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Additionally, when the established dietary patterns were applied to another cohort of Japanese older adults, cognitive function was observed to be significantly impaired in the HC pattern in both healthy individuals and those with cognitive decline.
“These results suggest that a balanced high-protein diet, including legumes, meat, seafood, eggs, and vegetables, is beneficial for good cognitive function in elderly Japanese people,” the researchers point out.
“We created a model that categorizes eating habits according to the consumption of seven food groups and observed differences in cognitive function between eating habits, suggesting that simply examining the consumption of certain foods can be used to predict cognitive decline in the elderly.
Global guidelines
Dementia is a very common disease these days, reflecting a growing aging population. He was recognized as the seventh leading cause of death worldwide in 2022, highlighting the significant socio-economic burden of the disease.
With no treatment to halt or reverse its progression, the role of nutrition in its prevention has attracted substantial interest, due to its established vital role in cognitive function. As the disease usually develops after the onset of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), this is an important milestone to target.
Nutrients such as unsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols, caffeine and certain probiotics have been noted to have benefits on cognition, yet the importance of nutritional synergies has been recently pointed out. Therefore, the focus has been on encouraging rich nutritional diversity.
Dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean-DASH intervention of the Neurodegenerative Delay Diet (MIND) have been proposed as an important potential interventionto slow cognitive decline. Yet, due to the development of the MIND diet in reference to Western diets, an obstacle to achieving the established guidelines is the variation in eating habits resulting from cultural differences, such as in Eastern countries such as Japan. Therefore, there is a need to establish these variations and tailor dietary pattern interventions so that they are appropriate and effective for different populations.
Thus, the researchers sought to identify the eating habits of Japanese elderly people and to observe their relationship with cognitive function. The behaviors were then modeled on another Japanese cohort, to determine if dietary differences could predict cognitive decline.
Specifics of the study
The researchers recruited 150 adults aged 65 and over from the city of Kashiwa, Japan, to model the diet of the elderly Japanese population. Dietary habits were established following a cluster analysis of dietary habits, collected using self-administered dietary history questionnaires. Cognitive function was then measured using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
Dietary patterns identified included a high carbohydrate (HC) diet, with high grain intakes, and a balanced protein (PB) diet, following high intakes of legumes, vegetables, eggs, meat and seafood.
The researchers observed that cognition scores were significantly higher in the PB group than in the HC group. Moreover, following the application of the classification model to a new cohort of older Japanese adults, cognition scores were found to be significantly higher in the PB group.
Important discoveries
The researchers point out,this study made a significant contribution to the goal of establishing a diet that reduces cognitive decline suitable for Japanese elderly by demonstrating dietary patterns associated with cognitive function in Japanese elderly.
The study further highlights the power of nutrition as a tool for AD prevention, particularly highlighting the importance of protein intake. It is pointed out that the pulses consumed by the studied cohort consisted mainly of soy products, which mirrors previous studieswhich suggest that soy isoflavones may have neuroprotective effects. In addition, the high levels of carotenoids, flavonoids and vitamin E in green leafy vegetables, as well as the high PUFA content of fish, have also been showto reduce cognitive decline.
Regarding HC’s findings, the researchers explain: “Carbohydrates have a much greater effect on insulin secretion than protein or fat, and low-carb diets are effective in reducing weight loss, reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and improving diabetes by type 2. Hyperinsulinemia and diabetes are important risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease.
The report concludes: “We are currently planning an intervention study to shift older adults with HC regimens to PB regimens to prove the causal relationship between eating patterns and cognitive function found in this study. Validation with larger sample sizes and further research on the role of individual nutrients is needed to establish standard dietary therapy for dementia in Japanese elderly.
Source: Nutrients
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15030770
“Balanced Protein Diet Habits Benefit Cognitive Function in Japanese Elderly”
by Keisuke Sakurai, Erika Okada, Saya Anzai, Risako Tamura, Izumi Shiraishi, Noriko Inamura, Satoru Kobayashi, Mikako Sato, Takashi Matsumoto, Kazuyuki Kudo, Yukihiro Sugawara and Tatsuhiro Hisatsune
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Sources 2/ https://www.nutraingredients.com/Article/2023/02/10/balanced-protein-rich-diet-found-to-benefit-cognition-scientists-observe The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article |
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