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Mediterranean Diet Essay

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Introduction In our world today, dementia is a rising problem in the elderly population. This study aims to find if the Mediterranean diet (MeDi) lowers the risk of developing degenerative diseases such as dementia, or if it prevents cognitive decline. There have been many previous cohort studies that have researched the correlation between the MeDi and chronic diseases. However; research determining how exactly nutrients consumed with the MeDi affect cognition and the possible development of dementia has yet to be completed. This study intends to specifically look at how five individual cognitive functions and dementia are impacted as one ages, by varying levels of adherence to the MeDi. The researchers recorded the subjects’ intake of the MeDi based on a priori; which is a questionnaire that lets the researchers know the subjects’ eating habits and exactly what food groups and macronutrients they are consuming to accurately find the affects they yield in the brain. Clinical neuropsychologists evaluated each participant for thorough cognitive results, to gain the most in-depth conclusions possible Subjects The subjects for this study were adults of 64 years of age and over, from a previous study called the Hellenic Longitudinal Investigation of Ageing and Diet (HELIAD). All …show more content…

This causes me to consider what I am putting into my body today, and how it will affect my cognitive abilities in my old age. I want to have a healthy mind no matter what age I am, and implementing this diet would possibly be beneficial in my life. Also, my grandma has multiple sclerosis and over time I know that that can negatively affect the brain by degenerating nerve fibers and myelin. This is something she should consider applying to her diet in order to effectively combat the negative cognitive effects of MS. It may just help her to live a happier more independent life and age more

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