Improved Brain Health: Mediterranean Diet and Active Lifestyle as Potential Protective Factors
Researchers are currently investigating the potential of the "MedWalk" intervention, a mix of the Mediterranean diet and regular walking, in reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementias, including Alzheimer's dementia. This study, still in progress, aims to determine if the combined approach is more effective than either one alone.
Initially designed to span 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the research, shortening its duration to a single year. The team, consisting of scientists from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, is keen on recruiting a larger pool of participants. Despite the alterations, they believe the study still offers robust findings.
The main outcome the researchers are interested in is a 12-month change in visual memory and learning, but they will also monitor the intervention's impact on mood, quality of life, health costs, cardiovascular health, arterial stiffness, and various biomarkers linked to cognitive decline. The participants are 60-90-year-old individuals living in South Australia and Victoria, with some recruited from independent living retirement communities and the larger community due to pandemic circumstances.
Certified nutritionist Conner Middelmann, specializing in the Mediterranean diet, shared her insights, stating that while previous studies have shown an association between following the Mediterranean diet and fewer cases of dementia, numerous factors can contribute to dementia risk, such as genetics, lifestyle, and overall health. Therefore, maintaining a healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet is just one aspect of a comprehensive approach to brain health and dementia prevention.
Research suggests that a Mediterranean diet might protect brain health by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, boosting brain blood flow, improving cognitive function, and reducing insulin resistance. Walking, on the other hand, is linked to slow cognitive decline due to increased blood flow to the brain, enhanced brain activity, and reduced stress. Both interventions, when combined, could potentially offer enhanced cognitive benefits.
Brain health coach Ryan Glatt further explained that regular exercise, such as walking, may also offer social and environmental benefits that could contribute to improved cognitive function. By the end of 2023, the data collection for this study will be complete.
- The MedWalk intervention, composed of a Mediterranean diet and regular walking, is being studied for its potential to reduce cognitive decline and dementias like Alzheimer's dementia.
- Progressing with the shortened duration of 1 year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the study aims to recruit a larger number of participants from South Australia and Victoria.
- Scientists from Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom are conducting this study, believing that it will produce robust findings despite the changes.
- The main focus of the study is a 12-month change in visual memory and learning, supplemented by monitoring the intervention's effects on mood, quality of life, health costs, cardiovascular health, arterial stiffness, and related cognitive decline biomarkers.
- Conner Middelmann, a certified nutritionist specializing in the Mediterranean diet, expresses that while the diet may associate with fewer dementia cases, factors such as genetics, lifestyle, and overall health must also be considered for brain health and dementia prevention.
- Scientific evidence indicates that a Mediterranean diet can protect brain health by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, boosting brain blood flow, improving cognitive function, and lowering insulin resistance.
- Walking, meanwhile, is linked to slow cognitive decline due to increased brain blood flow, enhanced brain activity, and reduced stress, potentially offering cognitive benefits alongside the Mediterranean diet.
- Brain health coach Ryan Glatt reveals that walking also presents social and environmental benefits that could contribute to improved cognitive function.
- By the end of 2023, the study's data collection is scheduled to be complete, contributing to the ongoing scientific understanding of health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, and mental-health, along with the role of dietary choices like healthy-diets in maintaining cognition.
