People who get plenty of choline in their diets may perform better on memory tests, and be less likely to show brain changes associated with dementia, a new study suggests.
The study can only point to a correlation between memory and dietary choline -- a nutrient found in foods like saltwater fish, eggs, liver, chicken, milk and certain legumes, including soy and kidney beans.
The findings suggest that people with lower choline intakes were more likely to be on a "pathway" toward mental decline than their counterparts with higher intakes.
The findings, researchers say, do not mean that choline is the answer to staving off Alzheimer's disease -- the memory-robbing disease that affects 26 million people globally. But there's also reason to believe that choline matters. The nutrient is a precursor to the brain chemical acetylcholine, which plays a key role in memory and other cognitive functions; low acetylcholine levels are associated with Alzheimer's.
The study adds to evidence that your lifetime diet may make a difference in how your brain ages.
A number of studies, though not all, have found links between diet and Alzheimer's risk. Some suggest that Mediterranean-style eating, for instance, might be protective; that typically means a diet high in fish, vegetables and fruit, whole grains and unsaturated fats like those in olive oil.
The message is that eating a healthy, balanced diet in mid-life is important.
The relation of dietary choline to cognitive performance and white-matter hyperintensity in the Framingham Offspring Cohort. Am J Clin Nutr December 2011 vol. 94 no. 6 1584-159
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