The Power of Diet: Fruits and Greens
The study by Morris et al. (2018) showed that consumption of approximately 1 serving per day of green leafy vegetables and foods rich in phylloquinone, lutein, nitrate, folate, ?-tocopherol, and kaempferol may help to slow cognitive decline with aging (p. 214). This is a really important finding for people concerned about retaining their cognitive abilities as they get older. The solutionor at least part of the solutionappears to be in eating a good diet, such as bananas, fish, greens, and leafy vegetables. I used to think there was not a lot to the idea of this kind of diet and that one could survive on fast food alonebut as I myself get older I find myself paying more attention to what I eat and thinking about how certain foods might be more healthy for me in the long run.
Likewise, as Subash et al. (2014) point out, berry fruits can prevent age-related neurodegenerative diseases and improve motor and cognitive functions (p. 1557). This is another great finding. Like with the information in the above-mentioned article, I was unfamiliar with this. I will definitely be including more berries in my diet along with the greens and fish mentioned above.
Thus, the nutritional lifestyle changes I plan to make are to have fish be a staple of my diet along with berries, which I can mix in with regular meals in different ways to make them more fun. No need for chocolate syrup on ice cream, for example: I can use berries and help myself out. And I will be keeping dinners more simple by making leafy greens part of the meal plan. No need to whip up some fancy desert when I can make a wholesome good-for-me salad that includes all the food items that will support cognition over time.
References
Morris, M. C., Wang, Y., Barnes, L. L., Bennett, D. A., Dawson-Hughes, B., & Booth, S. L.
(2018). Nutrients and bioactives in green leafy vegetables and cognitive decline: Prospective study.Neurology,90(3), e214-e222.
Subash, S., Essa, M. M., Al-Adawi, S., Memon, M. A., Manivasagam, T., & Akbar, M. (2014).
Neuroprotective effects of berry fruits on neurodegenerative diseases.Neural regeneration research,9(16), 1557.
