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TORONTO—A mentally stimulating lifestyle may help to increase resilience to cognitive decline despite an unhealthy diet, according to research presented at the 2016 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. “Our results show the role higher educational attainment, mentally stimulating work, and social engagement can play in protecting your brain from cognitive decline, counteracting some negative effects of an unhealthy diet,” said Matthew Parrott, PhD, of Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto. 
Previous studies have linked poor diet to cognitive decline. In addition, factors such as education and social engagement may be associated with cognitive reserve (ie, the ability of the brain to withstand damage and maintain function). To determine whether the relationship between diet quality and cognitive function depends on an individual’s level of cognitive reserve, Dr. Parrott and colleagues conducted a study in community-dwelling older adults.
Researchers analyzed data from a subset of 351 healthy older adults enrolled in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Nutrition and Successful Aging (NuAge). Participants’ mean age was 74. Participants were free from cognitive impairment and had to be able to climb one flight of stairs or walk a city block unassisted and without stopping. They were followed for three years. Participants were classified as having a low or high level of cognitive reserve based on their years of formal education, the social and data complexity of the occupation at which they worked the longest, and current participation in social leisure activities.
At baseline, investigators assessed the diet of participants over the previous 12 months using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Each person was then assigned a diet score based on adherence to a Western dietary pattern (eg, consumption of red and processed meats, potatoes, white bread, and prepackaged foods and sweets), which was defined as a poor diet.
Investigators quantified cognitive reserve as a binary composite score based on educational attainment, occupational complexity, and social engagement. Education was defined as self-reported formal education. Social engagement was measured by a social activities score from the Elderly Activities Inventory questionnaire. Occupational complexity was based on participants’ self-reported longest serving occupation. Cognitive function was measured using the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination.
Overall, poor diet was associated with more cognitive decline. Data suggested, however, that a mentally stimulating lifestyle, or high cognitive reserve, protected older adults with a poor diet against cognitive decline. The researchers concluded that older adults who had a mentally stimulating lifestyle and limited their consumption of unhealthy foods appeared to be at the least at risk of dementia, compared with other participants. Mental stimulation seemed to build cognitive reserve, which may potentially lower the risk of developing dementia despite a poor diet. Since the Western diet was associated with worse baseline cognitive function in those with high cognitive reserve, mental stimulation did not seem to provide complete protection from an unhealthy diet. After three years, however, people with low cognitive reserve and a poor diet performed the worst.
“I think the take-home message is that older adults with a low lifetime history of mental stimulation or cognitive reserve should be especially vigilant to limit consumption of foods associated with a typical Western diet because they appear most vulnerable to the adverse influence of a poor diet on cognitive function,” said Dr. Parrott. “Next steps include trying to understand whether these results are limited to specific cognitive domains (eg, memory and executive function) and to link this protective effect to biomarkers and indicators of neuropathology.”
—Erica Robinson
Suggested Reading
Jackson PA, Pialoux V, Corbett D, et al. Promoting brain health through exercise and diet in older adults: a physiological perspective. J Physiol. 2016;594(16):4485-4498.
TORONTO—A mentally stimulating lifestyle may help to increase resilience to cognitive decline despite an unhealthy diet, according to research presented at the 2016 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. “Our results show the role higher educational attainment, mentally stimulating work, and social engagement can play in protecting your brain from cognitive decline, counteracting some negative effects of an unhealthy diet,” said Matthew Parrott, PhD, of Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto.
Previous studies have linked poor diet to cognitive decline. In addition, factors such as education and social engagement may be associated with cognitive reserve (ie, the ability of the brain to withstand damage and maintain function). To determine whether the relationship between diet quality and cognitive function depends on an individual’s level of cognitive reserve, Dr. Parrott and colleagues conducted a study in community-dwelling older adults.
Researchers analyzed data from a subset of 351 healthy older adults enrolled in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Nutrition and Successful Aging (NuAge). Participants’ mean age was 74. Participants were free from cognitive impairment and had to be able to climb one flight of stairs or walk a city block unassisted and without stopping. They were followed for three years. Participants were classified as having a low or high level of cognitive reserve based on their years of formal education, the social and data complexity of the occupation at which they worked the longest, and current participation in social leisure activities.
At baseline, investigators assessed the diet of participants over the previous 12 months using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Each person was then assigned a diet score based on adherence to a Western dietary pattern (eg, consumption of red and processed meats, potatoes, white bread, and prepackaged foods and sweets), which was defined as a poor diet.
Investigators quantified cognitive reserve as a binary composite score based on educational attainment, occupational complexity, and social engagement. Education was defined as self-reported formal education. Social engagement was measured by a social activities score from the Elderly Activities Inventory questionnaire. Occupational complexity was based on participants’ self-reported longest serving occupation. Cognitive function was measured using the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination.
Overall, poor diet was associated with more cognitive decline. Data suggested, however, that a mentally stimulating lifestyle, or high cognitive reserve, protected older adults with a poor diet against cognitive decline. The researchers concluded that older adults who had a mentally stimulating lifestyle and limited their consumption of unhealthy foods appeared to be at the least at risk of dementia, compared with other participants. Mental stimulation seemed to build cognitive reserve, which may potentially lower the risk of developing dementia despite a poor diet. Since the Western diet was associated with worse baseline cognitive function in those with high cognitive reserve, mental stimulation did not seem to provide complete protection from an unhealthy diet. After three years, however, people with low cognitive reserve and a poor diet performed the worst.
“I think the take-home message is that older adults with a low lifetime history of mental stimulation or cognitive reserve should be especially vigilant to limit consumption of foods associated with a typical Western diet because they appear most vulnerable to the adverse influence of a poor diet on cognitive function,” said Dr. Parrott. “Next steps include trying to understand whether these results are limited to specific cognitive domains (eg, memory and executive function) and to link this protective effect to biomarkers and indicators of neuropathology.”
—Erica Robinson
Suggested Reading
Jackson PA, Pialoux V, Corbett D, et al. Promoting brain health through exercise and diet in older adults: a physiological perspective. J Physiol. 2016;594(16):4485-4498.
TORONTO—A mentally stimulating lifestyle may help to increase resilience to cognitive decline despite an unhealthy diet, according to research presented at the 2016 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference. “Our results show the role higher educational attainment, mentally stimulating work, and social engagement can play in protecting your brain from cognitive decline, counteracting some negative effects of an unhealthy diet,” said Matthew Parrott, PhD, of Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto.
Previous studies have linked poor diet to cognitive decline. In addition, factors such as education and social engagement may be associated with cognitive reserve (ie, the ability of the brain to withstand damage and maintain function). To determine whether the relationship between diet quality and cognitive function depends on an individual’s level of cognitive reserve, Dr. Parrott and colleagues conducted a study in community-dwelling older adults.
Researchers analyzed data from a subset of 351 healthy older adults enrolled in the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Nutrition and Successful Aging (NuAge). Participants’ mean age was 74. Participants were free from cognitive impairment and had to be able to climb one flight of stairs or walk a city block unassisted and without stopping. They were followed for three years. Participants were classified as having a low or high level of cognitive reserve based on their years of formal education, the social and data complexity of the occupation at which they worked the longest, and current participation in social leisure activities.
At baseline, investigators assessed the diet of participants over the previous 12 months using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Each person was then assigned a diet score based on adherence to a Western dietary pattern (eg, consumption of red and processed meats, potatoes, white bread, and prepackaged foods and sweets), which was defined as a poor diet.
Investigators quantified cognitive reserve as a binary composite score based on educational attainment, occupational complexity, and social engagement. Education was defined as self-reported formal education. Social engagement was measured by a social activities score from the Elderly Activities Inventory questionnaire. Occupational complexity was based on participants’ self-reported longest serving occupation. Cognitive function was measured using the Modified Mini-Mental State Examination.
Overall, poor diet was associated with more cognitive decline. Data suggested, however, that a mentally stimulating lifestyle, or high cognitive reserve, protected older adults with a poor diet against cognitive decline. The researchers concluded that older adults who had a mentally stimulating lifestyle and limited their consumption of unhealthy foods appeared to be at the least at risk of dementia, compared with other participants. Mental stimulation seemed to build cognitive reserve, which may potentially lower the risk of developing dementia despite a poor diet. Since the Western diet was associated with worse baseline cognitive function in those with high cognitive reserve, mental stimulation did not seem to provide complete protection from an unhealthy diet. After three years, however, people with low cognitive reserve and a poor diet performed the worst.
“I think the take-home message is that older adults with a low lifetime history of mental stimulation or cognitive reserve should be especially vigilant to limit consumption of foods associated with a typical Western diet because they appear most vulnerable to the adverse influence of a poor diet on cognitive function,” said Dr. Parrott. “Next steps include trying to understand whether these results are limited to specific cognitive domains (eg, memory and executive function) and to link this protective effect to biomarkers and indicators of neuropathology.”
—Erica Robinson
Suggested Reading
Jackson PA, Pialoux V, Corbett D, et al. Promoting brain health through exercise and diet in older adults: a physiological perspective. J Physiol. 2016;594(16):4485-4498.