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Nutritious diet in youth promotes brain health

Eating a good-quality diet in youth and middle age could help to maintain brain function into old age, a new study has revealed.

A research team from Tufts University in Massachusetts analysed data from over 3,000 adults who were tracked as part of a health survey for over 75 years. To assess diet quality, the researchers used the 2020 Healthy Eating Index, which measures how closely one’s diet aligns with the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Study participants who sustained the highest cognitive abilities over time relative to their peers tended to eat more recommended foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains and less sodium, added sugars and refined grains.

Only about 8 per cent of participants with low-quality diets sustained high cognitive ability and only about 7 per cent of those with high-quality diets sustained low cognitive ability over time compared with their peers.

“Dietary patterns that are high in whole or less processed plant-food groups including leafy green vegetables, beans, whole fruits and whole grains may be most protective,” said researcher Kelly Cara, PhD. “Adjusting one’s dietary intake at any age to incorporate more of these foods and to align more closely with current dietary recommendations is likely to improve our health in many ways, including our cognitive health.”

The research adds to a growing body of evidence that a healthy diet could help ward off Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline.

Evening activity may help sleep

Short bursts of light exercise before bed can lead to better sleep, a new study from the University of Otago in New Zealand has found.

The study participants completed two four-hour evening sessions of prolonged sitting, and then sitting interrupted with three-minute activity breaks every half hour. The researchers found that after the participants completed the activity breaks they slept for 30 minutes longer.

The exercises included chair squats, calf raises and standing knee raises with straight leg hip extensions.

The fact that this exercise resulted in longer sleep is important, because insufficient sleep can negatively affect diet and has been associated with heart disease and type II diabetes.

Primary investigator, Dr Meredith Peddie, said: “We know higher levels of physical activity during the day promotes better sleep, but current sleep recommendations discourage high-intensity exercise before bed because it can increase body temperature and heart rate resulting in poor sleep quality. It might be time to review these guidelines as our study has shown regularly interrupting long periods of sitting is a promising health intervention.”

The study was published in BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine.

Healthy diet linked to lower diabetes risk

A healthy diet that meets nutritional recommendations is associated with better blood glucose levels and a lower risk of prediabetes and type II diabetes, a new study has found. This link was also found in people with a high genetic predisposition to type II diabetes.

Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland analysed the diets and blood glucose levels of more than 1,500 middle-aged and elderly men. They also calculated the participants’ genetic risk of type II diabetes.

A dietary pattern termed as “healthy” included, among other things, vegetables, fruits, vegetable oils, fish, poultry, unsweetened and low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese and whole grain products. This diet was associated with lower blood glucose levels and a lower risk of prediabetes and type II diabetes. This same association was also found in individuals with both a low and a high genetic risk of diabetes.

“Our findings suggest that a healthy diet seems to benefit everyone, regardless of their genetic risk,” concluded doctoral researcher Ulla Tolonen.

The findings were published in the European Journal of Nutrition.

Eating more fruit could ward off late-life blues

Researchers have found that people who eat higher quantities of fruits earlier in life are less likely to experience depressive symptoms later in life. The study at the University of Singapore involved 13,738 participants whose health data were tracked through their mid-life to later life, spanning about 20 years.

The researchers found that the consumption of most fruits, including oranges, tangerines, bananas, papayas, watermelons, apple and honey melon, was associated with a reduced likelihood of depression. The study authors have suggested that this could be due to the high levels of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory micronutrients in fruits, such as vitamin C, carotenoids and flavonoids. These have been shown to reduce oxidative stress and inhibit inflammatory processes in the body which may affect the development of depression. Consumption of vegetables, on the other hand, was found to have no association with the likelihood of depressive symptoms.

The findings were published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging.

Study highlights ultra-processed food consumption in adolescents

Adolescents consume around two-thirds of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods (UPFs) new research from the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol has found.

UPFs are food items that are manufactured from industrial substances and contain additives such as preservatives, sweeteners, colourings, flavourings, and emulsifiers. UPFs tend to contain higher levels of added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, as well as decreased fibre, protein, and micronutrient content. They have been suggested as one of the key drivers of the global rise in diseases such as obesity, type II diabetes and cancer.

The researchers analysed dietary data from almost 3,000 UK adolescents between 2008/09 and 2018/19. They found that 66 per cent of the adolescents’ energy intake came from UPF consumption, and that UPF consumption was highest among adolescents from deprived backgrounds, those of white ethnicity and younger adolescents.

Dr Zoi Toumpakari, joint senior author, said: “We hope this evidence can help guide policymakers in designing more effective policies to combat the negative effects of ultra-processed food consumption among youth and the ripple effects this has on public health.”

The results were published in the European Journal of Nutrition.