Including unhealthy foods may diminish positive effects of an otherwise healthy diet

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-01/rumc-iuf010821.php

 

News Release 8-Jan-2021
Study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center finds adding more foods that are part of Western diet may reduce cognitive benefits of Mediterranean diet
Rush University Medical Center

 

Eating a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, has a positive impact on health, but little is known about the effects of including unhealthy foods in an otherwise healthy diet. Now researchers at Rush University Medical Center have reported diminished benefits of a Mediterranean diet among those with high frequency of eating unhealthy foods. The results of their study were published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association on Jan. 7.

"Eating a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruit, fish and whole grains may positively affects a person's health," said Puja Agarwal, PhD, a nutritional epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College. "But when it is combined with fried food, sweets, refined grains, red meat and processed meat, we observed that the benefits of eating the Mediterranean part of the diet seems to be diminished."

A Mediterranean diet is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline in older adults.


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Participants with slower cognitive decline over the years of follow-up were those who adhered closest to the Mediterranean diet, along with limiting foods that are part of Western diet, whereas participants who ate more of the Western diet had no beneficial effect of healthy food components in slowing cognitive decline.

There was no significant interaction between age, sex, race or education and the association with cognitive decline in either high or low levels of Western diet foods. The study also included models for smoking status, body mass index and other potential variables such as cardiovascular conditions and findings remained the same.

"Western diets may adversely affect cognitive health," Agarwal said. "Individuals who had a high Mediterranean diet score compared to those who had the lowest score were equivalent to being 5.8 years younger in age cognitively."

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