If you have a family history of Alzheimer’s disease, you should be aware that there are dietary steps you can take now to reduce your risk of the most common type of dementia.
Overall, the key is to eat a well-balanced diet that’s rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fat. Here are some other guidelines:
1. Limit red meat and whole-fat dairy products. A diet high in saturated fats increases the risk of Alzheimer’s. Try substituting fish, poultry and vegetable oils for red meat and whole-fat dairy products.
2. Don’t overdo it with alcohol. Although light drinking has been linked to lower rates of cardiovascular disease, heavy drinking may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. If alcohol is part of your diet, limit yourself to one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men.
3. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables — especially leafy greens such as spinach, kale, and collards; berries such as blueberries and strawberries; beans; and citrus fruits. These foods contain antioxidants that help protect against damage to cells caused by free radicals — unstable molecules that form naturally in the body but can cause cell damage if their numbers grow too large.
4. Get omega-3 fats. Omega-3s have been shown to protect against Alzheimer’s disease in lab research, says Olivia Affuso, PhD, RDN, a nutritionist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The omega-3s in fish oil appears to protect nerve cells in the brain from damage caused by amyloid proteins.
It’s important to note that no diet has been proven to prevent or cure any form of dementia; we don’t know enough about the causes of these diseases yet. But we do know that healthy lifestyle choices (such as getting regular exercise and avoiding smoking) and adopting a healthy diet is associated with a lower risk for dementia — and can improve our overall mental and physical health in general.
