People who have diets rich in fish would have a significantly lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This new study findings are published in this month’s issue of the Archives of Neurology.
The researchers found that people with the highest blood levels of DHA had a 47% lower risk of developing dementia and a 39% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
This Tufts study analyzed the blood of 899 men and women with an average age of 76 — all participating in the population-based Framingham Heart Study — and looked at the association between dementia and DHA levels.
All participants were free of dementia at the beginning of the study, and underwent neuropsychological testing after giving their initial blood sample.
A subgroup of 488 participants also filled out a semi-quantitative 126-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) that assessed their diet, especially their level of fish consumption.
“In our study, the correlation between (blood) DHA content and fish intake was significant, indicating that fish intake is an important source of dietary DHA,” wrote the authors.