Older adults who eat an anti-inflammatory diet comprising of higher amounts of fruits, vegetables, beans, and tea or coffee lowered their risk of developing dementia.

The study, published in the journal Neurology, evaluated 1059 people with average age 73 years. The study subjects were recruited from the Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Aging and Diet (HELIAD). None of them had dementia at the time of their inclusion in the study. The follow up period was 3.05 years. 

They were instructed to answer a food frequency questionnaire to determine the major food groups  consumed in the last month, including dairy products, cereals, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, legumes, added fats, alcoholic beverages, stimulants and sweets. The dietary inflammatory index (DII) was used to find out if their diet was anti-inflammatory or proinflammatory. The DII score ranged from -8.87 to 7.98; higher scores suggested a more proinflammatory diet. Based on the DII score, the participants were categorised into three groups: persons with the lowest scores (-1.76 and lower), medium scores and highest scores (0.21 and above).

Persons who ate a more anti-inflammatory diet (comprising of an average per week of 20 servings of fruit, 19 servings of vegetables, four servings of legumes and 11 servings of coffee or tea every week) scored the lowest on the DII. On the other hand, persons who scored the highest ate a more proinflammatory diet, which included an average per week of nine servings of fruit, 10 of vegetables, two servings of legumes and nine servings of coffee or tea.

Sixty-two out of the total 1059 individuals evaluated developed incident dementia. Those who developed dementia had average scores of -0.06 versus average scores of -0.70 for those who did not develop dementia. Those who scored the highest had a three times greater risk of developing dementia in comparison to those who scored the lowest. Every one unit increase in the DII score was associated with a 21% increase in the risk for dementia (HR=1.21).

This observational study has shown an association between a proinflammatory diet and dementia. It has highlighted the role of diet as a potentially modifiable risk factor in preventing cognitive impairment and suggests that eating an anti-inflammatory diet is not only heart-friendly, it can also prevent cognitive impairment. Personalised dietary plans can be beneficial in maintaining cognitive health.

Reference

1. Charisis S, et al. Diet inflammatory index and dementia incidence: a population-based study. Neurology. 2021 Nov 10:10.1212/WNL.0000000000012973. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000012973.