Switching to a Green Mediterranean Diet May Have Positive Effects on Brain Health: Study

Switching to a green Mediterranean diet with a daily intake of walnuts, green tea, and less red/processed meat may have a positive effect on brain health and slow brain aging, according to new research. Green Mediterranean involves consuming a daily walnut (28 grams), 3-4 cups of green tea and one cup of wolffia-globosa (mankai) plant green shake of duckweed daily for 18 months.

Aquatic green plant mankai is high in bioavailable iron, B12, 200 kinds of polyphenols and protein, and therefore it is a good alternative to meat. Obesity is associated with faster brain aging than would normally be expected.

The findings, published in the journal eLife, showed that consuming a green Mediterranean diet resulted in a 1 percent reduction in body weight, which reduced participants’ brain age by about 9 months from the expected brain age after 18 months. Is. ,

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This attenuated aging was associated with changes in other biological measures, such as decreased liver fat and liver enzymes. Increases in liver fat and the production of specific liver enzymes were previously shown to negatively affect brain health in Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel studied 102 individuals who met criteria for obesity. They used brain scans taken at the start and end of the study to examine the effect of lifestyle interventions on the speed of ageing.

“Our study highlights the importance of a healthy lifestyle, which includes reduced consumption of processed food, sweets and beverages, in maintaining brain health,” said Dr Gideon Levkov, from the University’s Department of Cognitive and Brain Sciences.

“We were encouraged to find that even losing 1 per cent weight was enough to affect brain health and reduce brain aging by 9 months,” said Professor Galia Avidan from the Department of Psychology. With global rates of obesity rising, identifying interventions that positively impact brain health could have important clinical, educational and societal implications, the researchers said.