In Case You Haven't Heard…

Abstract

Eating an anti-inflammatory diet of whole grains, fruits and vegetables instead of an inflammatory diet focused on red and processed meats and ultra-processed foods; such as sugary cereals, sodas, fries and ice cream; lowered the risk of dementia by 31%, a new study found. That benefit held true even for people with existing diagnoses of cardiometabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease or stroke, said Abigail Dove, MSc., lead author of the study published Aug. 12 in JAMA Network Open. In fact, people living with type 2 diabetes, stroke or heart disease who ate the most anti-inflammatory foods “developed dementia two years later than those with cardiometabolic diseases and a pro-inflammatory diet,” she added. Brain scans of those who followed an anti-inflammatory diet also showed significantly lower levels of brain biomarkers of neurodegeneration and vascular injury, Dove said. The study analyzed the dietary patterns of over 84,000 dementia-free adults older than age 60 with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes and/or heart disease or stroke who were part of the U.K. Biobank, a longitudinal study that includes participants from England, Scotland and Wales. Brain scans found people with cardiometabolic diseases who ate the most anti-inflammatory foods had larger gray matter volume — indicating less neurodegeneration — and lower white matter intensities, which are signs of vascular injury in the brain, compared with people who ate an inflammatory diet.