The latest medical research in the United States shows that a high-fiber, low-fat Mediterranean-style diet will slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
According to a report in Singapore's "Lianhe Zaobao," Dr. Scarmis of the Columbia University Medical Center said in the latest issue of the journal Neurology that the more strictly Alzheimer's patients adhere to the Mediterranean-style diet, the longer they can live.
The so-called Mediterranean diet refers to consuming large amounts of fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, and unsaturated fatty acids such as olive oil; eating small amounts of dairy products, meat, and poultry; "moderately" more fish; and drinking wine with meals. The Columbia University research group has also previously published reports stating that this dietary habit can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
The newly published study focused on 192 Alzheimer's patients to understand how diet affects the progression of the disease. The patients were divided into three groups based on how closely they followed the Mediterranean diet, and their condition was tracked for 4.4 years; during this study period, 85% of the patients died.
The study found that the mortality rate in the second group was 35% lower than that of the third group; in other words, the people in the second group lived 1.33 years longer. The first group (those who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely) had a 73% lower risk of death, and they lived nearly 4 years longer.
Scarmis said: "The benefits of this dietary habit continue to emerge. We will conduct more research to understand whether the Mediterranean diet can also slow the decline in patients' cognitive abilities and how to maintain their daily living abilities in order to improve their quality of life."