In the aged, a diet rich in plant products lowers the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by the Biomarkers and Nutritional Food Metabolomics Research Group of the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and the CIBER on Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES).
Cristina Andrés-Lacueva, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and head of the UB’s Biomarkers and Nutritional Metabolomics of Food Research Group and the Biomedical Research Network Center in Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES), which is also part of the Food Innovation Network of Catalonia (XIA), led the study, which was published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research.
This 12-year European study, which was part of the Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (JPI HDHL), included 842 persons over 65 from the Bordeaux and Dijon regions (France).
Metabolomics to study the impact of diet on health
The study investigates the link between food component metabolism, intestinal microbiota, endogenous metabolism, and cognitive impairment.
As Mireia Urpí-Sardà, from the Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy and CIBERFES, notes, “what we analyzed in the cohorts under study is the modulating role of the diet in the risk of suffering cognitive impairment.”
A higher intake of fruits, vegetables, and plant-based foods provides polyphenols and other bioactive compounds that could help reduce the risk of cognitive decline due to ageing.
Cristina Andrés-Lacueva
Urpí-Sardà points out that “the results show a significant association between these processes and certain metabolites.”
The findings show a link between cocoa, coffee, mushrooms, and red wine metabolites, microbial metabolism of polyphenol-rich foods (apple, cocoa, green tea, blueberries, oranges, or pomegranates), and cognitive decline in the elderly.
Some metabolites have been linked to the advancement of cognitive impairment and dementia, according to a study of plasma samples.
As Professor Cristina Andrés-Lacueva explains, “2-furoylglycine and 3-methylanthine, for example, which are indicators of coffee and cocoa intake, showed a protective profile, but saccharin, which is produced from artificial sweetener usage, had a detrimental profile.”
Mercè Pallàs, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and member of the Institute of Neurosciences (UBNeuro) of the UB, stresses that “the study of the relationship between cognitive impairment, the metabolism of the microbiota and food and endogenous metabolism is essential to develop preventive and therapeutic strategies that help to take care of our cognitive health.”
Dietary changes for a healthy cognitive aging
As a result, lifestyle and dietary adjustments are critical as a strategy for preventing cognitive decline and development in neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s and other dementias.
“A higher intake of fruits, vegetables, and plant-based foods provides polyphenols and other bioactive compounds that could help reduce the risk of cognitive decline due to ageing,” says Cristina Andrés-Lacueva.
The study included teams from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences’ Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutic Chemistry, as well as the Faculty of Biology’s Department of Genetics, Microbiology, and Statistics.
The University of Bordeaux and the INRAE Center of the University Clermont-Ferrand (France), King’s College London (United Kingdom), the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), and the Paracelsus Medical Private University (Austria) have also collaborated in the study.
The research has received funding from the International Joint Programming Actions PCIN-2015-229, from the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) and from the former Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO), through the Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life.”
