United States: New research reveals exactly how specific nutrients could help ensure the continued healthy aging of the brain.
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Moreover, those nutrients are all aligned with the nutrient composition of a Mediterranean diet, an eating plan that is already linked with healthy cognitive aging, according to the study authors.
Aron Barbey, the senior researcher and director of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior said that the identified nutrients “align with the extensive body of research in the field demonstrating the positive health effects of the Mediterranean Diet, which emphasizes foods rich in these beneficial nutrients,” as US News reported.
More about the study
In the specific study, about 100 individuals aged 65 to 75 years who did not exhibit any cognitive impairment were given blood samples for testing and had their brain functioning examined through tests and MRI.
In a study conducted among the study participants, evidence showed that they were aging differently in their brain, with some aging at a faster rate while others aging slower than what their chronological age would suggest.
As with the previous test, slowed brain aging was dramatically revealed; furthermore, a serum nutrient profile also differed distinctively between the two groups.
The beneficial nutrient blood biomarkers included a combination of:
- These include vaccenic, gondoic ,alpha linolenic, elcosapentaenoic, eicosadienoic and lignoceric fatty acids.
- Lutein and zeaxanthin which are antioxidants and carotenoids that are collected as cis-lutein, trans- lutein and zeaxanthin.
- Two forms of vitamin E
- Choline, an essential nutrient.
The researchers pointed out that this profile revealed some similarities with the Mediterranean diet.
What more the experts have to say?
According to Barbey, such nutrient patterns “are promising and have favorable associations with measures of cognitive performance and brain health,” as US News reported.
Moreover, this first of its kind and the largest study to check blood markers for nutrient levels, and thereby combine that data with brain imaging and cognitive testing as researchers noted.
Barbey said “This allows us to build a more robust understanding of the relationship between these factors.”
Adding further, “We move beyond simply measuring cognitive performance with traditional neuropsychological tests,” and “Instead, we simultaneously examine brain structure, function and metabolism, demonstrating a direct link between these brain properties and cognitive abilities. Furthermore, we show that these brain properties are directly linked to diet and nutrition, as revealed by the patterns observed in nutrient biomarkers,” as Barbey noted.
The findings of the study were published in the journal Nature Aging on May 21