For decades, it has been thought that cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders such as dementias were inevitable events linked only to aging and genetics. However, and despite the fact that these factors undoubtedly play an important role, in more recent times it has been discovered that there are many decisions in our lifestyle that can make a big difference in the aging of our neurological faculties.
In this line, a new study published in the specialized media BMJ has identified six healthy behaviors that have a significant impact in slowing the decline of memory and other parameters of cognition.
A healthy diet
The first of these factors has to do with our feeding. And it is that there is a lot of evidence that we have today that indicates that the decisions we make regarding our diet are essential for healthy aging in many aspects, including the neurological one.
Thus, the participants in this large cohort study (29,000 participants) who wore a healthy diet (considered as such that which contained the recommended amounts of at least seven out of twelve food groups: fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, dairy products, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts and tea) experienced more cognitive decline slower than the general population, even taking into account the major genetic risk factor linked to dementia (the presence of certain variants of the APOE gene).
It is worth mentioning that, among the six behaviors mentioned in the article as clearly beneficial, the diet it was the one that had the greatest impact on the speed of cognitive decline.
Cognitive activity and social contact
Something similar happened with those people who regularly maintained a certain level of more or less demanding cognitive activitysuch as writing, reading, playing cards or other games at least twice a week.
Related to this point, the beneficial effects of social contact have also been widely documented by previous scientific literature. Now, this work, which considered as frequent social contact that which included visits to family and friends or going to parties and meetings, has corroborated this aspect.
Exercise, don’t smoke, and don’t drink alcohol
Finally, the researchers also found that behaviors such as the regular practice of physical exercise (more than 150 minutes per week with moderate intensity, more than 75 minutes with high intensity), not having smoked or having quit the habit, and abstinence in alcohol consumption were indicators of slower than average deterioration in memory over time. over a period of 10 years.
References
Jia J, Zhao T, Liu Z, Liang Y, Li F, Li Y et al. Association between healthy lifestyle and memory decline in older adults: 10 year, population based, prospective cohort study. BMJ (2023). DOI: 10.1136/bmj-2022-072691