Nutritional determinants of cognitive aging and dementia

Abstract

The objective of this review is to provide an overview of nutritional factors involved in cognitive aging and dementia with a focus on nutrients that are also important in neurocognitive development. Several dietary components were targeted, including antioxidant nutrients, dietary fats and B-vitamins. A critical review of the literature on each nutrient group is presented, beginning with laboratory and animal studies of the underlying biological mechanisms, followed by prospective epidemiological studies and randomised clinical trials. The evidence to date is fairly strong for protective associations of vitamin E from food sources, the n-3 fatty acid, DHA, found in fish, a high ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fats, and vitamin B 12 and folate. Attention to the level of nutrient intake is crucial for interpreting the literature and the inconsistencies across studies. Most of the epidemiological studies that observe associations have sufficient numbers of individuals who have both low and adequate nutrient status. Few of the randomised clinical trials are designed to target participants who have low baseline status before randomising to vitamin supplement treatments, and this may have resulted in negative findings. Post-hoc analyses by some of the trials reveal vitamin effects in individuals with low baseline intakes. The field of diet and dementia is a relatively young area of study. Much further work needs to be done to understand dietary determinants of cognitive aging and diseases. Further, these studies must be particularly focused on the levels of nutrient intake or status that confer optimum or suboptimal brain functioning. Nutrition: Cognitive decline: Dementia: Antioxidant nutrients: Dietary fatsAfter more than a decade of research on nutrition and the aging brain, a number of promising nutritional factors have emerged that are also important to neurocognitive development. This review describes the evidence for these nutritional factors that show the most promise in the prevention of neurodegenerative disease. Among these are antioxidant nutrients, B-vitamins, dietary fat composition and n-3 fatty acids. Each of these factors has a body of literature to support underlying biological mechanisms for association as well as evidence of association from prospective epidemiological studies. The clinical trial evidence for vitamin supplements has been disappointing, but very few of these trials were designed to test whether supplementation is effective in persons who have low nutrient status for that particular dietary component.In general, potential recommendations to maintain a healthy brain reflect those that have been demonstrated to maintain a healthy heart: physical activity combined with a diet that has a high ratio of unsaturated to saturated fats, vegetables, fruits and fish. In this review, we first describe common neurodegenerative diseases of aging and some basic fundamentals in nutrient absorption and physiological function. These sections are followed by a review of the evidence for each die...

A flavanoid component of chocolate quickly reverses an imposed memory deficit

“…In addition, it was also shown that CFs in cocoa induce vasodilation of the peripheral and cerebral vascular system (Sorond et al, 2008;Francis et al, 2006), increasing brain blood flow and perfusion mainly through an improvement in nitric oxide bioavailability in endothelial cells (Heiss et al, 2010). Thus, in humans, CF-containing foods can be effective in protection against the development of age-related cognitive dysfunction, possibly reversing or with a restorative effect on certain aspects of age-related cognitive decline (Field et al, 2011;Morris, 2012). It is also worth noting here that insulin has positive effects on LTM formation in Lymnaea (Murakami et al, 2013a,b;Hatakeyama et al, 2014;Ito et al, 2015b).…”

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“…The MIND Diet focuses on foods and nutrients that scientific research has shown to be associated with prevention of dementia (123)(124)(125). This diet emphasizes inclusion of green leafy vegetables, nuts, berries, beans, whole grains (at least 3 servings/day), oily fish, poultry, olive oil, and wine and recommends limiting inclusion of red meat, butter/stick margarine, cheese, pastries, and sweets, as well as fried or fast foods (126).…”

Cognitive impairment in elderly patients considering concentration of hemoglobin and vitamin B 12 – preliminary report

“…w badaniach wykazano, że pewne składniki odżywcze (kwasy tłuszczo-we omega-3, nukleotyd urydyny, cholina) przez zwiększa-nie stężenia fosfolipidów w błonach komórkowych przyczyniają się do tworzenia nowych połączeń nerwowych [16,17]. Podobną rolę odgrywa prawidłowa podaż witaminy B 12 , e i kwasu foliowego [25,26]. jednym z mechanizmów wpływających na rozwój zmian otępiennych przy niedoborze witaminy B 12 jest jej sprzężenie z metabolizmem homocysteiny.…”