Ditch bacon and sausages for nuts and fish to lower dementia risk
Bacon and sausages are quintessential components of a classic English breakfast, but Britons have long been warned of the risks of eating too much processed meat, including an increased risk of bowel cancer and high blood pressure.
But scientists have found a link between high consumption of red meat, particularly processed red meat, and a higher risk of developing dementia. However, the new study also found that swapping processed meat for fish, nuts and legumes could help lower the risk quite significantly.
The study, published in the journal Neurology, found that the more processed red meat a person consumed, the higher their risk of developing dementia and experiencing cognitive decline rose.
The researchers, led by Dr Daniel Wang of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, found that people who eat more processed red meat were at 14% higher risk of dementia over more than four decades compared to those who eat minimum amounts.
Dr Wang told TIME: "Based on this data, we see that if people have higher processed red meat intake, they have a higher risk of dementia, a higher risk of subjective cognitive decline, and worse cognitive function."
Data from 133,771 participants, who were aged 48.9 years old on average, was analysed and their diets assessed using food questionnaires. Their objective cognitive function was assessed through phone interviews with the researchers, while subjective cognitive decline was self-reported.
While there were clear drawbacks to eating processed red meats, the scientists were able to look at whether replacing it with other types of food had an effect on the risk of dementia.
They found that substituting one serving a day of processed red meat with nuts or legumes led to a significant 19% lower risk of dementia over the study period.
Even more impressive was substituting processed meat for fish, which was linked to a 28% lower risk of dementia.
The consumption of chicken in place of red meat was not as beneficial as fish, nuts or legumes, but still significantly lowered the risk to 16%.
Dr Wang added: "The take-home message is that if you can limit your red meat intake, then please do it. If you reduce your intake even a little bit, it will give you cognitive health benefits. And if you do it earlier, then even better."
The NHS currently recommends eating no more than 70g of red and processed meat per day. If you eat more than 90g (cooked weight) of red or processed meat a day, it is recommended that you cut down to 70g.
Red meat includes beef, lamb, mutton, pork, veal, venison, and goat. Processed meat, which is any meat that has been preserved by smoking, curing, salting, or adding preservatives, includes sausages, bacon and ham, deli meats, canned meat, sliced luncheon meats, and pates.
"You can cut down by eating smaller portions of red and processed meat, eating these meats less often or swapping them for alternatives," the NHS suggests.
Read more about diet and nutrition:
Four types of brain foods to eat regularly (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
A balanced diet may be linked to better brain health, study suggests (PA Media, 2-min read)
6 foods that can actually boost your serotonin levels (Yahoo Life UK, 3-min read)
