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Consuming traditional diets of countries such as India, Japan and Nigeria – which have lower meat content than the Western diet – may significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has found.
Globally, about 42 million people now have dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease as the most common type of dementia. Rates of Alzheimer’s disease are rising worldwide.
The most important risk factors seem to be linked to diet, especially the consumption of meat, sweets, and high-fat dairy products that characterise a Western Diet.
For example, when Japan made the nutrition transition from the traditional Japanese diet to the Western diet, Alzheimer’s disease rates rose from 1 per cent in 1985 to 7 per cent in 2008, with rates lagging the nutrition transition by 20-25 years.
The evidence of these risk factors, which come from ecological and observational studies, also shows that fruits, vegetables, grains, low-fat dairy products, legumes, and fish are associated with reduced risk.
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