percent reduction in risk for dementia.
The cardiologist added: “This reduction was not seen with non-vegetable sources of dietary nitrate.
“Vegetable sources of nitrate include green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, celery, etc.”
3. Take a probiotic
The last study that Dr Berry referenced involved 169 people between the ages of 52 to 75.
The research team found that a gut bacteria called Prevotella was associated with mild cognitive impairment, so they asked part of the study participants to take a probiotic to see whether this would cause an improvement in cognition.
They found that the group that received the supplement had a reduction in the amount of Prevotella bacteria and also experienced a cognitive improvement.
Based on these studies, the doctor advised increasing your strawberry intake, eating more dietary nitrate from vegetable sources and considering taking a probiotic.
Dr Berry added: “We’ll definitely need more studies, but I hope this was interesting.”
