Dementia risk reduced by eating 'five-a-day'

This was written by Honor Whiteman and posted in Medical News Today in February 2017. I thought it should be shared

Dementia is estimated to affect around 47.5 million people worldwide, and this number is expected to more than triple by 2050. But according to new research, there is one simple thing older adults can do to help reduce their risk of dementia: eat their "five-a-day."

Researchers say eating five portions of fruits and vegetables daily could reduce older adults' dementia risk.  In a study published in the journal Age and Ageing, researchers found that eating at least three portions of vegetables and two servings of fruits daily was associated with lower risk of dementia in older adults.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommend that adults should consume at least 400 grams of fruits and vegetables daily - the equivalent to around five servings - in order to improve overall health and lower the risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.

Previous research has indicated that fruit and vegetable intake may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, but the precise amounts that should be consumed to pose such benefits have been unclear.

For this latest study, co-author Linda Lam - of the Department of Psychiatry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong - and colleagues set out to investigate whether adhering to the five-a-day recommendation is associated with reduced dementia risk.

The researchers came to their findings by analyzing the health and diet of 17,700 older Chinese adults. All adults were free of dementia at study baseline. The researchers followed the participants for an average of 6 years to see whether they developed the condition, and whether dementia development might be associated with fruit and vegetable intake.

Compared with adults who did not adhere to WHO recommendations for fruit and vegetable intake, adults who consumed three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits daily were found to be at lower risk of dementia development over 6 years.

Dementia risk was further reduced for adults who consumed an additional three portions of vegetables each day, the team reports.

The results remained after accounting for a number of confounding factors, including age, smoking status, and the presence of other chronic diseases.

Findings highlight importance of fruit and veg intake for older adults

The study was not designed to pinpoint the reasons why fruits and vegetables might lower dementia risk, but the researchers speak of one hypothesis. They explain that oxidativestress - an imbalance between free radical production and the body's ability to counteract the toxic effects - and inflammation is believed to play a role in dementia. Fruits and vegetables contain vitamin B, vitamin E, and other nutrients with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that could help prevent such processes.

Further research is needed to explore precisely how fruits and vegetables might lower dementia risk, but this current study sheds light on how much we need to consume to reap the rewards.

"The findings of our study not only highlight the importance of consuming both fruits and vegetables in dementia prevention among older people, but also provide some insight into the daily amount of fruits and vegetables required for cognitive maintenance.

As a public health promotion strategy, the need for a balanced diet on cognitive health should be duly emphasized in the older population."

Life skills are important for Boomers

Good habits and life skills do us well at any stage of life, but they are very important as we age. Life skills, such as persistence, conscientiousness and control, are as important to wealth and wellbeing in later life as they are when people are much younger, according to new research led by UCL.

Five life skills - emotional stability, determination, control, optimism and conscientiousness - play a key role in promoting educational and occupational success in early life but little has been known about their importance in later life.

In the study, published in the journal PNAS, the academics looked at the impact of these attributes in over 8,000 men and women aged 52 and older who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Aging.

The researchers found that people who have more life skills enjoy a range of benefits including greater financial stability, less depression, low social isolation, better health and fewer chronic diseases.

They benefitted from favourable objective biomarkers in the blood including lower levels of cholesterol and of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation relevant to a number of different diseases. They also had smaller waistlines, where fat accumulation is particularly relevant to metabolic and cardiovascular diseases, than people with few life skills.

The study fount that there was no single attribute was more important than others. Rather, the effects depended on the accumulation of life skills. The study found a range of health and social outcomes depending on the number of life skills a person has. For example, the proportion of participants reporting significant depressive symptoms declined from 22.8% among those with a low number of life skills to 3.1% in those with four or five.

Nearly half the people who reported the highest levels of loneliness had the fewest skills, declining to 10.5% in those with the most. Regular volunteering rose from 28.7% to 40% with increasing numbers of life skills.

In terms of health, the proportion of respondents who rated their health as only fair or poor was 36.7% among those with low life skills, falling to 6% in participants with a higher number of attributes. People with more skills walked significantly faster than those with fewer - walking speed is an objective measure predicting future mortality in older population samples.

Although causal conclusions cannot be drawn from observational studies, the researchers took cognitive function, education and family background into account, ruling them out as being responsible for the outcomes associated with life skills.

The researchers found that although there is research on individual factors such as conscientiousness and optimism in adults, but the combinations of these life skills have not been studied very much before. They were surprised by the range of processes - economic, social, psychological, biological, and health and disability related - that seem to be related to these life skills. The research suggests that fostering and maintaining these skills in adult life may be relevant to health and wellbeing at older ages.

What are your end-of-life wishes?

April 16-22 is a week for inspiring seniors and others to start the conversation about end of life planning. This year the theme of National Healthcare Decision Week was "It always seems too early until it’s too late”. In Canada, our day for this is National Advance Care Planning Day in Canada (April 16). This year's goal was to inspire a proactive approach to planning ahead for your end-of-life wishes. Contemplating the end of your life, and outlining the kind of health and personal care you wish to receive if you were unable to speak for yourself, is not always easy, but it’s important.

Remember, it’s not just about you, it’s about ensuring that your family and friends have a clear plan to support your intentions. Advance care planning is a process of reflection and communication, and it may involve writing down your wishes and talking with healthcare providers and financial and legal advisors. If you do not have an advance care plan in place, perhaps it’s time to start the conversation?

In our COSCO Health and Wellness workshop, on this topic, we point out that if something happens to you, decisions are going to be made.  You can make them yourself or appoint somebody else to do so, but come what decisions will be made. Sometimes your mental competency may come into question because of any number of situations: stroke, dementia, brain injury from an accident.  If your mental competency is challenged and we know this happens and you haven’t made your own legal arrangements you are vulnerable to adult guardianship (which means others will make decisions about you).

Somethings to think about as you consider this topic. Personal planning lets you stay in control. The burden on your spouse, family and friends is eased. Personal planning keeps the state/government and other authorities out of your private and personal affairs.Personal planning is for all adults, those who need help today because their mental competency is in question and those who want to plan for the future

Senior's Discounts revisited

In the US, there are many organisations and retail outlets that provide senior discounts to those over 50 or 55. Yet many of us do not ask for these discounts. I am not sure why, but since we are on fixed income’s any savings is useful. I did a couple of posts earlier about discounts for seniors in Canada. Here is a great site for my US friends. This page explores the following topics:

When Do You Become a “Senior Citizen”?

• Organisations That Provide Discounts to Senior Citizens
• Additional Organisations and Associations for Seniors
• Seniors Can Get Special Discounts Just For the Asking
• The Bottom Line on Discounts for Senior Citizens

The bottom line is as I said in an earlier post, if you want a discount, ask for one. The following is from the site above and it re-enforces my point.

Why You Should Ask for a Senior Discount

We laugh at the idea of becoming a “senior” when we’re 50. We wonder if it might be true at 60. And by 70, we’re usually pretty well convinced.

Some people, though, bristle at the idea of being thought of as “old.” That’s why businesses are often reluctant to point out they have a senior discount available. They don’t want to offend anyone. It’s like asking a woman whether she’s pregnant. Better to wait until SHE offers that information.

Here are three good reasons to take advantage of senior discounts:

1. Senior citizen status is an honour. You’ve contributed to the economy for decades. Senior discounts are a way of thanking you for your long-term patronage.

2. When you ask about the availability of a senior discount, you’re letting businesses know seniors appreciate programs that bring value to them. By doing that, you’re helping ensure senior specials keep going and growing. You’re paying it forward to the new crop of seniors coming up behind you.

3. It’s money in your pocket! Not taking advantage of a senior discount is like finding money in your sock drawer and throwing it out with the trash. Even if the discount is a few dollars or the special is that you get a free drink with your meal, every bit counts. The only people who don’t like saving a few dollars are those who don’t appreciate the value of having extra money in the first place.

The Bottom Line on Discounts for Senior Citizens

If you want to get the discount, ask for the discount. That’s the number one way to find and take advantage of specials for seniors only. 

1.    When you’re in a local store: Ask.

2.    When you’re travelling: Ask.

3.    Even if you think they don’t have a senior discount:    Ask.

4.    Always ask

Once you get in the habit of asking, you’ll be amazed at the number of places you can save money just because you’re you.