How removing bacon and sausages from your meals will slash dementia risk by 20%, study suggests
Swapping bacon and sausages for nuts, beans and tofu could potentially help cut a person’s dementia risk, a new study suggests.
A large new research project analysed the links between processed red meat consumption and a person’s risk of developing dementia. Experts analysed a long-term study tracking the health of nurses and other health professionals working in the US.
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Hide AdMore than 130,000 people were involved with the study. They were tracked for up to 43 years and entered information on their dietary habits every two to four years.
These questionnaires asked about how often they ate processed red meat including, bacon, hot dogs, sausages, salami and other processed sandwich meat. They were also asked about their consumption of nuts and legumes including peanut butter, peanuts, walnuts, other nuts, string beans, beans, peas, soy milk and tofu.
More than 11,000 cases of dementia were identified during the follow-up period.
Consuming two servings of processed red meat each week appeared to raise the risk of dementia by 14 per cent compared consumption of about three servings a month, according to the study abstract, which has been presented to the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in the US.
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Hide AdThe researchers also assessed the language; executive function and processing of more than 17,000 people involved in the study. They also analysed their ability to recall and understand words and sentences – also known as verbal memory.
They found replacing one daily serving of processed red meat for a daily serving of nuts, beans or tofu every day may lower the risk of dementia by 20 per cent. There was no significant link found between unprocessed red meat – such as steak and pork chops – and dementia risk.
“Study results have been mixed on whether there is a relationship between cognitive decline and meat consumption in general, so we took a closer look at how eating different amounts of both processed and unprocessed meat affects cognitive risk and function ,” said lead author of the study Yuhan Li, a research assistant at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts.
“By studying people over a long period of time, we found that eating processed red meat could be a significant risk factor for dementia. Dietary guidelines could include recommendations limiting it to promote brain health.
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Hide Ad“Processed red meat has also been shown to raise the risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It may affect the brain because it has high levels of harmful substances such as nitrites [preservatives] and sodium.”
Heather Snyder, vice-president of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association, added: “Prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and all other dementia is a major focus, and the Alzheimer’s Association has long encouraged eating a healthier diet, including foods that are less processed, because they’ve been associated with lower the risk of cognitive decline.
“This large, long-term study provides a specific example of one way to eat healthier.”
Commenting on the study, Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Research into diet and the risk of dementia is a major focus. In particular, the effect of eating processed red meat on our health has been a hot topic. In this study, more people who ate processed red meat went on to develop dementia and had worse memory and thinking skills.
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Hide Ad“It’s important to remember that this doesn’t mean that eating processed red meat is directly related to developing dementia. It may be that people who avoid processed red meat are generally more health conscious and avoid other unhealthy habits that increase dementia risk.”
Dr Sebastian Walsh, doctoral fellow at the University of Cambridge, added: “Whilst eye-catching, it is difficult to know exactly what to make of these results without seeing the full research paper.”
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