A diet rich in plant products reduces the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in the elderly, found a 12-year European study.
The results revealed a protective association between metabolites derived from cocoa, coffee, mushrooms and red wine, microbial metabolism of polyphenol-rich foods (apple, cocoa, green tea, blueberries, oranges or pomegranates) and cognitive impairment in the elderly. A negative association was found with metabolites related to unhealthy dietary components, such as artificial sweeteners and alcohol.
These were the results of a study by the Biomarkers and Nutritional Food Metabolomics Research Group of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences of the University of Barcelona (UB) and the CIBER on Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES). Other collaborators included the University of Bordeaux and the INRAE Center of the University Clermont-Ferrand (France), King’s College London (United Kingdom), the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and the Paracelsus Medical Private University (Austria).
The paper, published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, is led by Cristina Andrés-Lacueva, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and head of the Biomarkers and Nutritional Metabolomics of Food Research Group of the UB and the Biomedical Research Network Center in Frailty and Healthy Aging (CIBERFES), which is also part of the Food Innovation Network of Catalonia (XIA).
This European study, part of the Joint Programming Initiative ‘A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life’ (JPI HDHL), was carried out over 12 years with the participation of 842 people aged over 65 in the Bordeaux and Dijon regions of France.
The study analysed the relationship between the metabolism of dietary components, intestinal microbiota, endogenous metabolism and cognitive impairment. Mireia Urpí-Sardà, from the Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Gastronomy and CIBERFES, said: “What we analysed in the cohorts under study is the modulating role of the diet in the risk of suffering cognitive impairment. The results show a significant association between these processes and certain metabolites.”
The analysis of plasma samples indicated that some metabolites are related to the progression of cognitive impairment and dementia.
Professor Cristina Andrés-Lacueva said, “For example, 2-furoylglycine and 3-methylanthine, which are biomarkers of coffee and cocoa consumption, had a protective profile, while saccharin, derived from the consumption of artificial sweeteners, is associated with a damaging role.”
Mercè Pallàs, professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences and member of the Institute of Neurosciences (UBNeuro) of the UB, said the study of the relationship between cognitive impairment, the metabolism of the microbiota and food and endogenous metabolism was essential “to develop preventive and therapeutic strategies that help to take care of our cognitive health”.
Dietary changes for a healthy cognitive ageing
Changes in lifestyle and diet are decisive as a strategy to prevent cognitive deterioration and its progression in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and other dementias. “A higher intake of fruits, vegetables and plant-based foods provides polyphenols and other bioactive compounds that could help reduce the risk of cognitive decline due to ageing,” said Andrés-Lacueva.
Study details
Food and Microbiota Metabolites Associate with Cognitive Decline in Older Subjects: A 12‐Year Prospective Study
Raúl González‐Domínguez, Pol Castellano‐Escuder, Francisco Carmona, Sophie Lefèvre‐Arbogast, Dorrain Low, Andrea Du Preez, Silvie Ruigrok, Claudine Manach, Mireia Urpi‐Sarda, Aniko Korosi, Paul Lucassen, Ludwig Aigner, Mercè Pallàs, Sandrine Thuret, Cécilia Samieri, Alex Sánchez‐Pla, Cristina Andres‐Lacueva.
Published in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research on 18 October 2021
Abstract
Scope
Diet is considered an important modulator of cognitive decline and dementia, but the available evidence is, however, still fragmented and often inconsistent.
Methods and Results
The article studies the long-term prospective Three-City Cohort, which consists of two separate nested case-control sample sets from different geographic regions (Bordeaux, n = 418; Dijon, n = 424). Cognitive decline is evaluated through five neuropsychological tests (Mini-Mental State Examination, Benton Visual Retention Test, Isaac's Set Test, Trail-Making Test part A, and Trail-Making Test part B). The food-related and microbiota-derived circulating metabolome is studied in participants free of dementia at baseline, by subjecting serum samples to large-scale quantitative metabolomics analysis. A protective association is found between metabolites derived from cocoa, coffee, mushrooms, red wine, the microbial metabolism of polyphenol-rich foods, and cognitive decline, as well as a negative association with metabolites related to unhealthy dietary components, such as artificial sweeteners and alcohol.
Conclusion
These results provide insight into the early metabolic events that are associated with the later risk to develop cognitive decline within the crosstalk between diet, gut microbiota and the endogenous metabolism, which can help identify potential targets for preventive and therapeutic strategies to preserve cognitive health.
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