A suboptimal diet is associated with poorer cognition: The NUDAD project

Jay L.P. Fieldhouse*, Astrid S. Doorduijn, Francisca A. de Leeuw, Barbara J.H. Verhaar, Ted Koene, Linda M.P. Wesselman, Marian de van der Schueren, Marjolein Visser, Ondine van de Rest, Philip Scheltens, Maartje I. Kester, Wiesje M. van der Flier

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Nutrition is one of the modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, and is therefore highly relevant in the context of prevention. However, knowledge of dietary quality in clinical populations on the spectrum of AD dementia is lacking, therefore we studied the association between dietary quality and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and controls. We included 357 participants from the NUDAD project (134 AD dementia, 90 MCI, 133 controls). We assessed adherence to dietary guidelines (components: vegetables, fruit, fibers, fish, saturated fat, trans‐fat, salt, and alcohol), and cognitive performance (domains: memory, language, visuospatial functioning, attention, and executive functioning). In the total population, linear regression analyses showed a lower vegetable intake is associated with poorer global cognition, visuospatial functioning, attention and executive functioning. In AD dementia, lower total adherence to dietary guidelines and higher alcohol intake were associated with poorer memory, a lower vegetable intake with poorer global cognition and executive functioning, and a higher trans‐fat intake with poorer executive functioning. In conclusion, a suboptimal diet is associated with more severely impaired cognition—this association is mostly attributable to a lower vegetable intake and is most pronounced in AD dementia.

Original languageEnglish
Article number703
Pages (from-to)1-10
Number of pages10
JournalNutrients
Volume12
Issue number3
Early online date6 Mar 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2020

Funding

Funding: The Alzheimer Center Amsterdam is supported by Stichting Alzheimer Nederland and Stichting VUmc funds. Research of the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam is part of the neurodegeneration research program of Amsterdam Neuroscience. The clinical database structure was developed with funding from Stichting Dioraphte. WvdF holds the Pasman chair and is recipient of a donation by stichting Equilibrio, a ZonMW Memorabel grant (#733050814) and NWO‐FCB project NUDAD (project number 057‐14‐004). The Alzheimer Center Amsterdam is supported by Stichting Alzheimer Nederland and Stichting VUmc funds. Research of the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam is part of the neurodegeneration research program of Amsterdam Neuroscience. The clinical database structure was developed with funding from Stichting Dioraphte. WvdF holds the Pasman chair and is recipient of a donation by stichting Equilibrio, a ZonMW Memorabel grant (#733050814) and NWO?FCB project NUDAD (project number 057?14?004). We acknowledge members of the NUDAD project team: Amsterdam University Medical Center location VUmc: Wiesje van der Flier, Maartje Kester, Philip Scheltens, Charlotte Teunissen, Marian de van der Schueren, Francien de Leeuw, Astrid Doorduijn, Barbara Verhaar, Jay Fieldhouse, Jos? Overbeek, Els Dekkers; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: Marjolein Visser; Wageningen University & Research: Ondine van de Rest, Sanne Boesveldt; DSM: Peter van?Dael, Manfred Eggersdorfer, Hasan Mohajeri; Danone Nutricia Research: John Sijben, Nick van Wijk, Amos Attali, J. Martin Verkuyl: FrieslandCampina: Martijn Veltkamp, Ellen van den Heuvel, Cecil Singh?Povel.

FundersFunder number
Danone Nutricia Research: John Sijben
NWO‐FCB057‐14‐004
Nick van Wijk
ZonMw733050814
ZonMw

    Keywords

    • Dementia
    • Food intake
    • Mild cognitive impairment
    • Neuropsychological functioning
    • Nutrition

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