Researchers Claim Healthy lifestyle and Good Eating Habits Can Prevent Alzheimer’s

Did you know that in 2009, 5.3 million Americans had Alzheimer’s?

Not only this, in the next 2 decades the figure is expected to reach 8 million. As of today, Alzheimer’s has no cure, but studies show that healthy lifestyle and diet choices can help immensely in preventing and delaying this fatal disease.

Link between high cholesterol and Alzheimer’s

According to a study that appeared in the medical journal, Dementia and Geriatric Disorders, people who are above 40 and have high cholesterol are two times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s when they cross 60.

In this study, 9,844 individuals were observed for a period of thirty years. The findings showed that subjects who had cholesterol level of 240 or greater were 57% more likely to acquire Alzheimer’s. Also, subjects with cholesterol levels between 200 and 239 had 27% more chances of acquiring Alzheimer’s disease.

The findings of this study are in accordance with separate studies done on animals to understand the relation between high cholesterol and Alzheimer’s. Neurological studies done on animals show that when the cholesterol levels in blood are high then there are more chances of the development of beta-amyloid protein, which is a brain clogging substance.

Besides high cholesterol, other factors that put you at a greater risk to Alzheimer’s are: smoking, diabetes, high-fat diet, and high blood pressure. Except smoking, the rest of the factors are linked with diet. The latest studies too suggest that healthy eating habits significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.

Exercise and balanced diet helps in preventing Alzheimer’s

Findings of a separate study conducted to understand how exercise and healthy diet are helpful in preventing and delaying Alzheimer’s disease were published in the journal of the American Medical Association. The study found that people who exercise regularly and consumed a Mediterranean diet (a diet rich in olive oil, fish, and fresh vegetables and fruits) had 50% less chance of developing Alzheimer’s.

In this study, researchers observed 1,880 individuals over a period of five and a half years. Researchers concluded that while a balanced diet alone reduces the risk to Alzheimer’s by 40%, exercise alone decreased the risk to Alzheimer’s by 50%. In other words, exercise is most effective in preventing Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Ronald Peterson, who is the director of the Alzheimer’s Research Centre at the Mayo Clinic, supports this claim. According to Dr. Peterson, exercise is more effective in Alzheimer’s prevention than supplements, diet, and medications.

To learn more about the exercises that help in prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, check out Christian Goodman’s Alzheimer’s Prevention Exercise Program.

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