Your brain is what you eat
Scientists find a thoughtful link between what you choose to eat and the health of your brain.
Key Points
- People aged over 60 need more of certain nutrients than younger people.
- Nutritional needs differ between older men and older women.
- If you are not as active as you were, you may need fewer kilojoules.
- If you’re eating less, you’ll need to ensure your diet has a higher concentration of nutrients.
- Maintaining a healthy weight can help you be more active and help preserve bone health and muscle strength.
We’ve long known that what we eat influences our physical health, but some new research shows that a healthy, balanced diet also gives us superior brain health, cognitive function, and mental wellbeing.
Researchers from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom and Fudan University in China tracked the dietary preferences of nearly 182,000 older adults in Britain and examined the link between the foods people liked and disliked and their mental wellbeing and cognitive health.
If you are a picky eater, consider the finding that a balanced diet means better mental health, superior cognitive functions, and even higher amounts of brain grey matter (which is linked to intelligence) compared to people with a less varied diet.
Genetic predispositions and lifestyle choice also shape wellbeing and the link between diet and brain health.
A “balanced” diet includes vegetables, fruits, cereals, nuts, seeds, pulses, moderate amounts of dairy, eggs, and fish.
And it’s that variety of foods and flavours that appears to be the key to brain health. So, a limited diet could affect how well you are feeding your brain.
The study’s findings suggest a limited diet could make you more susceptible to anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental distress.
High sugar and fatty diets have been associated with poorer brain performance, while the “Mediterranean diet”, which is high in fruits, vegetables, fish, and olive oil, has been linked with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Our nutritional requirements change as we get older and differ between men and women.
After 60, you may not be as active as you were and so you need to take in fewer kilojoules. You may also have a reduced appetite.
This is where eating the correct foods is important to ensure you get the necessary nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, protein, and fibre.
Eating well can also help you manage conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.
Older people should eat more fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, legumes, and cereal, which are foods associated with reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease. A lower intake of meat, high-fat dairy, sodium (salt), sweets, and refined grains is also associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's.
Aim to eat enough foods from all five food groups every day. Here are the recommended number of serves of each food group for an average-height person with sedentary-to-moderate activity levels:
Food group | Men 51-70 years | Men over 70 years | Women 51-70 years | Women over 70 years |
Grains & cereals | 6 | 4.5 | 4 | 3 |
Vegetables | 5.5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Protein* | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2 | 2 |
Dairy | 2.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 |
Fruit | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
*Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts, seeds, legumes and beans
For further information on serving sizes, visit: Australian dietary guidelines
Related reading: University of Warwick, AFR, Health Direct
