A new study has found that eating just a small amount of dark chocolate each day could help to improve cognitive function in people with mild dementia.
Foods to Avoid
Desserts, sweets and sugary beverages. Refined grains. Processed, fried and fast foods. Alcohol.
People who regularly eat a lot of highly processed foods and drinks like cheeseburgers, chips, fried chicken, sausage, pizza, biscuits and sugary sodas are at increased risk of developing dementia, according to a new report.
Potential Benefit
Cocoa or its flavanols may increase blood flow to the brain [4], which often decreases with aging [5] and in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's [6].
Dark Chocolate Improves Learning, Memory, and Focus
Cocoa's flavonoids enter the brain and accumulate in regions involved in learning and memory, especially the hippocampus. Seniors who consume foods high in flavonoids, including chocolate, score better on standardized cognitive tests.
Keep in mind that cocoa contains caffeine and related chemicals. Eating large amounts might cause caffeine-related side effects such as nervousness, increased urination, sleeplessness, and a fast heartbeat. Cocoa can cause allergic skin reactions, constipation and might trigger migraine headaches.
Abnormal sweet-food craving may occur in subjects with Alzheimer's disease. This behavior may be due to abnormalities in the brain serotonin system.
As mentioned earlier, consuming too much sugar can lead to health issues that increase the risk of developing dementia. Diets high in sugar have been linked to reduced cognitive functioning and memory problems in older adults. Reducing sugar intake could have a positive impact on cognitive health.
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals found in bananas help preserve nerve tissue against neurotoxins, which deteriorate nervous tissue when exposed to its substance. This may also help in preventing neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
Introduction: The five-word test (5WT) is a serial verbal memory test with semantic cuing. It is proposed to rapidly evaluate memory of aging people and has previously shown its sensitivity and its specificity in identifying patients with AD.
This prospective study suggests that egg consumption is associated with a reduced risk of dementia, and specifically of AD, in the adult population with low adherence to rMED score; whereas it has no impact in subjects with moderate and high MD adherence.
Drinking (unsweetened) green tea reduces your risk of developing mild cognitive impairment, dementia, or Alzheimer's. As far as the KetoFLEX diet is concerned, tea is on the same tier with non-starchy vegetables, in which you can freely indulge.
Nuts and berries are ideal snacks -- both have been linked to better brain health. Blueberries and strawberries, in particular, help keep your brain working at its best and may slow symptoms linked to Alzheimer's.
Don't correct, contradict, blame or insist. Reminders are rarely kind. They tell a person how disabled they are – over and over again. People living with dementia say and do normal things for someone with memory impairment.
Is Alzheimer's passed on by mother or father? Alzheimer's is not passed on by the mother more than the father, or vice versa. A mother or father may pass on an “Alzheimer's gene” or mutation that increases your risk. Even if both your parents pass on a risk gene, your Alzheimer's risk is higher, but not certain.
Jelly Drops are award-winning sweets designed to boost hydration. They're 95% water, sugar free and vegan with added electrolytes. Inventor Lewis Hornby was inspired to create water sweets after his grandma Pat, who had dementia, was struggling to hydrate.
The sooner people watch their sugar, the healthier their brains will be as they age. Older adults can still reverse memory loss and prevent dementia by limiting their sugar intake. A few easy ways to do this is to avoid sugary drinks, such as soda and flavored coffee, and to forgo added sugar.
A person with dementia may forget how to chew and swallow. Other reasons for an apparent loss of appetite may include ill-fitting dentures, insufficient physical activity and being embarrassed by difficulties in eating.
The sweet treat also contains a number of brain-boosting vitamins, including vitamin B1 (thiamine), which helps to produce energy. Perhaps most surprising of all, it has been shown that chocolate can increase the metabolism, helping even avid chocoholics to stay trim.