Alzheimer's and dementia: eating plenty of apples, berries and tea linked to lower risk

We’re often told to eat more fruits and vegetables – and for good reason. Many of the nutrients found in fruits and vegetables are responsible for numerous health benefits, in particular preventing a wide range of diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.

A growing body of evidence even suggests that flavonoids, a group of compounds found in almost every fruit and vegetable – including tea, citrus fruit, berries, red wine, apples, and legumes – can actually reduce your risk of developing certain cancers, heart disease and stroke. Now, recent evidence even suggests that diets high in flavonoids can actually lower your risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Flavonoids are thought to lower cancer risk by making malignant cancer cells less able to divide and grow. They also act as antioxidants, which can prevent or slow damage to cells caused by unstable molecules. They even reduce inflammation in the body, which is a common feature of many chronic diseases. Most of these mechanisms explain the health benefits reported in animal or cell-based studies – and the data from these studies can be incredibly valuable in understanding how flavonoids work on the human body, too.

However, previous studies using animal or cell models don’t necessarily translate to people. In humans, even when diets are high in flavonoids, these aren’t readily absorbed into the gut. Flavonoids are also difficult to study as they belong to a very diverse group of chemical compounds. Not much is known about how they’re metabolised after being consumed, or their potential to enter and act in certain tissues of the body, such as the brain.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/alzheimers-dementia-eating-plenty-apples-134157360.html

Hear that Trump? Eat more fruit and fewer hamberders.