2023-06-21 08:45:38
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Switching to a green Mediterranean diet also has a positive effect on brain health, according to a new study conducted at Ben-Gurion University in the Negev. In a clinical trial conducted for 18 months among 100 participants, the researchers discovered that for every percentage decrease in body mass index, the ‘brain age’ decreases by nine months. The research findings were published in the journal eLife
A person’s biological ‘brain age’ does not necessarily reflect their chronological age. Researchers can calculate biological brain age using an algorithm applied to brain imaging (MRI) scans, thereby examining how certain factors, such as lifestyle, can affect brain aging. Prof. Galia Avidan from the psychology department, and Dr. Gideon Levkova former PhD student in the Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev conducted a sub-study based on research that led Prof. Iris Shay from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, from the Harvard School of Public Health and Professor Emeritus at the University of Leipzig, Germany, together with her student Dr. Alon Kaplanand colleagues from Harvard and Leipzig universities (the study was based on data from around 300 participants and was published in the journal The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition).
Using brain scans collected at the beginning and end of the study, the researchers examined the effect of a controlled intervention in a person’s lifestyle on the biological aging of the brain. About 102 participants who were diagnosed as overweight were recruited for the study, most of them men with an average age of 52. For a year and a half, the participants in the experimental group consumed a green Mediterranean diet that included consuming 28 grams of walnuts daily, three to four cups of green tea and 100 grams of green smoothie Made from mankai (herbal supplement). They were also asked to cut back on eating red meat and sweets. The women who participated in the study were asked to consume no more than 1,200 to 1,400 calories per day, while men consumed between 1,500 and 1,800 calories per day. During the study, the participants were encouraged to exercise, as part of which they received a free subscription to a gym and were given educational sessions encouraging moderate-intensity physical activity. In addition, they were asked to participate in aerobic and resistance training for about 45-60 minutes for about three to four times a week.
The data that emerged from the study indicated that approximately 56.8 percent of the participants who consumed a green Mediterranean diet had a lower brain age than expected at the end of the study. The researchers observed that every one percent decrease in body mass index (BMI) correlated with a nine-month decrease in ‘brain age’. The rate of brain aging was associated with changes in other biological measures, such as a decrease in liver fat and the production of certain liver enzymes. An increase in liver fat and the production of liver enzymes have been shown in the past to have a negative effect on brain health, for example in Alzheimer’s disease.
“We were encouraged to find that even a 1% weight loss is enough to affect brain health and lead to a 9-month decrease in brain age,” said Prof. Avidan. “Our research highlights the importance of a healthy lifestyle, including a lower consumption of processed food, sweets and drinks, in maintaining brain health,” says Dr. Levkov.
The study did not examine whether the decrease in brain age affected the cognition of the participants. The researchers noted that the findings are limited due to the high proportion of men among the participants and the lack of a control group. The research group included: Anat Yaskolka Meir, Ehud Rinot, Gal Tsavan, Hila Zelicha and Prof. Ilan Shelf from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev as well as Matthias Bluhr, Uta Chagelrak, Michael Stomwell from the University of Leipzig.
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#Brain #aging #delayed #proper #nutrition