Making optimal decisions on your diet choices is one of the most important parameters of achieving and maintaining long-term health. Unfortunately, the media loves to twist poor quality data and a barrage of erroneous reports have claimed it is safe again to load your plates with meats, cheeses, butters, and eggs. Nothing could be further from the truth and a recent high-quality review identified the risks of these foods and the high saturated content they contain. Indeed, the last 2 months has seen a flood of new data and science indicating plant diets have benefits head to toe. Here we review this “explosion” of new and recent science for you to apply to your own health.
Brain and Cognitive Health
1) To examine associations between a plant-based dietary pattern and cognitive functioning, 3,039 older adults who participated in the 2011–2014 waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were studied. Greater adherence to a dietary pattern consistent with a plant-based diet was related to better performance on all cognitive tasks. Secondary analyses indicated that the associations between a plant-based dietary pattern and executive function accounted for the association between a plant-based dietary pattern and memory.
2) Using data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), multiple linear regression was employed using two verbal fluency tests as a test for cognition. Low amounts of pulses/nuts or…
