Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend at least three servings of whole grain foods per day. (Photo: Freepik)
Not apples, but some amount of popcorn a day may keep dementia problems away. According to researchers at Rush University in Chicago, US, people who eat a pack of popcorn a day may be less likely to suffer from dementia than those who do not eat popcorn at all, or consume it less frequently. According to a Daily Mail report, the discovery was made when researchers tracked 3,300 people for six years to test their cognition. It was found that those who consumed three ounces or more of whole grains -- like lightly-salted popcorn -- a day had a "smaller reduction in their cognitive scores", as compared to those who barely ate the foods.
The research, published in the American Academy of Neurology's medical journal, involved participants from the Chicago Health and Aging Project, who responded to a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) with two or more cognitive assessments. African Americans (AA) comprised 60 per cent of the study participants, and according to the Daily Mail report, researchers may not have seen the same in White participants, because there were "too few in the study", or because they were "much less likely to eat whole grains overall".
On average, the participants were 75 years old, and did not have dementia. Researchers concluded that among AA participants, individuals with higher and more frequent consumption of whole grains had "slower decline in global cognition, perceptual speed, and episodic memory". "We did not see a similar trend in White adults," they said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the following factors are considered:
Xiaoran Liu, a study author and a Rush assistant professor of internal medicine, was quoted as telling USA TODAY: "In terms of dietary patterns, it is not really a one-size-fits-all approach. We do have to honour the cultural differences in terms of their diet. Results from this study can help clinicians, physicians or dietitians to further tailoring that precise nutrition recommendation."
For the study, the participants were surveyed every three years, to find out how often they ate whole grains; they were also given complete cognitive and memory tests to do. The tests included recalling words and remembering numbers, and putting them in the correct order. Then, they were divided into five groups depending on how many whole grains they had consumed; cognitive scores were compared.
In a group, there were adults who consumed less than half an ounce of whole grains per day; some others consumed three servings or more. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend at least three servings of whole grain foods per day -- slice of bread or half a cup of cooked pasta or rice. After taking into consideration factors like age, sex, education and whether they smoked, researchers concluded that those who ate three or more whole grains per day had a slower rate of cognitive decline than those who ate the least.
The Daily Mail report further stated that researchers were not certain as to why eating whole grains reduced the risk of dementia. They, however, concluded that it could be linked to how it helps regulate blood sugar levels and promotes a healthy gut. It could possibly reduce the risk of inflammation and damage to the blood vessels which, in turn, may reduce the risk of dementia, they explained, adding that those who ate whole grains were also more likely to observe a healthy lifestyle -- sleeping on time, exercising more -- which can help reduce the risk of dementia.
