Title: Traditional Japanese Diet May Avert Brain Shrinkage in Women
Various Japanese dishes like green tea, seaweed, and fish might help fight brain shrinkage in ageing women. This shrinkage usually hints at thinking ability declining and dementia, research implies. Interesting to note, these benefits were only found in women!
The sunny, southern Japanese archipelago of Okinawa has many centenarians living healthily past the age of 100. Their lifestyle and attitudes are important, but their traditional diet is thought to be a major factor as well. It is rich in all sorts of vegetables, rice, fish, and seaweed, as mentioned by Japan Airlines.
Recent research backs this. It indicates that such eating habits could protect against brain shrinkage linked to ageing, particularly in women. Shrinkage of the brain often leads to reduced cognitive ability and dementia in the elderly. The consumption of whole grains, seafood, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, and green tea, may prevent brain shrinkage in older Japanese women, says the study published in the Nutrition Journal.
The study focussed on around 1,600 Japanese adults aged between 40 and 89. Their diets were tracked for two years. The research found that women who followed a traditional Japanese diet had less brain shrinkage than those who ate a Western diet. However, this was not the case for men. This exciting research was supported by Japan’s National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology and the University of Liverpool in the UK.
