This type of medium life body is associated with the best brain health later

Want a sharper mind in your golden years? Start by reducing the waist line.

A new study found that the quality of the diet and the waist-pit ratio to medium life are directly related to brain health and cognitive function while we are aging.

“This message is alarming in the light of the overweight pandemia.” Dr. Sharmili Edwin Thanarajah, a neurologist at Goethe Frankfurt University who was not involved in the study, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

Changes in the Western diet have played a major role in the direction of the American overweight crisis, which is associated with chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure. Also also the main factor of modifiable risk for dementia.

More than six million Americans are currently living with the memory -withdrawal disease, a figure expected to reach 12 million by 2060 without intervention. Experts say these forecasts highlight the urgent need to prevent or slow down the onset of dementia – starting with lifestyle changes as a healthier diet and regular exercises.

Previous studies have suggested that middle life is a critical window for cognitive health interventions, but little was known as long -term access to a high quality diet affects brain health while aging.

To investigate the possible link, researchers used data from the study of Whitehall II, a 30-year longitudinal study following over 10,000 participants. They monitored the waist and hip measurements of 664 British civil servants for a 21-year period.

At the same time, 512 participants completed detailed diet questionnaires covering 11 factors, including fruits, vegetables, cereals, fats and sugar drinks.

When the participants hit the 1970s, scientists took brain scans and tested their cognitive performance. They found that those with the lower hip-bea radio at the beginning of the study had better working memory, executive function and general cognitive performance later.

Participants who have stalled on healthier diet in middle life also showed a better brain function, especially in the regions responsible for learning, memory and how different parts of the brain communicate with each other.

But don’t be scared if you haven’t eaten well. Researchers found that participants who improved their diets during the study saw improvements in their brain health – especially when it comes to dementia and aging.

“If you want to do something for your brain health, it’s not too late to do something now, but the sooner you start, the better,” BBC Science Focus told.

Researchers said interventions aimed at improving diet and managing central overweight could be more effective for people aged 48 to 70, leading to best results for brain health and cognitive in later years.

“Their findings require an increase in medium -lived prevention strategies to combat the growing number of individuals who experience cognitive impairments,” said Edwin Thanarajah.

She emphasized that the improvements in the diet-in the country to simply reduce the waist-hypo-hip ratio associated with the best brain health later in life. She also cited research showing that even brief exposure to an unhealthy, fat and sugar -rich diet can adversely affect brain function in healthy individuals.

“Crucial is essential to integrate dietary guidelines into public health policies,” said Edwin Thanarajah. “Such integration should be an independent and essential strategy for protecting brain health, along with assessing metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors.”

Jensen and her team noticed some study restrictions, including the fact that participants were mostly British white men, highly educated and generally healthier than the largest population in the United Kingdom.