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Research suggests a healthy, plant-based diet lowers Alzheimer’s risk

Healthy eaters lowered their risk as much as 12%

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Mark Huffman
Reporter

Mark Huffman has covered consumer issues since 2004, with a special focus on protecting and empowering older adults. A former news correspondent for the Associated Press Radio Network, Westwood One, and ConsumerAffairs, Mark brings decades of journalistic experience to RetirementLiving.com. He is passionate about giving consumers a voice and helping them make informed decisions. Mark has also created educational content, including Senior Scam Alert, a video resource designed to help seniors recognize and avoid fraud. He holds a B.A. from the University of Kentucky and lives with his family in Richmond, Virginia.
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Key Insights

  • A new study found that people who ate a high-quality plant-based diet had a lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
  • Researchers said diets heavy in refined grains, added sugars, and processed plant-based foods were linked to a higher dementia risk.
  • The findings suggest that improving diet quality — even later in life — may help support brain health.

A healthier plant-based diet may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, according to a large new study published in the journal Neurology.

Researchers followed nearly 93,000 adults for an average of 11 years and found that people who consumed more high-quality plant foods — including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and vegetable oils — were less likely to develop dementia than those whose diets relied more heavily on refined carbohydrates, added sugars, and processed foods.

A look at the study

The study, led by Song-Yi Park of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Cancer Center, examined three categories of plant-based eating patterns: an overall plant-based diet, a healthful plant-based diet, and an unhealthful plant-based diet.

Participants with the highest scores for a general plant-based diet had a 12% lower risk of dementia compared with those with the lowest scores, researchers found. Those following the healthiest plant-based diets had a 7% lower risk. Meanwhile, people whose diets were dominated by less healthy plant-based foods had a 6% higher risk of dementia.

Researchers also tracked dietary changes over time in a subgroup of more than 45,000 participants. People whose eating habits became more unhealthy over a 10-year period faced a 25% higher dementia risk, while those who improved the quality of their diets reduced their risk by 11%.

It’s never too late to adopt a healthier diet

“We found that adopting a plant-based diet, even starting at an older age, and refraining from low-quality plant-based diets were associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and other dementias,” Park said.

The study included African American, Japanese American, Latino, Native Hawaiian, and white participants, with an average age of 59 at the start of the research. During the study period, more than 21,000 participants developed Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia-related condition.

Researchers emphasized that the findings show an association rather than proof that diet directly prevents dementia. Still, they said the results add to growing evidence linking diet quality to brain health and healthy aging.