Cognitive impairment is a broad term to describe a wide variety of impaired brain function relating to the ability of a person to think, concentrate, reason and remember. The most severe degree of cognitive impairment is dementia. Currently, no pharmaceutical treatment is available to cure dementia. Prevention is however a way to reduce the burden of dementia in western countries, and diet might be a successful candidate. Several epidemiological studies have shown that high intake of Fruits and Vegetables (F&V) was associated with a decreased risk of developing dementia in cohorts of elderly people. But few studies have addressed the impact of food intake during infancy or at midlife on cognitive function.<\/p>\n
The results presented in this Newsletter show that people engaged in a healthy diet have a lower risk of cognitive and functional decline. They also highlight that F&V intake is closely linked to other favorable behaviours (such as no smoking, low alcohol consumption and high physical activity). Children fed a diet characterized by high consumption of fruit, vegetables and home prepared foods had higher IQ, verbal IQ and better memory performance at age 4 years. Adjustment for maternal education, intelligence and social class attenuated the association but it remained significant.<\/p>\n
These findings show that F&V intake might be associated with better cognitive performances but one must keep in mind that unmeasured confounding factors (especially social and cultural ones) may partly explain these results.<\/p>\n","auteur":null},"elements_rattaches":false},"yoast_head":"\n