The Research
Research presented at the Experimental Biology conference highlighted the importance of eating green leafy vegetables to improve brain functioning.
The study reported at the conference involved 950 adults with an average age of 81 who were tracked for between two to ten years. At the beginning of the study, the participants completed a detailed 144-item questionnaire about the amounts and types of foods and beverages consumed.
Following this, their cognitive abilities were assessed annually through the administration of 19 different mental tests. Researchers also considered other risk factors such as age, sex, smoking, physical activity level, education level and genetic risk.
The Results
The participants who consumed one to two servings a day of green leafy vegetables performed better on those cognitive tests, In fact, their memory and mental abilities were on par with others who were 11 years younger than they were. The study concluded that higher consumption of the vegetables, which contain vitamin K, lutein, folate and beta-carotene, significantly slowed down the brain decline that typically happens as we age.
