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Healthy diet may help ward off Alzheimer's disease

Category: General Health

According to a new study to be published in the June issue of the Archives of Neurology, consuming a healthy diet may decrease a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

For the study, lead author Yian Gu and his colleagues from Columbia University Medical Center studied nearly 2,220 older adults who showed no signs of early-stage cognitive decline. Over a four-year period, the research team monitored the dietary intake and mental health of each individual. At the point of follow-up, a total of 253 people had developed Alzheimer's disease.

The investigators found that a high intake of salad dressing, nuts, fish, tomatoes, poultry, fruits and green leafy vegetables was linked to a lower risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Contrastingly, dietary consumption of high-fat dairy, red meat, organ meat and butter was associated with a greater risk of developing the disease.

"Our findings provide support for further exploration of food combination-based dietary behavior for the prevention of this important public health problem," the authors concluded.

This study "does not promote one single source of food, but an optimal combination of nutrients," added CBS News Medical Correspondent Jennifer Ashton.