MUST READ - Choline: The underappreciated nutrient that's vital for our brains

The compound has been linked to improved cognitive performance and reduced anxiety – but are you getting enough of it?

Jessica Bradley  BBC  4 days ago

(Credit: Getty Images/ Serenity Strull/ BBC)

You may not have heard of choline before, but studies show that it's crucial for our health, at various stages of life.

Choline is neither a vitamin or a mineral – it's an organic compound that's vital to the healthy functioning of the human nervous system. Now there's emerging evidence that consuming more choline can have a wide range of powerful effects, from improving cognitive performance to protecting against neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia.

The nutrient also seems to play a significant role in human neurodevelopment. In one study, babies who whose mothers took choline supplements during pregnancy gave birth to infants with higher information processing speeds – a measure of healthy cognitive functioning.

Scientists say that choline is a wonder-nutrient, but that it has been hugely overlooked. So, where does choline come from – and are you getting enough of it?

A crucial nutrient

Every cell in our body contains choline, says Xinyin Jiang, professor of health and nutrition sciences at Brooklyn College in New York, US.

Choline is an "essential" nutrient, which means we need it for our health, but our bodies don't produce enough on their own. Instead, we need to get some of it from our diets. In this sense, it's similar to omega 3 fatty acids, although it's actually closely associated with B vitamins, says Emma Derbyshire, science writer and founder and CEO of the consultancy Nutritional Insight.


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Choline can be found mostly in animal-based foods, including beef, eggs, fish, chicken and milk, but it's also in peanuts, kidney beans, mushrooms and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli – although animal foods tend to contain more choline than plant-based sources.

We need choline for numerous functions in our bodies, including liver function. Not having enough can cause a number of problems.

"Choline helps fat transport out of the liver, and when a person is deficient, they can get a fatty liver," says Jiang.

Choline also helps the body to synthesise phospholipids, which are the main component of the cell membranes in our bodies. Being deficient in the nutrient can affect the expression of genes involved in the process of our cells multiplying. During the development of a foetus, choline deficiency can be particularly harmful because it inhibits cell proliferation in the brain.

Choline's role in the brain is crucial – in fact it's primarily a "brain nutrient", says Derbyshire. It's needed for our bodies to produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is a chemical that carries messages from your brain to your body through nerve cells. Acetylcholine plays a major role in brain nerve cells, which are needed for our memory, thinking and learning.

In one study involving almost 1,400 people aged 36 to 83, researchers found that people with a higher choline intake tended to have better memories, and that choline intake during midlife may help to protect our brains. Choline is commonly included as an ingredient in supplements taken as "nootropics" – a diverse group of substances which some people believe can enhance learning and memory.

On the other hand, choline deficiency has also been associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Another way choline may affect the brain is our mental health. One study found that higher intake of choline was associated with lower levels of anxiety. In another study, having a higher dietary intake of choline was linked to a lower risk of depression.

Having an adequate choline intake can also come with a number of other benefits. A higher dietary intake of this nutrient .

Separately, research in mice has found that choline can help to lower the levels of homocysteine, an amino acid which can increase the risk of heart disease. High levels of homocysteine can also be linked to osteoporosis, and research has found that people with higher choline intakes from their diets tend to have a higher bone density – an indicator of strong, healthy bones with a lower risk of being fractured.

"Choline can potentially have an effect against bone loss," says Øyen Jannike, a researcher at the Institute of Marine Research in Norway, who has studied the link between choline and bone health.

This may partly be because of homocysteine, she says, but also because choline is an essential structure in our cell membranes.

The first 1000 days

It's well established that a child's first two years are critical for their development, and that the mother's diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding has an integral influence on this.

Studies show that choline is vitally important for a baby's development in the womb. In fact, babies are born with three times as much choline as their mothers, which Derbyshire says shows how important it is at this stage of life.

According to one study, people who eat eggs tend to have roughly
twice the choline intake of those who don’t (Credit: Getty Images)

Several studies have found that the supply of choline in the womb correlates to the cognitive outcome of the baby, and its benefits may continue for years as the child develops. In one study, pregnant women who had the highest dietary choline intake during the second trimester of pregnancy (from week 13 to week 28) went on to have children who scored higher on a test of short- and long-term memory at the age of seven.

Some research even suggests insufficient choline intake when a woman is pregnant could be linked ADHD behaviours in their offspring.

Are we getting enough choline?

In Europe, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has set recommendations for choline intake: 400mg for adults, and 480mg and 520mg for pregnant and breastfeeding individuals, respectively.

In the US, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) first established adequate choline intake recommendations in 1998: 550mg per day for men and 425mg per day for women, or 450mg during pregnancy and 550mg while breastfeeding.

An egg has around 150mg of choline, while a chicken breast has around 72mg, and a handful of peanuts has around 24mg.

In 2017, the American Media Association (AMA) also advised that prenatal vitamin supplements should contain "evidence-based" amounts of choline.

"We're seeing a lot more ADHD and dyslexia in schools, and some is genetic, but it's also possible that, in utero, they're not getting key nutrients," Derbyshire says. "These very subtle neurodevelopment changes are occurring and impacting them later on. We're treating the aftermath now."

Jiang has studied the relationship between the supply of choline during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and brain development. "In animal findings, when the mum has more choline, the cognitive development of their offspring is better," she says. "We're starting to find similar results in human studies, although, not exactly the same."

Feeding the brain

A 2020 review of 38 animal and 16 human studies concluded that choline supplementation helps brain development. However, only animal studies currently show a strong link between choline and improved cognitive function. The paper doesn't define the ideal amount of supplementation, but says most human studies use supplements providing up to 930mg choline daily – an amount equivalent to the choline in roughly six chicken's eggs – with no adverse effects reported.

There may also be some people that require more choline than the recommended daily amounts, says Øyen – including post-menopausal women, for example, who have lower levels of oestrogen, and people with fatty liver disease.

We also know, Derbyshire says, that, due to the genetic differences from one person to another, some people may have higher requirements for choline. (Derbyshire has previously consulted for and advised The Meat Advisory Panel, Marlow Foods (Quorn), the Health Supplement Information Service and the British Egg Information Service, among other organisations).

Peanuts contain high levels of choline, with 61-66mg per 100g of peanut butter (Credit: Getty Images)

When we eat foods containing choline, it's very easily absorbed into our blood, says Jiang, which should go some way to ensuring we're consuming enough choline.

However, several studies show that many of us aren't getting enough. One study found that only 11% of American adults consume the recommended daily amount.

Eggs are one of the most potent dietary sources of choline, and there is some concern that those who choose to follow a vegan diet may not be getting enough of this nutrient – though there are many plant-based sources and choline supplements are widely available in developed countries.

One study found that people who eat eggs have almost twice the usual choline intake compared with those who don't, leading the researchers to conclude that consuming the daily adequate amount of choline was "extremely difficult" without eating eggs or taking a supplement.

But the EFSA's recommendation of 400mg of choline per day is achievable for most people if you plan your diet carefully, says Jiang. Some vegan sources of choline include tofu (28mg of choline per 100g), peanut butter (61-66mg per 100g) and soy beans (120mg per 100g).

Anyone concerned they're not getting enough choline can take a daily supplement, Øyen says. In the meantime, she adds, there needs to be more animal and human research to better understand the mechanisms behind some of choline's health benefits.

However "clinicians are becoming more aware of [choline]", says Derbyshire. While it often seems to be slightly overlooked, she is hopeful that choline will soon start to enjoy the limelight.

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https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250408-choline-the-underappreciated-nutrient-thats-vital-for-our-brains

When the ventilator comes off, the delirium comes out for many coronavirus survivors

(CNN)When health care workers finally removed the ventilator tube from Jesse Vanderhoof's throat, he managed to eke out two weak words: "Call Emily."

By Eric Levenson, CNN

Updated 2338 GMT (0738 HKT) April 15, 2020

Vanderhoof, a 40-year-old nurse with coronavirus, was emotional and full of relief on the ensuing call with his wife after more than a week on a ventilator in an Idaho hospital's intensive care unit.

But over the next couple days, it became clear that while Jesse's body was on the mend, his mind wasn't right.

He yanked an IV line out of his arm. He requested an Uber to take him home -- a $200, nearly three-hour trip -- even though he could barely get up. He talked in circles for days about going on a road trip and was obsessed with trying to rent an old-school Ford Bronco to drive himself home. He couldn't grasp what exactly was going on.

"He didn't understand why the world was at war with (Covid-19), why health care workers were heroes, why he was involved," his wife, Emily Vanderhoof, 34, said. "We had the same conversation for four days straight."

His experience is just one example of "ICU delirium," an acute brain condition characterized by confusion, inattention and an inability to understand the world around you. This is particularly common in patients who are sedated and on a ventilator for extended periods of time. And patients must be heavily sedated to tolerate a ventilator, which works via a tube snaked down the throat to deliver air to lungs flooded with fluid.

"My brain wanted to keep on looping over and over and over, and I kept on asking without realizing that I had asked these questions lots of times," Jesse said.

Related article: Coronavirus symptoms: 10 key indicators and what to do

The effect of coronavirus on the lungs is well known, but its significant impact on the brain has been less widely acknowledged. As more and more patients come off ventilators and recover from coronavirus, many will return home not just with physical changes but with psychological ones, too.

Two weeks since coming off the ventilator, Vanderhoof remains easily fatigued and is still working to piece together what exactly happened.

"At this point it's starting to get clear, but for a while there, especially right after I was starting to gain consciousness and especially after ... they took the intubation tube out, it was really, really confusing to me," he said.

Delirium is fairly common among ICU patients even in normal times. But the coronavirus pandemic is like a "delirium factory," said Dr. Wes Ely, a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who specializes in ICU delirium.

"If you had to design an experiment to make delirium as big of a problem as you could in an ICU, Covid is it," he said.

What happens in delirium

What it's like to recover from Covid-19 03:00

Delirium can be caused by infection or inflammation, and it is especially common among ICU patients who are sedated and on a mechanical ventilator for long periods of time.

Patients with delirium often experience hallucinations or vivid dreams that can sometimes lead them to act in irrational ways. They may pull off their IV line or their breathing apparatus that they believe is hurting them, or they may attack nurses.

Missy Testerman, 49, a second-grade teacher in Rogersville, Tennessee, said her sweet, gentle father developed delirium when he was intubated in 2018, shortly before he died of leukemia. He became aggressive and paranoid and his arms had to be restrained to the bed to keep him from assaulting nurses.

"He imagined crazy scenarios, such as that the nurses were trying to rule the world, that we were trying to steal his money, or that he was the only one who could protect the world from evil," Testerman wrote in an email. "He assaulted nurses while in these rages and said words I had never heard him say in my life. One night, he told the room full of people that I had killed his neighbor and taken his body to Mississippi."

Related article: These little-known health care workers operate the all-important ventilators

Vanderhoof said that he remembered dreaming that he was passing out and falling onto his face in slow motion. He said he watched his own death as well as his funeral.

"I swear still, to this day, I saw my own funeral multiple times," he said Tuesday, 10 days after his release from the hospital. "It's just so realistic and so scary as a person to see. That's your brain knowing you're in trouble and knowing you're close (to death)."

Delirium can last anywhere from days to weeks or months, and it waxes and wanes over time. For Vanderhoof, the delirium suddenly returned one night after he was back home with his wife in Hailey, Idaho. Emily said she found him at 2 a.m. in the bathroom talking in repetitive loops, unable to orient to where he was, counting on his hands and trying to use sign language.

Delirium can have serious long-term consequences. Patients who experience longer periods of delirium are at higher risk for mental health issues like anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. In addition, longer periods of delirium are associated with long-term cognitive impairment, according to a 2013 study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Delirium is one part of what's broadly known as Post-intensive care syndrome, or PICS, a collection of issues that patients experience after spending time in the ICU. Dr. Daniela J. Lamas, a pulmonary and critical care doctor at Boston's Brigham & Women's Hospital, said these types of patients often describe being psychologically changed by their stay in the ICU.

"The family is overjoyed they made it through, but they feel different. They don't feel like they are the same person who went into the unit," she said. "They feel ashamed of even talking about that."

Why delirium is so common during coronavirus

Patients who are put on a ventilator for longer periods of time have a higher
risk of delirium, Dr. Wes Ely explained.

The impact of coronavirus on the brain remains largely unclear, but Ely, Lamas and Dr. Sharon Inouye, the director of the Aging Brain Center and a delirium expert, said that delirium is and will be a common issue with coronavirus patients.

In some cases, the virus may cause brain inflammation, which contributes to delirium, Inouye said. In a case series of 214 Covid-19 patients in Wuhan, China, neurological symptoms were found in 36% of patients, according to research published in JAMA Neurology last week.

In addition, coronavirus treatment requires longer periods of sedation and ventilator use.

"A lot of aspects of coronavirus have made it very hard for us to do these practices that we know are the best practices to prevent delirium," Lamas said.

Related article:'Such a simple thing to do': Why positioning Covid-19 patients on their stomachs can save lives

In normal times, health care workers often wake these patients to test their alertness and breathing and try to wean them off the ventilator, which can decrease the likelihood of delirium. But in the pandemic, health care workers are stretched thin and have less time to spend with individual patients.

"I think the providers are so taxed that you're trying to keep the patient alive," Inouye said. "During these times of crisis, you're just trying to keep the patient alive. Things like delirium prevention are just like extra credit assignments."

Further, one way to help prevent delirium is to have family nearby. They can hold the patient's hand or talk to them, which can help orient them, even if they appear unconscious on a ventilator. But now, hospitals are keeping patients isolated and away from family to contain the spread of coronavirus.

"Patients who are sedated will (later) tell us, 'I remember the family member talking, I remember something they said.' But now the families are not there," Lamas said.

These ICU treatment strategies may change going forward as doctors learn more about the virus and the best way to treat it, Lamas said. Still, she worried there will be many coronavirus survivors facing difficult recoveries in the months to come.

"I think we're going to be seeing with Covid a range of recoveries and a range of abilities to return to the world," she said. "As a medical system, it's going to be a very large population."

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/15/us/coronavirus-icu-delirium/index.html

Tomatoes discovered to boost sperm quality

Dietary supplement from tomatoes discovered to boost sperm quality

Date:

October 9, 2019

Source:

University of Sheffield

Summary:

Sperm quality can be improved with a simple diet supplement containing a compound found in cooked tomatoes, according to new research.

FULL STORY

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Sperm quality can be improved with a simple diet supplement containing a compound found in cooked tomatoes, according to new research by the University of Sheffield.

The discovery could transform the outlook for men with fertility problems and lead to better ways to reduce the damaging impact of modern living on reproductive health. Of all infertility cases, approximately 40 to 50 per cent are due to "male factor" infertility.

The first ever double-blind randomised controlled trial to assess the impact of giving men a dietary compound called LactoLycopene, was led by Allan Pacey, Professor of Andrology Reproduction and Head of the University of Sheffield's Department of Oncology and Metabolism, and Dr Liz Williams, a leading specialist in Human Nutrition at the University of Sheffield. The team discovered it is possible to increase the proportion of healthy shaped sperm (sperm morphology) and boost 'fast swimming' sperm by around 40 per cent.

Lycopene can be found in some fruits and vegetables, but the main source in the diet is from tomatoes. Lycopene is a pigment that gives tomatoes their red colour, but dietary Lycopene is poorly absorbed by the human body, so the compound used for the trial was a commercially available formulation called LactoLycopene; designed by FutureYou Cambridge to improve bioavailability.

The 12-week trial designed by Dr Williams involved 60 healthy volunteers aged 19 to 30. Half took LactoLycopene supplements and the other half took identical placebo (dummy pills) every day for 12 weeks. Neither the researchers nor the volunteers knew who was receiving the LactoLycopene treatment and who was receiving the placebo. Sperm and blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the trial.

"We didn't really expect that at the end of the study there would be any difference in the sperm from men who took the tablet versus those who took the placebo. When we decoded the results, I nearly fell off my chair," said Professor Pacey, a world expert in male reproduction.

"The improvement in morphology -- the size and shape of the sperm, was dramatic. We used a computer system to make these measurements, which takes a lot of the human error out of the results. Also, the person using the computer didn't know who had taken LactoLycopene and who had taken the dummy pills either.

"This was the first properly designed and controlled study of the effect of LactoLycopene on semen quality, and it has spurred us to want to do more work with this molecule."

"We were surprised by the improvement in sperm quality shown by the results," said Dr Williams.

"This was a small study and we do need to repeat the work in bigger trials, but the results are very encouraging. The next step is to repeat the exercise in men with fertility problems and see if LactoLycopene can increase sperm quality for those men and whether it helps couples conceive and avoid invasive fertility treatments."

Her team, which included three other researchers Madeleine Park, Aisling Robinson and Sophie Pitt, is hoping to embark on the new study as soon as possible.

Professor Pacey said the work so far has not investigated the mechanism for Lycopene's beneficial action but it is a known powerful antioxidant, so is potentially inhibiting the damage caused by oxidation of sperm which is a known cause of male fertility problems. He believes this antioxidant effect is key in producing the improvements in sperm quality seen in the trial, and is hoping to investigate this more.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Sheffield. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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Journal Reference:

1. Elizabeth A. Williams, Madeleine Parker, Aisling Robinson, Sophie Pitt, Allan A. Pacey. A randomized placebo-controlled trial to investigate the effect of lactolycopene on semen quality in healthy males. European Journal of Nutrition, 2019; DOI: 10.1007/s00394-019-02091-5

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/10/191009101159.htm

Early breakfast and no food after 7pm: How to become an early bird

Researchers say people who went to bed earlier improved their mental wellbeing and physical performance.

Monday 10 June 2019 11:31, UK

People felt less stressed when they went to bed early

"Night owls" can re-adapt their body clocks in just three weeks to help them become early birds, a new study says.

Researchers say tweaks to the sleeping patterns of people who usually go to bed late could significantly improve their wellbeing.

People taking part in the study said they felt less stressed and depressed and did not feel as sleepy during the day when they tweaked their sleeping times.

Some 22 "night owls", whose average bedtime was 2.30am, with a wake-up time of 10.15am, took part in the study by Birmingham and Surrey Universities, and Monash University in Australia.

Over three weeks, those taking part were told to:

:: Wake up 2-3 hours earlier than usual and get plenty of outdoor light in the morning

:: Eat breakfast as soon as possible

:: Exercise only in the morning

:: Eat lunch at the same time every day and eat nothing after 19:00

:: Cut out caffeine after 15:00

:: Have no naps after 16:00

:: Go to bed 2-3 hours earlier than usual and limit light in the evenings

:: Maintain the same sleep and wake-up times every day

The results, published in the journal Sleep Medicine, showed an increase in cognitive (reaction time) and physical (grip strength) performance during the morning, while peak performance times moved from evening to afternoon.

Study co-author Dr Andrew Bagshaw, from the University of Birmingham's Centre for Human Brain Health, said: "Having a late sleep pattern puts you at odds with the standard societal days, which can lead to a range of adverse outcomes - from daytime sleepiness to poorer mental wellbeing.

"We wanted to see if there were simple things people could do at home to solve the issue.

"This was successful, on average allowing people to get to sleep and wake up around two hours earlier than they were before.

"Most interestingly, this was also associated with improvements in mental wellbeing and perceived sleepiness, meaning that it was a very positive outcome for the participants.

"We now need to understand how habitual sleep patterns are related to the brain, how this links with mental wellbeing and whether the interventions lead to long-term changes."

People who go to bed late suffer poorer mental wellbeing and often struggle to fit into work and school schedules that are out of sync with their preferred sleep patterns, say researchers.

Lead researcher Dr Elise Facer-Childs, from Monash University's Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, said: "By acknowledging these differences and providing tools to improve outcomes we can go a long way in a society that is under constant pressure to achieve optimal productivity and performance."

https://news.sky.com/story/changing-from-night-owl-to-early-bird-takes-just-three-weeks-study-11738776

EATING SALAD EVERY DAY KEEPS BRAINS 11 YEARS YOUNGER AND PREVENTS DEMENTIA, STUDY SHOWS

In the quest to remain young, many have turned to supplements, such as fish oil and vitamin B12, to stave off dementia or to simply remember where we put the car keys. And with population projections indicating an increase in Alzheimer's disease across the world, researchers are looking for ways to prevent cognitive decline and a possible health crisis. The Alzheimer's Association estimates that 16 million people could have the disease by 2050.

BY MELISSA MATTHEWS ON 12/20/17 AT 4:33 PM

Eating a salad every day could help keep your brain young.KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Nutritional epidemiologist Martha Clare Morris and her team at Chicago's Rush University Medical Center found that people who ate one to two servings of leafy green vegetables each day experienced fewer memory problems and cognitive decline, compared with people who rarely ate spinach. In fact, Morris estimates that veggie lovers who ate about 1.3 servings a day had brains that were roughly 11 years younger, compared with those who consumed few greens, like spinach or kale.

The study involved 960 people, all between 58 and 99 and without dementia. Everyone enrolled in the study was part of the Memory and Aging Project, which has been ongoing since 1979 at the Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University. As part of their involvement in that project, participants completed questionnaires about their dietary habits over nearly five years. Questions included assessments of how often people consumed salad, spinach, kale, collards or other greens. Participants also took yearly thinking and memory skills tests to gauge cognitive ability.

Then researchers divided the subjects into groups depending on their consumption. Those who ate the most leafy greens averaged about 1.3 servings per day, while those who consumed the fewest greens averaged 0.1 servings a day. Scientists followed up with participants for 10 years and discovered that the rate of decline for those who ate the most greens was the equivalent to being 11 years younger in terms of brain age.

Of course, people who eat a lot of salad are likely to have other healthy behaviors that could influence memory, but these findings took into account other factors associated with cognition, like education, physical activity, alcohol consumption, obesity and depression

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Neurology.

But it’s not just leafy greens that could keep our memories alive. According to co-author Martha Morris, the nutrients found in these vegetables that may be responsible for the brain-boosting benefits are found in other food sources too.

“Some of the nutrients already have excellent scientific evidence, such as vitamin E, a potent antioxidant which has been demonstrated in carefully controlled animal models to protect against neuron loss, oxidative stress and inflammation, and the accumulation of amyloid plaques,” she told Newsweek in an email. “Other [qualities] of the nutrients are newly identified.”

Morris cites nitrate, vitamin K and kaempferol as potential contributors to brain health that warrant further examination.

Because this study was observational, the data provide no concrete evidence of a causal relationship between spinach and brain health. For now, the connection is only a correlation and does not extend to younger, nonwhite or Hispanic people. But adding a serving of spinach into your diet is never a bad idea.

“Daily consumption of leafy greens may be a simple and effective way to protect against loss in memory and other cognitive abilities,” Morris said.

Her research used half a cup of cooked spinach as a single serving, which would have about 3.35 milligrams of vitamin E, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. Other good sources of the nutrient are almonds and some oils, like sunflower and safflower.

http://www.newsweek.com/eating-salad-every-day-keeps-brains-11-years-younger-and-prevents-dementia-754256

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Also:

A salad a day keeps brains 11 YEARS younger, boosts memory and could help prevent dementia, new study suggests

Older adults who eat at least one serving of leafy greens or salad daily showed slower memory declines 

There was a difference of more than a decade of mental aging between those who ate salad and those that did not

The findings suggest that balanced diets are critical in preventing dementia in older people  

• 
  

By Natalie Rahhal For Dailymail.com

PUBLISHED: 21:05 GMT, 20 December 2017 | UPDATED: 09:37 GMT, 21 December 2017

Eating greens or salad every day boosts our memory, according to new research.

 The findings suggest that eating about one serving per day of green, leafy vegetables may be linked to a slower rate of brain aging - the equivalent of keeping our brain 11 years younger.

The Rush University study found that people who ate at least one serving of green, leafy vegetables a day had a slower rate of decline on tests of memory and thinking skills than people who never or rarely ate such vegetables.

Salad eaters' brains functioned as though they were more than a decade younger than those of people who did not eat their greens, according to the research team.   

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For older people, eating one salad a day was linked to slower mental decline in a new study 

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Study author Professor Martha Clare Morris, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said: 'Adding a daily serving of green, leafy vegetables to your diet may be a simple way to foster your brain health.

'Projections show sharp increases in the percentage of people with dementia as the oldest age groups continue to grow in number, so effective strategies to prevent dementia are critical,' she said. 

The study, published online by the journal Neurology, involved 960 people with an average age of 81 who did not have dementia and were followed for an average of 4.7 years.

The participants completed a questionnaire about how often they ate certain foods and had their thinking and memory skills tested yearly during that time.

The survey asked how often and how many servings they ate of three green, leafy vegetables: spinach, with a serving being a half cup of cooked spinach; kale, collards or greens, half cup cooked; and lettuce salad, with a serving of one cup raw.

The participants were divided into five equal groups based on how often they ate green, leafy vegetables.

The people in the top serving group ate an average of about 1.3 servings of greens per day. Those in the lowest serving group ate on average 0.1 servings per day.

Overall, the participants' scores on the thinking and memory tests declined over time at a rate of 0.08 standardized units per year.

Over 10 years of follow-up, the rate of decline for those who ate the most leafy greens was slower by 0.05 standardized units per year than the rate for those who ate the least leafy greens.

That is the difference of about 11 years worth of change, according to the study authors. 

They said the results remained valid after accounting for other factors that could affect brain health such as smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, education level and amount of physical and cognitive activities.

But Professor Morris noted that the study doesn't prove that eating green, leafy vegetables slows brain aging, it only shows an association.

She also warned that the study cannot rule out other possible reasons for the link.

Professor Morris added that because the study focused on older adults and the majority of participants were white, the results may not apply to younger adults and people of other races. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5199613/Eating-salad-day-brain-years-younger.html