Category: Diet and Nutrition

Categories : Ageing Diet and Nutrition Mental HealthTags :

Mediterranean-type Diets Protect Against Parkinson’s Disease

On By ModernMedia

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have shown that the Mediterranean diet and another diet based on it, have a strong link in protecting against Parkinson’s disease (PD). 

These two diets had previously been shown that they could protect against other neurodegenerative diseases. The Mediterranean‐DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet combines aspects of the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet which protects against hypertension. The MIND diet emphasises consumption of berries, as research shows that they protect against mental decline, eating leafy greens and poultry. The MIND diet also mostly does away with potato, milk and fruit (excluding berries).

Senior author Dr Silke Appel-Cresswell said, “There is a lack of medications to prevent or delay Parkinson’s disease yet we are optimistic that this new evidence suggests nutrition could potentially delay onset of the disease.”
Following the diets delayed the average onset of PD by 17.4 years in women, and 8.4 years in men.

Since PD already has a notable sex difference, with 60% of sufferers being men, despite their shorter average lifespan, the sex difference in response to the diets opens new avenues of research
“It drives home the connection between the gut and the brain for this disease,” Dr Brett Finlay said. “It also shows it’s not just one disease that healthy eating can affect, but several of these cognitive diseases.”

Source: Medical Xpress

Journal information: Avril Metcalfe‐Roach et al, MIND and Mediterranean Diets Associated with Later Onset of Parkinson’s Disease, Movement Disorders (2021). DOI: 10.1002/mds.28464

Categories : Diet and NutritionTags :

Meat-free Diets Increase Risk of Fracture

On By ModernMedia

Research conducted on one of the largest dietary and health studies has revealed that people eating vegan, and to a lesser extent, vegetarian and pescetarian, diets are at higher risk for fractures.

This is in line with earlier studies that had indicated that vegan diets had weaker bones, but it had been unclear if this translated to an increased fracture risk.

Participants eating a vegan diet had a more than doubled increase of hip fracture risk; those on vegetarian and pescatarian diets also had an increase in hip fracture risk of 25%. Vegans, but not vegetarians and pescetarians, were also at increased risk of other fractures.

The research was done using data from the EPIC-Oxford trial, which followed over 65 000 participants from 1993 onwards, and controlled for a number of variables such as age, gender and level of physical activity.

The presence of protein helps to absorb calcium, and vegans are unlikely to be getting enough calcium without supplementing their diet. It is notable that after the 1990s, plant-based milk substitutes began to be fortified, which may have affected the results. 

A vegan diet also resulted in other health benefits as well as risks. Compared to an omnivorous diet, a vegan diet conferred a 10% reduction in cancer rates, 20% reduction in heart disease but also increased stroke risk by 20%.

The article is available to read at BMC Medicine.

Source: New Scientist