Dementia is scary. The thought of not remembering your loved ones, not remembering the good and the bad times you shared with people is quite scary.
The chances of suffering from dementia increases are the person gets older. However, this doesn’t mean that younger people can’t have this mental condition. However, researches over the years have shown that there are things that we can do to reduce the risk of dementia.
One of those things is eating a healthy diet.’ In this blog, we have explained how you can considerably reduce the risk of dementia by keeping your diet in check.
Check what you eat
Among the various things that help prevent dementia, taking enriched, and a healthy diet is the most effective one. If you adopt the right dietary schedule, you improve the chances of avoiding Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) works wonders for people with high blood pressure. Similarly, the Mediterranean diet is the key to people suffering from heart issues. For your brain fitness, however, what you need is MIND eating style a mixture of DASH and the Mediterranean diet.
Some people might argue that a proper Mediterranean diet is good enough to ensure your brain health. However, in a 2015 study for Alzheimer’s & Dementia, the Nutritional epidemiologist observed the link between food and brain health deterioration.
To conclude the research, the MIND diet was the best diet among DASH, Mediterranean, and MIND to encourage cognitive well-being.
What does the MIND diet include?
MIND dietary plans focus more on plant-based foods. Comprising of items from ten food groups, they are as follows:
- Olive Oil
- Fish: 1 serving per week
- Beans: 3 servings per week
- Whole Grains: 3 servings per week at least
- Nuts: 5 servings per week
- Leafy greens: 6 servings per week at least
- Other vegetables: 1 serving per week at least
- Poultry: 2 servings per week
- Berries: 2 servings per week at least
- Red Meat: 3 or fewer servings per week
- Wine: One glass per week only
The diet is not meant to make you not enjoy the food. Instead, it just motivates you to indulge more in consuming the items that are nutritious and beneficial for your brain’s health.
In addition to this, MIND also limits your intake of sweets, butter, margarine, and sweets. You can consume less than a tablespoon of butter or margarine, and less than a serving of cheese in one day.
As for desserts, you can have no more than five sweets or pastries in one week. Sweet enough, right?
Fish for a wish to avoid dementia
Have you found your elders persuading you to eat fish more and more by giving the excuse: Fish helps you think?
Trust them; they are spot-on with their reasoning. Science has validated that the intake of fish has a positive effect on our mental health.
A study was presented at the yearly meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). According to it, fish is found to be the most important food item that helps reduce risks of brain health damage. Vegetables are in the second position in the list.
In addition to this, fish is also linked with reducing the chances of brain weakening.
Therefore, consumption of fish more than once a week will do you nothing but good. You can prepare your daily diet charts to have various kinds of fish, some being:
- Mackerel
- Catfish
- Crawfish
- Salmon
- Canned light tuna
- Trout
- Scallops
- Sardines
- Haddock
However, there is just one precaution to take. Refrain from consuming fish that might contain a high quantity of mercury. Such fish can include bigeye and ahi tuna, orange roughy, marlin, and tilefish.
If you crave them a lot, you should consume them once in a while. It is because mercury is associated with significant health issues, according to numerous researches.
Is the MIND diet worth the efforts?
If you have a family history of dementia, your risk of suffering from this mental condition increases. In that case, it becomes imperative for you to alter your lifestyle to reduce the risk of dementia at an older age. Adopting a healthy diet is, by far, the most effective way to do it.
MIND dietary style is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, this eating style has been proven again and again to be fruitful and worth every ounce of effort.
An observation of diet and other factors was conducted where conditions were analyzed for around 4.5 years. It was found in the observation that individuals following the proper MIND diet experienced a 53% lower rate of Alzheimer’s disease than those who did not stick to the diet strictly.
According to the National Institute on Aging of the US, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. It is also the sixth biggest reason for deaths in the USA.
Also, even though no studies prove that the MIND eating style can reverse Alzheimer’s, it can nonetheless prevent the disease.
You realize that although incurable, you sure can take preventative measures. That alone is a strong motivator, encouraging you to incorporate MIND dietary schedule into your life.
Are Supplements and Vitamins helpful for dementia?
Vitamins and supplements offer uncountable health-related benefits. However, of all the studies and tests conducted so far, none have shown any direct or strong association of supplements with preventing Alzheimer’s or Dementia.
Although there are numerous supplements available online and in drugstores, none are recommendable for preventing dementia.
Final Thoughts
It is important to understand that a healthy diet is effective in reducing the risk of dementia. The MIND diet is very vital and yields positive results. If you follow this diet, you will bear the fruits in the years to come.
A little sacrifice of greasy and cheesy food today will help you not fear to lose your brain health to dementia tomorrow.
No gain ever came without some pain after all. Talk to medical experts and understand the significance of brain health. Start today and protect your future so that you never fear the time you are unable to recognize your loved ones.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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