Complain about a product or service

Vegetables May Slow Memory Loss

October 24, 2006

• Dementia Linked To Obesity • Studies Find Link Between Diabetes and Alzheimer's • Lifestyle Linked to Alzheimer's Onset • Pot Belly in Middle Age Linked to Alzheimer's • 10 Million Boomers Face Alzheimer's • Alzheimer's Risk Higher in Victims' Children • Fast-Acting Alzheimer's Therapy Excites Researchers • Too Much Sugar May Increase Alzheimer’s Risk • Beta Carotene May Slow Memory Loss • Promising Alzheimer’s Discovery Reported • Misconceptions About Alzheimer's Vary Among Races • Mediterranean Diet May Extend Alzheimer’s Patients’ Lives • Researchers Link Smoking To Dementia • Caffeine May Keep Dementia At Bay In Women • Alzheimer’s Drug Seen As “Safe, Effective” • Researchers “A Step Closer” To Alzheimer’s Cure • FDA Approves Alzheimer’s Patch • Scientists Raise Hopes For Alzheimer's Vaccine • Researchers Hopeful About New Alzheimer’s Therapy • Blood Pressure Drugs May Provide Alzheimer’s Protection • Progress Toward Early Alzheimer's Diagnosis Reported • Alzheimer's Cases Up 10% In 5 Years • Loneliness Linked to Dementia • Gene Changes Identified in Alzheimer's • Mental Exercise May Help Seniors • Rote Learning Improves Memory in Seniors • Vegetables May Slow Memory Loss • Cabernet Sauvignon May Reduce Alzheimer's Risk • Fruit Juice May Reduce Alzheimer's Risk • Skin Test May Detect Alzheimer's Disease • Exercise May Prevent Dementia-Like Illnesses • An Apple A Day May Improve Memory • New Drug Reverses Alzheimer's Damage, Australian Researchers Report • Diabetes Drug May Help Treat Alzheimer's • For Women, Weight Loss May Precede Dementia • Researchers "Closer" To Preventing Alzheimer's • Statins Help Memory in Older Women • Study Links Healthy Diet To Reduced Alzheimer's Risk • Tea May Help Combat Alzheimer's • Education May Accelerate Alzheimer's Effects • Alzheimer's Found to be Mostly Genetic • Exercise May Reduce Risk of Dementia in Older People • Researchers Find DNA Link to Alzheimer's • Brain Scan, Fluid Analysis May Help Predict Alzheimer's • Eating Fish Associated With Slower Cognitive Decline • Word Recall An Alzheimer' s Tip-Off? • Interrupted Alzheimer's Trial Produced Promising Results • Gene Therapy May Offer Hope For Alzheimer's Patients • Alzheimer's Researchers Reverse Memory Loss in Mice • Alzheimer's Disease Reveals Itself Earlier, Study Finds

Eating vegetables -- but not fruit -- helps slow the rate of cognitive change in older adults, according to a study published in the October 24, 2006, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

In determining whether there was an association between vegetables, fruit and cognitive decline, researchers studied 3,718 residents in Chicago, who were age 65 and older. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire and received at least two cognitive tests over a six-year period.

"Compared to people who consumed less than one serving of vegetables a day, people who ate at least 2.8 servings of vegetables a day saw their rate of cognitive change slow by roughly 40 percent," said study author Martha Clare Morris, ScD, with Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. "This decrease is equivalent to about five years of younger age."

Of the different types of vegetables consumed by participants, green leafy vegetables had the strongest association to slowing the rate of cognitive decline.

The study also found the older the person, the greater the slowdown in the rate of cognitive decline if that person consumed more than two servings of vegetables a day.

Surprisingly, the study found fruit consumption was not associated with cognitive change.

"This was unanticipated and raises several questions," said Morris. "It may be due to vegetables containing high amounts of vitamin E, which helps lower the risk of cognitive decline. Vegetables, but not fruits, are also typically consumed with added fats such as salad dressings, and fats increase the absorption of vitamin E. Still, further study is required to understand why fruit is not associated with cognitive change."

Morris says the study's findings can be used to simplify public health messages by saying people should eat more or less of foods in a specific food group, not necessarily more or less of individual foods.

The study was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top |