Avoid Alzheimer’s by going ‘Med’

by Dr. Franco

Mediterranean, is a word that to me evokes intensely-blue seas, sunny weather, slow-paced life, afternoon siestas but above all, great food… I mean, wonderful food. I can still feel that pizza I had in the small town of Pula in Sardegna. “Da Eleonora”, said the locals in Cagliari, go south… to Pula, you will find your best pizza ever. And so I did, the holy grail of pizzas. Simple, yet sublime, a feast to my senses and a recurrent theme in my dreams -while awake. But Mediterranean food goes beyond pizza of course, it includes high consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, olive oil, moderate intake of fish, low consumption of red meat and low to moderate consumption of wine with the meals. And is not just its taste, nor its simplicity, it is also the benefits that it can provide. In the last decades, many studies have studied and praised the benefits of following a Mediterranean diet. In multiple scientific publications this type of diet has been associated with increased life expectancy, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (diseases of the heart and stroke), reduced risk of cancer and as two recent JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) publications suggest, a reduced risk of developing dementia. By studying over 1400 adults living in Bordeaux, France, French researchers found that higher adherence to Mediterranean diet was associated with slower cognitive decline. But these benefits are not only observed among Mediterranean people as demonstrated in a study published in the same August edition of the JAMA. Investigators from Columbia University Medical Centre in New York, found among a multiethnic group of 1880 elders living in New York that those that followed a Mediterranean-type diet had a 40% lower risk of developing Alzheimer disease (compared to those that didn’t). Although it wont hurt to visit Pula and drop by “Da Eleonora”, there is no need to go far to reach the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. All of us, at home, wherever we live, if we take the adequate choices and follow the basic principles of balance and moderation can reap the benefits and avoid suffering from the burden that Alzheimer disease can impose in our lives. Our taste and memory will be grateful.
References:
Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet, Cognitive Decline, and Risk of Dementia. Catherine Féart; Cécilia Samieri; Virginie Rondeau; Hélène Amieva; Florence Portet; Jean-François Dartigues; Nikolaos Scarmeas; Pascale Barberger-Gateau. JAMA. 2009; 302:638-648.
Physical Activity, Diet, and Risk of Alzheimer Disease. Nikolaos Scarmeas; Jose A. Luchsinger; Nicole Schupf; Adam M. Brickman; Stephanie Cosentino; Ming X. Tang; Yaakov Stern. JAMA. 2009; 302:627-637.

PS: this is the first post (special thanksgiving edition) of the blog entitled 'Splashes from the Fountain of Youth' created by Dr. O.H. Franco MD, DSc, PhD, FESC. This blog will be posted regularly every Sunday from the 29th of November.