What to do in youth to reduce cognitive decline risk in old age

Cristina Bro
Nov 23, 2022
6 min read

In countries such as the UK and the USA, Alzhaimer and other forms of dementia are leading causes of death in old age. However, in the Blue Zones - which are regions famous for their residents longevity - these illnesses are almost absent. What does science says about this?

Dementia is condition in which cognitive functions deteriorate further than what is expected as a consequence of biological ageing. The good news is: we can reduce the risk to have it.

Worldwide 55 million people live with dementia and the number rises by 10 million every year. This illness impairs an affected individual in its independence and the cost of care for it is higher than the combined cost for patients with cancer, heart disease and stroke. It affects more women than men: both as patients than as careers, on which it has huge psychological, physical and socioeconomic impacts, as many women have to leave their paid jobs and careers to care about some dependent who has it. The scale and effects of the problem cannot be ignored. While there is currently not treatment, a lot can be done since young age to decrease the likability of developing it. Also, the same lifestyle changes that reduce the risk of developing it, also delay its occurrence if it cannot be avoided, and mitigate impact.

"One in three cases of dementia could be prevented by addressing lifestyle factors. Increase: education, physical activity and social contact. Decrease: hearing loss, hypertension, obesity, smoking, depression and diabetes. Demonstrated by the FINGER Study and MEND Protocol." Marwan Sabbagh, M.D., certified geriatric neurologist with a career focus in research to find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Eating oily fish twice per week, or supplementing with a daily average of 500mg of combined DHA and EPA from fish oil or algae, has shown significant positive impact on brains' health.

What lifestyle reduces brain ageing and Alzheimer's risk?

According to science, and to the observation of the habits of the Blue Zones residents - who are able to delay the effects of ageing thanks to genetics and environment, but also lifestyle - the following aspects have been identified as beneficial to prevent all forms of dementia, and even to reduce risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

1. Mental rest, starting with sufficient good quality sleep

Try to sleep around 6-8 hours of sleep per night, of which at least 1 hour has to be of deep sleep, to help the brain eliminate the toxins and proteins that lead to Alzheimer’s; in addition, it is good to add mental rest through meditation, spending time in nature, or with animals, outdoors, letting go of negative thoughts, and cultivating practices for good sleep (including regular sleeping times, evening lower lights and yoga or other relaxing practice).

2. Social engagement, cultivating healthy interpersonal relationships

Although it is advisable to let go of non-reciprocal toxic relationships, it is also important to not slip into isolation when getting older (for example, by getting involved in community building or typical elderly age group activities, such as social dancing or joining a choir, a gardening club or book club; reaching out to dear ones, expressing gratitude, and even cultivating effective communication for healthy relationship building and up-keeping).

3. Physical movement, practicing a moderate level of aerobic exercise

Even in older age, exercise should be at least 30-60 minutes per day, including training to enhance strength and cardio fitness level, but also flexibility, equilibrium, joints mobility, and even coordination and sense of rhythm with movement for some extra brain stimulation. This has been proven to decrease blood pressure, regulate cholesterol and blood sugar, avoid obesity, improve brain structure and body and brain cells nutrition and oxygenation.

4. Stress mitigation, finding ways to manage or prevent stress

Everyone finds some relaxation practices subjectively more effective and pleasant than others: learn by trial and error what works for you, and then fit it in your schedule as a regular practice, in the same way you make time for washing your teethes every day. It may be yoga, mindfulness, meditation, relaxing activities such as a warm bath or spa time, or all of them: you know yourself, and if not, it's time to test and learn.

5. Good hearing preservation, correcting eventual hearing loss

After midlife it is common to need hearing aids or implants or surgery to correct eventual hearing loss. It is also important eliminating earwax blockages that may affect sound perception (bad hearing can reduce socializing activities and may affect cognitive functions)

6. Mental stimulation, engagement in intellectual activities

Keeping the mind active is essential to help the brain to growth. This can be in the form of regular "gym brain" activities, such as reading books and magazines or newspapers, playing board games or cards or puzzles and mind games, and other cognitive practices that enhance problem solving, creativity, numeric and verbal logical reasoning, critical thinking and memory (including learn a new language or to play a new instrument, mental arithmetic)

7. Diet, anti-inflammatory, and with brain-health foods

The anti inflammatory and brain-health aliments that reduce the risk of dementia have been proven helpful also with the prevention of mental health, cardiovascular and other diseases, and deserve an article a part. A new diet is also the most challenging of all lifestyle changes.

The pandemic has made everyone more familiar with what food we should eat for overall health. But what are the foods that are good especially for the brain, and to delay ageing?

Brains don't function very well if aren't well nourished

The first dietary advice for brain health is to void energy drinks, sugar, junk food, salty snacks, fried foods, red and processed meat, as they tend to bring the body - and especially the brain - into a state of chronic inflammation; moving towards a plant-food diet helps too; finally, here is a list of foods and serving sizes to eat even daily, for positive brain health.

1/2 cup Berries. The minimum recommended amount is 1/2 cup 2 time per week. Frozen or dry berries are good as long as are chosen without added sugars or juice
1/2 cup Dark Leafy Greens. This can include: Arugula (rocket), Bok choy (Chinese chard), Spinach, Collard greens, Dandelion greens, Kale, Mustard greens, Swiss chard, al types of Lettuces, Artichoke etc
1/2 tsp/tbls Olive Oil. This can be consumed up to 1-2 tbls/day. Its polyphenols act as antioxidants in the brain. It also helps absorb brain-beneficial phytonutrients (e.g. flavonoids) and the A, D, E, and K fat-soluble vitamins.
500mg DHA + EPA. The omega-3 DHA and EPA have to be taken from food because the body cannot produce them. They are found in certain fish, algae and fish oil (These are, in order of concentration for a 100g serving portion, or 1 tablespoon in case of fish oil: Mackarel, Kippers, Salmon, Cod liver oil, Hearing, Trout Sea, Bass, Sardines, Caviar, Anchovies, 1 Omega3 egg, 6 Raw oysters, Sardines can, Shrimps, 4 Fish fingers. Note that breaded frozen or canned fish, and even eggs, advertised on the packaging as 'omega 3 rich' have only traces of it in comparison to fresh oily fish). The body can turn only 0.5-4% of ALA Omega 3 into DHA fatty acids. Therefore, the omega 3 from avocado, walnuts, chia/fax/hemp seeds and their oils, will not convert into building blocks for the brain: the DHA and EPA from animal source.
No food with more than 20% of sugar. This is what to look for in the label when doing grocery shopping, but also a commitment to avoid dessert and high-sugar food, or eat them only rarely (and if so, limiting oneself to 1 treat below 100kcal). Dark chocolate at 75% or higher cocoa is high in flavanols and is good for the brain
Less than 10% of total daily kcal from saturated fat. Men should eat less than 30g of saturated fat a day, women less than 20g. (To calculate calories % per day from saturated fats: keep a food diarym and multiplytotal daily grams of saturated fat by 9 kcal, and divide by the total calories eaten during the day, to know the proportion).
Brain-beneficial foods in small intakes. Other foods that are anti inflammatory or good for other reasons for the brain are: the spices cumin, paprika, cayenne; matcha or green tea; very dark chocolate without added sugar; a tiny intake of daily red wine (55ml is the amount for the benefits of red wine to outweigh the damage of alcohol); goat milk fermented products (such as goat cheese); honey (especially those higher in antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, such as Manuka or honey from Strawberry Tree Fruits); coffe (about120ml per day); mushrooms.
Moving towards a plant diet. This may mean meat only 2 or 3 times per week, up to a plant diet, which is such when one eats only 1 serving of animal proteins per day (plus small amounts to flavor dishes) and 90% of food volume is from plant-foods

A diet change is the hardest commitment. In order to turn new actions about the diet into effortless second-nature habits, I created a tracker that helps to be constant in trying to eat brain beneficial foods and avoid the damaging ones. I share here the template for all readers, and I promise it takes only 1-2 minutes at he end of the day to assess how one did, learn from it and improve progressively in the days to follow.