What Men Should Eat and Drink to Decrease Memory Loss

A recent study noted three specific types of food — plus one drink — that helped decrease the incidence of memory loss in men.

What makes this study stand out is that it spanned 20 years and included over 27,000 men. When it comes to getting great information from a high-quality study, duration and number of participants are the factors that contribute the most.

So, what did the study learn about the types of food associated with decreased memory loss in men?

HOW THE STUDY WORKED

Men in the study filled out a survey every day at the beginning of the study about how many servings of fruits, vegetables, and other foods they ate. After a while, the men filled out the survey once every four years for the remainder of the 20 years.

Then, the men took a subjective memory and thinking test four years before the end of the study. Types of questions included asked, “Do you have more trouble than usual following a group conversation or a plot in a TV program due to your memory?” and “Do you have more trouble than usual remembering a short list of items, such as a shopping list?”

The men in the study ate as much as six servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit per day.

DIETARY FACTORS LINKED TO DECREASED MEMORY LOSS

Men who consumed more vegetables were 34 percent less likely to have poor thinking or memory skills. And, surprisingly, men who drank orange juice every day were 47 percent less likely to develop memory problems.

The food and drinks most connected to decreased memory loss were:

1. dark, leafy greens
2. dark red/orange vegetables
3. berries
4. orange Juice

In addition to eating healthy portions of fruits and vegetables throughout the study, researchers found that men who ate large portions of fruits and vegetables earlier on in life did better with memory and thinking tests, even if they didn’t continue to eat large portions later on.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

One of the drawbacks of the study was that they didn’t conduct a memory or thinking test at the beginning of the study to get a baseline. This limits our ability to know how much memory loss did or didn’t occur. In addition, the researchers note that, although the study shows a relationship between eating these foods and decreased the occurrence of memory loss, the study doesn’t prove that these foods reduce memory loss.