{"id":12084,"date":"2023-03-20T12:36:36","date_gmt":"2023-03-20T16:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=12084"},"modified":"2023-03-19T18:36:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T22:36:55","slug":"mediterranean-diets-associated-with-fewer-alzheimers-plaques-and-tangles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=12084","title":{"rendered":"Mediterranean Diets Associated with Fewer Alzheimer\u2019s Plaques and Tangles"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FoodsHere’s a good rule of thumb: Do what healthy people do, and you’ll get their results. The Mediterranean dietary lifestyle famously produces some of the healthiest people on the planet, and scientists at the American Academy of Neurology show that it’s also associated with fewer plaques thought to cause Alzheimer\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The study looked at how closely 561 adults with an average age of 84 followed the so-called Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes more fish than red meat, along with vegetables, fruit, olive oil and legumes.<\/p>\n

After they passed, researchers examined participants\u2019 brains to determine the amounts of amyloid plaques and tau tangles, and compared that with how well they had stuck to their Mediterranean diets over the past several years.<\/p>\n

For the Mediterranean diet, there were 11 food categories. Participants were given a score of zero to 55, with higher scores if they adhered to the diet in these categories: whole grain cereals, fruits, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, fish, and potatoes. They were given lower scores if they ate red meat, poultry, and full-fat dairy products.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Get a Younger Brain<\/h2>\n

Researchers found people who scored highest for adhering to the Mediterranean diet had average plaque and tangle amounts in their brains similar to being 18 years younger than people who scored lowest.<\/p>\n

When looking at single diet components, researchers found people who ate the highest amounts of green leafy vegetables, or seven or more servings per week, had plaque amounts in their brains corresponding to being almost 19 years younger than people who ate the fewest, with one or fewer servings per week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese results are exciting\u2014improvement in people\u2019s diets in just one area\u2014such as eating more than six servings of green leafy vegetables per week, or not eating fried foods\u2014was associated with fewer amyloid plaques in the brain similar to being about four years younger,\u201d said study author Puja Agarwal, Ph.D., of RUSH University in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Of course, this result doesn’t PROVE that the Mediterranean dietary lifestyle reduces the plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimer’s Disease, but the association between them is pretty strong!<\/p>\n

Plus, people in the Mediterranean region enjoy long lifespans and lower incidences of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancer.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Note: Quality, Not Quantity<\/h2>\n

The Mediterranean Dieters in this study were marked down for the consumption of full-fat dairy and red meat\u2014which the Mediterranean nations of Italy, France, and Spain eat at higher rates than almost anywhere else in Europe. Clearly this eating pattern isn’t hurting them, as these countries have some of the highest life expectancies on the continent, despite their love affair with cured meats and cheeses, not to mention pizza and pasta.<\/p>\n

The key comes down to two things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The food they do choose is higher in quality and does not consist of fried and ultra-processed foods.<\/li>\n
  2. The quantity of those delicious full fat cheeses, prosciuttos, etc that they eat is small. In other words they control total fat consumption not by what they eat, but by how much they eat.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    The post is adapted from an article from the Good News Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Here’s a good rule of thumb: Do what healthy people do, and you’ll get their results. The Mediterranean dietary lifestyle famously produces some of the healthiest people on the planet, … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Alzheimers-Trees-Lancaster-University-e1678965579407-6qT1n0.jpeg?fit=1000%2C635&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-38U","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2116,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2116","url_meta":{"origin":12084,"position":0},"title":"Alzheimers Research: Pills? No; Mediterranean Diet? Yes.","author":"Will Clower","date":"April 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Alzheimer\u2019s\u00a0research is continuing -- that\u2019s one bright side we can take from the mixed Alzheimer\u2019s news this week. \u00a0But the negative news was truly disheartening.\u00a0A commonly prescribed drug to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer\u2019s\u00a0was found ineffective\u00a0for mild cases. Memantine,\u00a0brand name Namenda, doesn\u2019t\u00a0appear to\u00a0slow memory loss any better than a sugar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-oVmAM2ozqww\/Tahhlb6OpgI\/AAAAAAAADCg\/zYxVM43l5Z8\/s320\/MedDietTable.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2129,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2129","url_meta":{"origin":12084,"position":1},"title":"Mayo Clinic Weighs in on the Mediterranean diet","author":"Will Clower","date":"March 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mediterranean diet has been in the news a lot lately, and now our mainstream health stake-holders are weighing in on the plan. Below is a brief summary put together by this group.\u00a0Bottom line?\u00a0The Mediterranean diet is a heart-healthy eating plan combining elements of Mediterranean-style cooking. Here's how to adopt\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.medcitynews.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/mayoclinic_logo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2580,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2580","url_meta":{"origin":12084,"position":2},"title":"Mediterranean Diet Lowers Blood Pressure","author":"Will Clower","date":"May 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mediterranean Dietary approach can help lower blood pressure. This, according to this report published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adherence to this way of eating was associated with lower blood pressure.This adds to the data indicating that the consistent health benefits of this approach. For instance, recent\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2370,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2370","url_meta":{"origin":12084,"position":3},"title":"Mediterranean Diet Better for Breast Cancer SurvivorsOlive-oil enriched diet helps breast cancer survivors lose more weight","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mediterranean diet, rich in olive oil, seems to be a better diet for weight loss and weight loss maintenance. This article reports on a study in breast cancer survivors. Here's why that's important. For women with breast cancer, excess weight at the time of diagnosis, or even moderate weight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mediterranean diet"","block_context":{"text":"Mediterranean diet","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=285"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2607,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2607","url_meta":{"origin":12084,"position":4},"title":"Mediterranean Diet Data","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A new independent clinical study has shown yet again how effective the Mediterranean diet can be to lower the risk of heart disease and to improve overall health.Women who followed a Mediterranean diet were almost 1\/3 less likely to experience heart disease and also 13% less likely to suffer from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2590,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2590","url_meta":{"origin":12084,"position":5},"title":"Not All Diets Pass Heart Healthy Test","author":"Will Clower","date":"April 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Guess which diet got the best ranking?According to this report by WebMD, it's the Mediterranean Diet.Study Shows Mediterranean Diet Lowers Heart Disease Risk; Western Diet Gets Poor MarksResearchers evaluated more than 50 years of research on diet and heart disease and found those that follow a Mediterranean pattern with lots\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12084"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12102,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12084\/revisions\/12102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}