Around one million people live with dementia in the UK. Currently, there is no cure for the disease but scientists are continuously looking at ways to prevent its onset and lower a person's chances of getting the condition.
Some of the research is looking at our diets and a recent study showed that following the Mediterranean diet might reduce your risk of developing dementia.
A Mediterranean diet is a diet inspired by the eating habits and traditional food typically found in Portugal, southern Spain, southern Italy, Crete and Greece. It is made up of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, legumes, lean proteins from fish and poultry as well as good fats from olive oil, some dairy, while limiting consumption of sweets and red meats.
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According to Zoe, scientists in the study looked at data from 60,298 people in the UK Biobank gathered for an average of 9.1 years. The team looked at the participants' diets and used two scoring systems to assess how closely people had followed the Mediterranean diet.
The scientists found that participants who followed the Mediterranean diet were the ones most closely with a lower risk of developing dementia during the study period. This was also independent of genetic risk (some rare types of dementia can be inherited, while the vast majority of cases are not hereditary.)
According to writer's at Zoe, this means that following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia during the study, even in people with an increased genetic risk of dementia.
The Mediterranean diet is extremely healthy, and research carried out by Zoe founder, Professor Tim Spector, also concluded that the Mediterranean diet improves outcomes for people undergoing cancer treatment. It can also reduce your risk of developing diabetes.
