First, medical science discovered that dark chocolate is a superfood and sex is a better aerobic exercise than jogging.
Now bioscientists at Iowa State University have found that wine and cheese may protect against dementia.
The researchers sifted data from the UK Biobank, a database holding extensive genetic and health details on more than a half-million anonymous individuals.
From 2006 through 2016, participants underwent three cognitive tests that assessed their ability to “think on their feet.” They also answered detailed questions about their diet, including how often they consumed various categories of foods.
The study’s main findings:
Cheese (real cheese, not processed cheese-like substances) is the food most highly correlated with a healthy mind late into life.
Modest daily drinking, especially of red wine, correlates with enduring cognitive ability. Eating lamb weekly, but not other red meats seems to help stave off mental decline. Heavy consumption of salt may hasten or worsen Alzheimer’s disease.
The study’s authors acknowledged that well-off people consume more wine and quality cheese than others and also tend to have better health care options, which might give them an overall edge in fending off dementia. Those differences might have skewed the study’s findings.
TRENDPOST: Synthetic biology and genetic engineering grab the headlines in progress toward improving human healthspan. Learning the healing and protective properties of foods will have an equally important, and more accessible, impact on keeping us healthy and vital longer.
