Should people with memory loss eat vegetarian?

I am 51 years old and recently my memory has started to decline. I am a vegetarian regularly. Doctor, will this affect my memory? (Nguyen Thi Dao, Hanoi )

Reply:

Nutrition plays an important role in brain and cognitive development. The accumulation of micronutrients and fat reserves affects the maturation of the brain and nervous system (especially in the fetal and early childhood stages), cognition, dementia, and memory loss in old age.

If you ask whether vegetarianism affects the brain or memory, you need to consider what kind of vegetarian diet it is, how often you eat vegetarian food, and what kind of food you eat... In general, vegetarianism can benefit the brain but can also have negative effects on the brain if the diet is not suitable.

Some studies suggest that a vegan diet may be beneficial in preventing neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. A plant-based vegan diet contributes to quercein, a natural monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor that may help prevent and reduce the risk of dementia.

A scientific vegan diet also contains less bad fats such as saturated fats, trans fats, low cholesterol, but has more good fats such as omega 3, omega 6 to help the body reduce the risk of vascular diseases, lipid disorders. Therefore, vegetarians have good cardiovascular health, reduce the risk of stroke causing brain damage, reduce dementia, memory loss. The vegetarian diet also has many juicy fruits, nuts, cereals, green vegetables rich in vitamin E which is beneficial for brain health.

Vegetarian diet with lots of vegetables and fruits rich in fiber, low in bad fat. Photo: Freepik — Vegetarian diet with lots of vegetables and fruits rich in fiber, low in bad fat. Photo: *Freepik*

However, it should be noted that a vegetarian diet will cause a deficiency of some vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B12, calcium, and essential amino acids that the body needs. Therefore, when being a vegetarian, you should supplement vitamins and minerals such as taking vitamin supplements, milk, and calcium. To have good brain health, you also need to exercise regularly and get enough sleep, ensuring good sleep quality.

Memory loss or dementia (Alzheimer) is a clinical syndrome characterized by memory loss and many cognitive areas, hindering the body's daily functional activities. The disease is common in middle-aged and elderly people.

Vegetarian diets can have many forms such as pure vegetarianism (complete vegetarianism, veganism), vegetarianism but can eat eggs (ovo-vegetarian), vegetarianism but can drink milk (lacto-vegetarian) or vegetarianism but can eat eggs and milk (ovo-lacto-vegetarian)...

Doctor Tran Thi Tra Phuong
Nutrihome Nutrition Clinic System

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