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Examining the relationship between nutrition and cerebral structural integrity in older adults without dementia

journal contribution
posted on 2019-06-01, 00:00 authored by J M Reddan, Helen MacphersonHelen Macpherson, D J White, A Scholey, A Pipingas
The proportion of adults aged 60 years and over is expected to increase over the coming decades. This ageing of the population represents an important health issue, given that marked reductions to cerebral macro- and microstructural integrity are apparent with increasing age. Reduced cerebral structural integrity in older adults appears to predict poorer cognitive performance, even in the absence of clinical disorders such as dementia. As such, it is becoming increasingly important to identify those factors predicting cerebral structural integrity, especially factors that are modifiable. One such factor is nutritional intake. While the literature is limited, data from available cross-sectional studies indicate that increased intake of nutrients such as B vitamins (for example, B6, B12 and folate), choline, n-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, or increased adherence to prudent whole diets (for example, the Mediterranean diet) predicts greater cerebral structural integrity in older adults. There is even greater scarcity of randomised clinical trials investigating the effects of nutritional supplementation on cerebral structure, though it appears that supplementation with B vitamins (B6, B12 and folic acid) or n-3 fatty acids (DHA or EPA) may be beneficial. The current review presents an overview of available research examining the relationship between key nutrients or adherence to select diets and cerebral structural integrity in dementia-free older adults.

History

Journal

Nutrition research reviews

Volume

32

Issue

1

Pagination

79 - 98

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Location

Cambridge, Eng.

ISSN

0954-4224

eISSN

1475-2700

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2018, The Authors