Alzheimer’s disease can be prevented by changing your unhealthy lifestyle. A good healthy diet that includes green, leafy vegetables, berries, as well as fish can be the ultimate solution to reduce the risk of getting such a disease.
The skyrocketing rate of Alzheimer’s disease is quite alarming. This chronic neurological disorder is a type of dementia that begins slowly, then moderately until it gets progressively worse over time. A range of 60-70% of dementia cases worldwide come from AD. Over 2 million Americans aged 85 and above are suffering from this disease today. Alzheimer’s does not only affect its victims but also their families and significant others as they usually require extensive care.
In order to add more years of healthy, quality living, preventing or delaying the onset of this disease is of the utmost importance. It will also lessen the responsibility of giving constant care, which is also a big plus for already distressed health systems.
A recent study was conducted at the Rush University Medical Center situated in Chicago, Illinois that involves three specific diets. The study was considered a successful one as it showed a positive outcome on how to reduce the risk of elders developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Over 923 people ranging from 59 to 98 years old were properly observed and monitored. These elders joined the MAP, also known as the Memory and Aging Project. Each one of them was monitored from 2004 until 2013 and none of them showed any signs of AD for two years prior to the monitoring.
The people behind this success have correlated the positive effects to these three diets:
- DASH
DASH stands for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension. It is a diet designed to prevent hypertension or to lower one’s blood pressure. Basically, it requires a very low sodium intake and encourages you to consume foods that have high nutrient content. Recommended foods are those that are rich in potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
- MedDiet
Also known as Mediterranean Diet. It is a special diet that involves the consumption of traditional foods and beverages from Mediterranean countries. These include fruits and veggies, a moderate amount of fish and other dairy products, cereals, legumes, and a very small amount of sugar, saturated fat and meat.
- MIND
Last but not least was MIND, or the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. Apparently, this is the combination of the first two diets mentioned above. It includes all of the brain-friendly foods. Foods that should be avoided include red meat, fried and sweet foods, cheese, butter, and other fast foods.
The elders who volunteered were scored based on the three diets above and the most effective diet that showed the longest delay was the MIND diet. Consumption of those healthy foods proved to add 7.5 more years. Therefore, following the MIND Diet can significantly reduce the risk or chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease.
