Exercise, mediterranean diet cuts Alzheimer’s risk

Lots of exercise, combined with eating a diet rich in fish, fruits and vegetables, may lower a person’s chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a study by Columbia University Medical Center in New York found.

Those who adhered most closely to the Mediterranean diet and were the most physically active had about a 60 percent lower risk of developing the disease compared with those who didn’t follow the diet or exercise, according to research today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study found the overall risk for getting Alzheimer’s was 9 percent for those who combined the most exercise and healthiest eating compared with 21 percent for the least.

Solutions to Alzheimer’s

“This study is important because it shows that people may be able to alter their risk of developing Alzheimer’s by modifying their lifestyle through diet and exercise,” said Nikolaos Scarmeas, the lead author of the Columbia University Medical Center study, in a statement. “We know that some part of Alzheimer’s is related to genetic changes and as time goes on we discover more and more of these changes. But it is also possible that non-genetic changes, including lifestyle and behavior, may also be affecting our brain health.”

Reduced Risk

Eating healthy foods may lower a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke, all of which may play a role in developing Alzheimer’s disease. Exercising may protect nerve cells and enhance nerve cell repair, as well as reduce inflammation in the body.

Lifestyle Behavior

The researchers found that those who were very physically active had about a 33 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer’s compared with those who didn’t exercise at all. Those who adhered the most to a Mediterranean-style diet had a 40 percent reduced risk of the disease compared with those who didn’t eat much healthy food. People who combined the healthiest eating habits with the most exercise reduced their risk even more.