Leafy green vegetables may slow mental deterioration

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a preliminary findings presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Boston, Massachusetts, researchers from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, have found that a single serving of leafy green vegetables each day may slow dementia.

For the study, researchers identified 954 men and women enrolled in Rush's Memory and Aging Project. Participants had a mean age of 81 at the time of study initiation and 75% were women. Participants completed a 144-item food and beverage questionnaire and underwent 19 mental skills tests every year for an average of about 5 years.

Results showed that those who consumed one or two servings of leafy green vegetables every day had a mental capacity of someone more than 10 years younger, compared with those who never ate leafy green vegetables, such as spinach, kale, mustard greens, and collards.

Green leafy vegetables are rich in vitamin K, but also contain lutein, folate, and beta-carotene. It is unclear what the mechanism is behind the association between green leafy vegetable consumption and slower mental deterioration.