As life expectancies across the world increase, the world’s population is inexorably ageing as we age comes challenging health problems such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease are the most common neurodegenerative diseases. In the United States, as many as 6.2 million people may have Alzheimer’s disease, according to a report from the Alzheimer’s Disease Association in 2022. These highly distressing and disabling conditions lead to deteriorating cognitive abilities and no chance to lead an independent life. The number of people who are affected is expected to increase significantly and is set to reach epidemic proportions. There is, at this point, no cure, so we need to consider the role of lifestyle and diet and the gut microbiome as potential strategies that might prevent neurodegeneration.
” The results of 2 population studies concluded that, in individuals older than 65 years, “a healthy lifestyle as a composite score is associated with a substantially lower risk of Alzheimer’s dementia.” These studies, along with others, point to 5 fundamental lifestyle factors—nutrition, exercise, stress management, restorative sleep, and mental and social optimization—that can significantly affect one’s risk of developing dementia.”
Wholegrain has some positive links in protecting people from Alzheimer’s. Researchers looked at the relationship between eating patterns and Alzheimer’s in 923 retired adults in Chicago over 4.5 years. The participants’ diets were rated on based on how closely they adhered to the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet (a healthy diet used to treat hypertension that emphasises fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and limited sweets and salt) and the MIND diet.
( The MIND diet is a hybrid Mediterranean-DASH diet that emphasises foods associated with brain health, including 3 servings per day of whole grains, making it more than any other food group in the diet), along with green leafy vegetables, berries, nuts, olive oil.
The results? The group closely following either the MIND diet or the Mediterranean diet reduced their risk of Alzheimer’s dementia by more than half (53% for MIND and 54% for the Mediterranean). In comparison, those closely following the DASH diet were 39% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s. What is more, those who were just moderately following the MIND diet were at a 35% lower risk.
Syllabus for BALM Theory
| Lesson | Lesson Type | Time (mins) | What you will learn | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1: Ferulic acid in Wheat is a strong contender for the prevention and management of Alzheimer’s | Research | Phenolic acids are a type of polyphenol found in whole grains that have antioxidant properties. Some common phenolic acids found in whole grains include ferulic acid, p-coumaric acid, and sinapic acid - in the paper we look at the potential of ferulic acid in wheat is a strong contender for the prevention and management of Alzheimer’s | |
| 2 | 1: A list of key studies on Bread and Alzheimers | Background Knowledge | A list of key studies on bread and Alzheimers |