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November 27, 2018
Memo to men: When you remind your children or grandchildren to eat their vegetables, follow your own advice. This could reduce your risk of memory loss later in life.
This seems to be the message to remember from a recent study published on November 21, 2018 in the newspaper Neurology. For the project, which was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston analyzed the results of repeated dietary assessments conducted as part of the follow-up study with health professionals.
In this study, over 27,000 adult men (whose average age at the beginning of the study was 51 years old) – all health professionals – completed a five-fold questionnaire about their fruit intake , vegetables and other foods, over a period of 20 years. . Study participants also completed questionnaires on their thinking skills and memory twice during the study.
The researchers found that men in the study who ate the most vegetables (6 servings of 1 cup of raw vegetables or 2 cups of leafy vegetables a day) were 34% less likely to develop poor eating habits. thinking that men who consumed the least amount of vegetables (only 2 servings a day). In total, 6.6% of men who consumed the most vegetables developed poor cognitive function, compared to 7.9% of men who consumed the least.
RELATED: 5 tips to get enough fruits and vegetables
Orange juice or oranges, can also help
In addition, the researchers noted that men in the study who drank orange juice daily reduced by 47% their risk of developing poor thinking skills, compared to those consuming less alcohol. 39, one portion per month. Among the study participants, 6.9% who drank orange juice each day had poor cognitive function, compared to 8.4% who drank less once a month.
This may be due to the fact that orange juice is a "major source of carotenoid beta-cryptoxanthin", related to cognitive function, in a study published in 2013 in Journal of Aging Research, said Changzheng Yuan, ScD, co-author of the new study. "Since fruit juices usually contain a lot of calories from concentrated fruit sugars, it is usually best not to consume more than one small glass, or 4 to 6 ounces a day. Better yet, choose the whole fruit, which contains the added benefit of fiber. "
At this point, the men in the study who ate the most fruits every day were also less likely to develop poor thinking skills, but because they also ate a lot of vegetables and orange juice, among other choices. healthy foods, legumes and some dairy products), the authors could not draw definitive conclusions about fruit eaters.
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Do the benefits of vegetable and fruit consumption apply to women?
"Long-term consumption of vegetables, such as green leafy, dark orange and red vegetables; fruits, such as berries; and fruit juice can be beneficial for subjective cognitive function in men at the end of life, "says Dr. Yuan. "However, the participants in our study were a large group of male health professionals followed by mid-to-late adulthood. Thus, the results may not apply to women and other groups of men, or to others.
Indeed, it should be noted that at the end of the study, participants were on average 73 years old and it was found that 55% of them had good thinking and memory skills. Only 7% were considered to have weak thinking and memory skills.
The Yuan team study does not show that fruit and vegetable consumption and orange juice consumption reduce memory loss; this only demonstrates that there seems to be a link between consumption and the risk of cognitive decline in men.
"For our future research, we plan to replicate these [findings] in another big study including women, the study on the health of nurses, "she says. "In addition, we will explore which nutrients in fruits and vegetables contribute primarily to the association with [reduced risk of memory loss]. "
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