According to a six-year study involving nearly 2,000 men and women ages 65 and over from the Chicago area, a diet rich in vegetables works to keep the brain young and slow the onset of senile dementia.
Participants whose daily diet included at least two vegetables were found to be mentally sharper and better equipped for dealing with cognitive tasks than those whose diets included little or no vegetables. At the end of the six years, older participants with a vegetable-rich diet were found to have brains five years younger than their vegetable-shy counterparts.
Dr. Meir Stampfer of Harvard's School of Public Health, who did not participate in the research, told Seattlepi.com: "This is a sound paper and contributes to our understanding of cognitive decline. The findings specific for vegetables and not fruit add further credibility that this is not simply a marker of a more healthful lifestyle."
Some vegetables were found to be better than others -- the very vegetables our departments of health urge us to include in our diets on a more regular basis: spinach, collard greens, kale and other green leafy vegetables rich in vitamin E.
While a healthy diet is rich in both fruit and vegetables, fruit did not appear to have as great an effect on mental agility, probably due to the lower levels of vitamin E.
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Participants whose daily diet included at least two vegetables were found to be mentally sharper and better equipped for dealing with cognitive tasks than those whose diets included little or no vegetables. At the end of the six years, older participants with a vegetable-rich diet were found to have brains five years younger than their vegetable-shy counterparts.
Dr. Meir Stampfer of Harvard's School of Public Health, who did not participate in the research, told Seattlepi.com: "This is a sound paper and contributes to our understanding of cognitive decline. The findings specific for vegetables and not fruit add further credibility that this is not simply a marker of a more healthful lifestyle."
Some vegetables were found to be better than others -- the very vegetables our departments of health urge us to include in our diets on a more regular basis: spinach, collard greens, kale and other green leafy vegetables rich in vitamin E.
While a healthy diet is rich in both fruit and vegetables, fruit did not appear to have as great an effect on mental agility, probably due to the lower levels of vitamin E.
- linda 10-26-2006 4:21 pm