Brain Food: Is There Hope for Preventing Alzheimer's?

When Grandma said that I should eat fish because fish is brain food, she was closer to the truth than I ever realized.   Scientists and doctors have also been telling us for years that diet and exercise play a huge part in our overall health.  It just makes sense that a healthier lifestyle including an abundance of fruits and vegetables with plenty of exercise results in a longer and more active life on into retirement. 

But testing this theory has proven difficult.  In the past, studies on healthy lifestyle choices as related to diseases including Alzheimer’s  have always been large epidemiological studies based on surveys and, ironically, memory of previous diet and exercise patterns. 

Dr. Cotman’s studies on diet in dogs and exercise in mice (see video) have removed some of the difficult variables that happen when studying lifestyle choices and disease prevention.  A new study, published Dec 28, 2011 in Neurology, led by Dr. Gene Bowman of  Oregon Health and Science University, takes research a significant step further.

The blood of elderly participants ( mean age 87 years) was tested for 30 specific biomarkers of nutrients including B vitamins (B1, B2, B6, folate and B12), and vit C, D, E.  Participants who had high levels of these vitamins and marine omega-3 fatty acids   in their blood performed significantly better on cognitive and mental alertness tests. (there’s that brain food) MRI measurements also showed reduced brain shrinkage in the same participants.

On the flip side, it seems that we’ve been right all along about avoiding those trans-fats in processed foods:

“High trans fat was associated with less favorable cognitive function and less total cerebral brain volume.”  ~ G. Bowman

This study is one of the first to specifically measure a wide variety of blood nutrient levels rather than basing it’s findings on inexact food intake questionaires.  We’ve long known that a healthy lifestyle improves cardiovascular health, and there are indications that it also decreases our risk for certain cancers.  Now we are beginning to have evidence that ensuring a high nutrient intake through a diet rich in a full spectrum of antioxidants, is the best brain food we can have.   

Eat smart, take high quality supplements, exercise, and stay mentally active.  

It’s all about living well, with passion and purpose! 

Robin

Click on this link www.hbo.com/alzheimers/index.html for “THE ALZHEIMER’S PROJECT,” a presentation of HBO Documentary Films and the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health in association with the Alzheimer’s Association, The Fidelity® Charitable Gift Fund and Geoffrey Beene Gives Back® Alzheimer’s Initiative. I recommend taking the time to learn with the excellent videos at the core of this site.

 Further Sources:

Bowman,G.L. et al, Nutrient Biomarker Patterns, Cognitive Function, and MRI Measures of Brain Aging, Oregon Health and Science University, Dec 2011.

 Alzheimers Association:  Prevention

I found the following information both helpful and fascinating:

Alzheimers Association/research center/braintour