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EventsA higher-fat Mediterranean diet reduces risk of dementia
A higher fat diet seems to be good for preserving our brains and reducing the risk of dementia.
Today there’s a new publication from the PREDIMED study. It has previously shown that a higher-fat Mediterranean diet with extra olive oil or nuts is good for preventing heart disease and improving diabetes. Now it turns out it preserves cognitive function as well: Video report / Study
People in the study who were told to instead eat a low-fat diet did worse on everything. They got more heart disease, more diabetes and more cognitive decline. Don’t eat a low-fat diet.
Nuts are likely good because they are low in carbs more than their fat content, except hazelnuts, which are predominantly MUFA and little PUFA. Walnuts are okay as the n-6 PUFA is off-set by n-3 ALA. Also, nuts are a good source of vitamin E, which is required to transport DHA into brain cells.
Mechanism outlined by which inadequate vitamin E can cause brain damage
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150413184239.htm
Why not compare to a normal Mediterranean diet, or would that show no significant impact from the added nuts and oil?
Last I checked, there are over 20 countries with coastlines on the Med... each with their own regional variations in diet :-P
It's one of those vague, undefined terms (platitudes) like "a well balanced diet" or "a normal healthy diet" or "moderation" that everyone thinks mean something... but they really don't.
He was a military doctor in the medettarian region and studyed what they eat after the war when they was starving!
He was very disepointed when he came back a decade later, when they didnt starv anymore!
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/the-mediterranean-diet-past...
Of course, it varied between times and places, but generally involved things most Americans now really think are unhealthy: little or no soy or PUFA-rich seed oils, but rather eating butter, lard (in parts of Europe), full-fat milk, cheese, and animals snout to tail. Local fruits and vegetables in season, but no vegetarianism. They ate grains, but the grains were a different species of wheat and, I think, were sprouted.
http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/7/5/3078
http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2015/05/high-protein-diets-weight-death/