Elderly Diet for a Better Memory – Part 1 of 5
There are many factors in life that can impact our memories as we age. The main 5 factors are:-
1) Diet
2) Exercise
3) Health
4) Lifestyle
5) Cognition
For the diet there are a number of beneficial foods that when included in the diet can sharpen the memory and keep your focus and recall clear and efficient. Foods high in Omega 3 oils such as those found in Avocados, Walnuts, Coconut and also found in oily fish like Salmon, Herring and Mackerel have been discovered to be good at keeping the brain going as the brain works better on that particular fat profile. So actually some fats are actually good for you. Who would have thought it, eh?
Recent research in the Journal of Neurology and featured in the Telegraph highlights a four year study that examined elderly participants who had all taken part in a stroke study and whether a Mediterranean diet helped them with symptoms of cognitive decline which is their ability to remember things and think clearly. The Mediterranean diet, or southern European, is typically rich in olive oil, fish, chicken, garlic, thyme and rosemary, amongst a higher than average consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables compared to people living in the Northern Hemisphere.
Overall, seven per cent of participants were found to have impaired cognitive functioning, but the risk was almost a fifth lower in those whose diets were closest to those of southern Europeans.
Dr Georgios Tsivgoulis, who led the study, said: “Since there are no definitive treatments for most dementing illnesses, modifiable activities, such as diet, that may delay the onset of symptoms of dementia are very important.
“Diet is an important modifiable activity that could help in preserving cognitive functioning in late life. However, it is only one of several important lifestyle activities that might play a role in late-life mental functioning. Source:telegraph.co.uk
Other helpful foods are blue and purple coloured fruits which contain anthocyanins, for example red grapes, blueberries and blackcurrants. Also garlic, soy beans and dark chocolate also have benefits if you include portions of them in your diet in moderate quantities.
Medium Chain Triglycerides such as those found in Coconut Oil have shown remarkable changes in the elderly who already have some symptoms of Dementia or Alzheimers. Listen here to a podcast from a researcher in America, Dr.Mary Newport, who gave some to her husband and found it “woke him out of his Alzheimers” and was a different man, like how he used to be.
If you want to take a free online test to find out how your brain rates, including questions about diet you can take the test here.
Do you find you are forgetting things in your old age? Let us know in the comments what are the commonest things you leave behind or mislay about the house. Would you try coffee and coconut oil everyday as an add-on to an elderly diet for better memory?