New study has found that seniors following a Mediterranean-type diet and who are physically active may be cutting their risk of developing neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimers disease (AD).
This type of diet includes high intake of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereal and fish and low consumption of red meat and poultry.
The study was conducted by researchers from Columbia University Medical Center and focused on two groups of 1,880 elderly residents of New York city without dementia at the start of the study, whose dietary habits and physical activity were followed for an average of 5.4 years, during which a total of 282 developed AD.
Both physical activity and a Mediterranean diet adherence were significantly associated with AD incidence, the results suggested.
“Compared with [control individuals], high physical activity plus high diet adherence was associated with a 35 percent to 44 percent relative risk reduction,” the scientists wrote in the August 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Meanwhile, another study from a university in Bordeaux, France, found that a Mediterranean diet was associated with slower cognitive decline.
Some health practitioners have also recommended the alkaline diet. It is based on citrus fruits, vegetables, tubers, nuts and legumes may boost bone health into old age. 