Consuming Polyphenols and Polyunsaturated Fats May Slow or Prevent the Onset of Alzheimer’s

(picture: healthy date and walnut truffles)

For those of you that have a family history of Alzheimer’s this abstract is quite fascinating. According to a study that will be in next month’s issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease diet plays a major role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

The scientists claim a diet rich in polyphenols and polyunsaturated fats can slow progression of the disease. According to the study foods rich in polyphenols include grapes, olive oil, cocoa and nuts. Additionally they list foods rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids as including oily fish and vegetables such as corn and soybeans.

The mice were fed a diet, which included a mixture of natural products including dried fruit and nuts, coconut, vegetable oils and flour rich in soluble fiber. Results of the study seem to confirm that the diet slowed or halted the development of the disease.

As far as I am concerned this yet another reason to be vigilant about the food my family consumes and to continue to eat as healthy as we can. Our daily walnut butter is high in polyunsaturated fat so this gives us another reason to continue to enjoy our apple and walnut butter afternoon snack. Additionally this makes me think I should make another variation of the healthy truffles pictured above since they contain both nuts and cocoa.