A delicious way to ward off cognitive decline

Merry Christmas!  

I hope you got everything on your wish list this year, and that you are blessed with good health and good company. With that in mind, allow me to bring you some additional tidings of joy…  

Iowa State researchers published a new study in a recent issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. It’s one of the first large-scale analyses to connect specific foods to sharper cognitive function in later life.  

And believe me when I say that their findings will be music to everyone’s ears this holiday season… 

A cocktail party for the ages 

The team looked at data from nearly 1,800 older adults—with ages ranging from 46 to 77 years—in the U.K. Biobank.  

All participants had taken a Fluid Intelligence Test (FIT) at the beginning of the study, with two follow-up tests over the next ten years. (The FIT gives an idea of how well patients are able to think on their feet.)  

Subjects also provided details of their food and alcohol consumption, both at the study’s start, and in two follow-up assessments. The questionnaires gathered data about intake of specific foods—including fresh and dried fruit, raw and cooked veggies, oily and lean fish, poultry, beef, pork, lamb, cheese, bread, and cereal. Researchers also gathered data on beverages: tea and coffee, beer, cider, red and white wine, champagne, and liquor.    

In the end, results served up four key findings… 

First of all, cheese was far and away the most protective food when it came to warding off age-related cognitive decline. But that’s not all… 

Daily consumption of alcohol—red wine in particular—was also related to long-term cognitive improvements. As was weekly consumption of lamb.  

Finally, results showed that while excessive salt isn’t especially good for you, only people who were already at high risk for Alzheimer’s needed to pay much attention to their intake in order to dodge cognitive decline.  

Skip the wine—serve up some cheese 

Obviously, this is great news for epicureans everywhere (and I definitely count myself in those ranks). It’s also proof–positive that you don’t need to eat like a rabbit or give up all the foods you love in order to ward off aging in your body or your brain. 

However, I must mention one important caveat: While red wine is certainly packed with a ton of health-boosting, memory-saving compounds—most notably, the antioxidant resveratrol—it’s also packed with sugar.  

That’s why I always recommend sticking with clear alcohols and sugar-free mixers. And taking a resveratrol supplement—to the tune of 500 mg daily—instead.   

But you’ll be happy to hear that cheese—in particular, organic cheese made from the milk of pastured cows—and lamb have always been features of my A-List Diet.  

So, go whip up a cocktail, prepare a cheese plate, and get that rack of lamb in the oven… and make this a Christmas to remember, in more ways than one.  

And for additional ways to protect and restore memory, strengthen focus, and fight dementia, I encourage you to check out my Alzheimer’s Prevention and Treatment Plan. To learn more about this comprehensive, online learning tool, or to enroll today, click here now! 

Source: 

“Diet modifications—including more wine and cheese—may help reduce cognitive decline, study suggests.” Science Daily, 12/10/2020. (sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201210145850.htm)