A 10-year study was made with Chinese adults over the age of 60 as participants. The researchers found that healthy lifestyle, in particular a nutritious diet, is linked to slowing down memory decline that happens in the older generation.
The findings of this big new research was published in The BMJ. In it, they showed that the benefits of healthy living. The researchers saw that this was even seen in people that had a gene that made them more susceptible to developing Alzheimer’s disease.
Carriers of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, which is the strongest known risk factor for Alzheimer’s and related dementia, slowed down. Memory loss is associated with this and it can be avoided simply by switching to healthy habits, such as staying away from alcohol.
The Chinese research team said that memory is at a continuous when people get older. However, evidence from existing studies was not enough to assess the effect of a healthy lifestyle on memory during the latter part of their lives.
While there are several factors that lead to memory decline, the researchers said that a combination of healthy behaviors is a must for you to see the best possible effects.
The 6 Healthy Habits to Stave Off Memory Decline
In order for the researchers to establish further connection, they analyzed data from 29,000 adults over the age of 60 and with normal cognitive function. The group had an average age of 72 and almost half of them were females.
At the very beginning of the study in 2009, their memory function was measured with the use of an Auditory Verbal Learning test (AVLT). The participants were tested for the APOE gene and they saw that 20 percent of them were actually carriers. Then, follow-up assessments were made in the years 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2019.
They then calculated for the healthy lifestyle score. This was done with the combination of the six vital factors: diet, regular exercise, active social contact, cognitive activity (such as reading and writing), non-smoking, and staying away from alcohol at all times.
Based on the score the participants made, which ranged from zero to six, participants were put into favorable (four to six healthy factors), average (two or three), or unfavorable (one or zero) lifestyle groups. They also further separated these participants into two groups: APOE carrier and non-carrier groups.
They also took into consideration other health, economic and social factors. This was when the researchers found that each individual healthy behavior was linked to the slowing down of the average decline in memory in the 10 years that followed.
“A healthy diet had the strongest effect on slowing memory decline, followed by cognitive activity and then physical exercise,” said Professor Jianping Jia, the study lead author.
Compared with the group that had unfavorable lifestyles, memory decline in the favorable lifestyle group was 0.28 points slower over 10 years based on a standardized score of the AVLT, and memory decline in the average lifestyle group was 0.16 points slower.
“Participants with the APOE gene with favorable and average lifestyles also experienced a slower rate of memory decline than those with an unfavorable lifestyle. What’s more, those with favorable and average lifestyles were almost 90 percent and almost 30 percent less likely to develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment relative to those with an unfavorable lifestyle—and the APOE group had similar results.”
The professor said that the research was observational. This means that they aren’t able to establish cause. However, it must be noted that this was a large study with a long follow-up period. Hence, the researchers were able to evaluate individual lifestyle factors on memory function over the successive times after.
Hence, the researchers believe their results were able to provide “strong evidence” that adapting a healthy lifestyle with a combination of positive behaviors is linked to the lowering of the rate of memory decline. This also applied to people who were genetically vulnerable to the possibility of memory decline.
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