Fatty acids from butter, meat and cheese play a key role in healthy aging. The fats-along with omega-6, -7 and -9-help maintain brain structures in areas that involve the memory and general cognitive abilities.
Older people have been warned to eat less saturated fats as these have been linked to “bad” HDL cholesterol, which is supposed to increase the risk of heart disease. But researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign say the fats are important to maintain aging brain health.
People with higher levels of fats in their body score better on memory tests, and scans show that brain structures in the frontal, temporal, parietal and insular regions are also larger. However, people with the least amount of gray matter and lower fat levels performed the worst.
The researchers analyzed data from 111 older people whose brains had been scanned. They also assessed levels of the fats in the participants’ blood samples before testing their memory skills, which included asking them to recall what someone had said and what they'd read.
Getting the participants to carry out memory and cognitive tests is something of a first in this type of research. “If we just look at nutrition as it relates to brain structures and we don't study cognition, or if we look at nutrition as it relates to cognition and we don't study the brain, then we're actually missing really important pieces of information,” said Aron Barbey, one of the researchers.
As countless studies have demonstrated, the research shows yet again that diet and nutrition play a key part in healthy aging.
J Nutr, 2023; 153(5): 1338-46
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