Alzheimer’s and dementia researchers focus a lot of time and energy on finding the causes of dementia. Are there genetic risk factors? What lifestyle choices impact peoples’ risk of dementia? Are there ways we can prevent Alzheimer’s?
One such area of focus has been dementia and diet. There have been quite a few studies through the years that have looked to connect what we eat to our dementia risk. Are there certain foods that cause dementia or Alzheimer’s? On the flip side, are there any foods that prevent Alzheimer’s or dementia?
There are not yet complete answers to these questions. But researchers have made strides, and some studies have shown potential connections between diet and dementia.
A particular aspect of diet that may be related to Alzheimer’s and dementia: Inflammatory foods. Recently, research was published in Alzheimer’s and Dementia that found an interesting potential relationship between inflammatory foods and dementia incidence.
Research Findings: Inflammatory Foods & Dementia
The study used longitudinal data from the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort, measuring the inflammatory scores for participants’ diets and whether that influenced the incidence of dementia. They found that those with a higher-inflammatory diet, based on DII (Dietary Inflammatory Index) scores, also had a higher incidence of dementia. This finding held true when looking broadly at all-cause dementia, and when looking specifically at Alzheimer’s disease.
The relationship seen in this study certainly suggests a correlation between inflammation and dementia. And it is not the first study to do so: Past cross-sectional research had shown a correlation between more pro-inflammatory foods and smaller gray matter volume in the brain.
However, we can’t be too quick to jump to conclusions and assume inflammatory foods cause dementia. There are a few important limitations and considerations to keep in mind.
Research Limitations
First and foremost, this was an observational study, meaning that it cannot show causality. The findings strongly suggest that there is a correlation between dementia and inflammatory foods, but we can’t say that one caused the other.
There is also the potential for bias or error because the findings relied on self-reported eating habits, and because not every single DII component was able to be measured with this cohort in particular.
And of course it’s always important to keep in mind that one study alone, or even a handful of studies that show the same pattern, is not enough to fully prove the relationship between inflammation and dementia. More research is needed to validate the findings and further explore the connection between inflammatory foods and Alzheimer’s.
What Are Inflammatory Foods?
Even keeping these limitations in mind, this research reveals a likely connection between inflammatory foods and dementia. You might be wondering what foods are considered pro-inflammatory, and what foods are considered anti-inflammatory to help guide lifestyle choices. Here are some of the common foods that are considered pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory according to the DII.
Pro-inflammatory foods
- Carbs
- Saturated fat
- Protein
- Trans fat
- Iron
- Cholesterol
Anti-inflammatory foods
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Dietary fiber
- Omega-3 fat
- Polyunsaturated fat
- Flavonols
- Green tea
- Pepper
- Garlic
Inflammation and Dementia
All in all, the evidence is promising that there’s likely some relationship between inflammatory foods and dementia. Moving forward, more research will need to be done to continue exploring this connection. And at an individual level, people can monitor their intake of pro-inflammatory foods to make sure they’re not unknowingly increasing their risk of developing dementia.
Diet is just one of the factors that may influence someone’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s or dementia, and is an area of research we’ll be continuing to monitor closely.
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