Health Update: Plant Based the Right Way Lowers Dementia Risk
Hello everyone:
This newsletter is a follow-up on the previous one, where I reported the research linking abdominal fat to inflammation and brain shrinkage, thus dementia or Alzheimer’s. I stated that going predominantly plant-based was the preferred approach when it comes to food and lowering your inflammatory burden. Here is the information on that from the abstract of the research article:
“In sensitivity analyses, when intakes of servings of the three food groups (healthy plant foods, less healthy plant foods and animal foods) were used in place of PDIs in multivariate models, those in the highest quintile of healthy plant foods were associated with lower dementia or depression risk, whereas participants with the highest unhealthy plant foods intake were associated to higher dementia or depression risk compared to participants with the lowest corresponding foods intake (Figure 3).
Conclusion: a plant-based diet rich in healthier plant foods was associated with a lower risk of dementia and depression, whereas a plant-based diet that emphasizes less-healthy plant foods was associated with a higher risk of dementia and depression.”
https://www.medscape.com/s/viewarticle/992734?src=FYE
Bottom Line:
As you can imagine, you could eat a plant-based food diet that was mostly or totally nutrient poor, calorie heavy, inflammatory, and unbalanced. That might look like French fries, pancakes, fried things, chips, cookies, cakes, soda, fruit juices, white bread, processed foods of any type and so on. The lack of fiber and nutrients, phytochemicals, vitamins, and healthy fats resulting in negative changes to the microbiome and other inflammatory reactions are thought to result in the negative findings associated with an unhealthy plant-based diet. This study took that question apart by developing 3 plant-based food indexes and comparing them. The end of the article states:
“In summary, following hPDI (healthy whole unprocessed foods) was associated with a lower incidence of dementia or depression, whereas a higher intake of uPDI (unhealthy processed foods) was positively associated with a higher risk of dementia or depression. These findings suggest increasing the intake of healthy plant foods, whereas reducing the intake of less healthy plant foods should be considered as a potential target for the prevention of dementia or depression in the general adult population.”
Look at it this way: every process in the body requires nutrients, and if you do not supply those nutrients, things will start to break down sooner or later. If you eat foods that supply you with what your system requires, then you can expect to do better overall. It is that simple. My challenge to you is this: why wouldn’t you eat whole unprocessed foods if you knew that the overwhelming science-based literature tells you that the standard American diet is the leading cause of death and disability in the USA!! If you take away those ‘food like objects’ and replace them with natural whole and unprocessed foods, you will not be deprived of anything but suffering. Make the choice, not only for yourself, but for everyone you care about and everyone that cares about you, as well as the planet. You will not regret it. Ask yourself: how good would it feel to live in such a way that is in harmony with your true nature? You can do this…the quality and quantity of your life depends on it.
