Can diet and exercise help reverse ageing in the brain?
| Dec 21, 2018, 15:52 IST
It is a given that including a proper diet and exercise routine in your lifestyle can prove to be quite beneficial to the health. But now, a study has actually suggested that doing so can even reverse some effects of ageing on the brain. The Duke University Medical Center conducted the research where it was found that if older people exercised regularly and ate the right diet for just six months, the health benefits on their brains were tremendous. They conducted the study on around 160 people.
These people were all above 55 years of age and showed thinking skills that were similar to 98 year-olds. So, on an average, their brain capacity turned them at least 28 years older than they were. These volunteers were divided into four groups. One was asked to exercise, the other was asked to get started on a low-sodium diet, the third was asked to do both and the fourth group served as a control group to make comparisons with. At the end of the six-month period, it was found that the group that exercised and went on a diet showed the greatest improvements, whereas the group that did nothing had their mental capacity decline even further.
The groups that were asked to only exercise or only go on a diet didn't show any signs of improvement either. This alone proves that diet without exercise and vice versa cannot help an individual attain their goals. Only a combination of the two is strong enough to make any difference. “We saw evidence that exercise and the diet together are better than nothing,” said a researcher. Stay tuned for more updates.
These people were all above 55 years of age and showed thinking skills that were similar to 98 year-olds. So, on an average, their brain capacity turned them at least 28 years older than they were. These volunteers were divided into four groups. One was asked to exercise, the other was asked to get started on a low-sodium diet, the third was asked to do both and the fourth group served as a control group to make comparisons with. At the end of the six-month period, it was found that the group that exercised and went on a diet showed the greatest improvements, whereas the group that did nothing had their mental capacity decline even further.
The groups that were asked to only exercise or only go on a diet didn't show any signs of improvement either. This alone proves that diet without exercise and vice versa cannot help an individual attain their goals. Only a combination of the two is strong enough to make any difference. “We saw evidence that exercise and the diet together are better than nothing,” said a researcher. Stay tuned for more updates.