Three Healthy Habits: Eat Well, Keep Moving, Stay Social to Guard Senior Memory

GENEVA, June 29 (Xinhua) — A long-term cohort study jointly conducted by research teams from China, Britain, the United States and Australia has confirmed that three daily habits — balanced diet, regular exercise and active social engagement — can significantly slow memory loss among middle-aged and elderly people and curb the progression of cognitive disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, offering a low-cost and practical solution for global brain health prevention.

The decade-long research tracked nearly 40,000 people aged 50 and above. Researchers continuously recorded participants’ dietary patterns, exercise frequency, social activities and daily routines, and regularly carried out cognitive assessments covering memory and reaction speed. Comparative data showed that seniors who maintained nutritionally balanced meals, did aerobic exercise such as brisk walking every week and kept regular social contact experienced nearly 40 percent slower cognitive decline than those who lived sedentary, isolated lives with irregular diets. Even for people carrying high genetic risks of cognitive decline, a healthy lifestyle can offset these hereditary risks and effectively prolong the period of healthy brain function for several years.

To figure out whether multi-pronged lifestyle changes can preserve memory and thinking ability for people at high risk of dementia, the Alzheimer’s Association is leading the U.S. Study to Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Risk, known as U.S. POINTER. It is the first research project testing combined interventions among a large and diverse U.S. population. The interventions include physical exercise, nutritional counseling and adjustment, cognitive and social stimulation, as well as improved health self-management. The study is being carried out at five sites across the United States, and preliminary findings were expected to be released in 2023.

A growing body of research indicates that adopting multiple healthy lifestyle factors brings maximum benefits to both brain and physical health. Drawing on data from the Chicago Health and Aging Project and the Rush Memory and Aging Project, Dr. Klodian Dhana, associate professor at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and his colleagues explored how healthy lifestyles lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers focused on five low-risk lifestyle factors: a healthy diet, at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week, non-smoking, light or moderate alcohol consumption, and participation in cognitive stimulating activities.

The research team pointed out that effective specific drugs for dementia are still scarce at present. Early intervention through lifestyle adjustment is the most widely applicable and cost-effective prevention method. Maintaining a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, doing moderate outdoor exercise and staying socially connected are the four simplest and most effective measures for ordinary people to protect their brain health.

Ageing health experts from the World Health Organization have affirmed the findings. They called on all countries to integrate health education on lifestyles into public health policies, move brain health prevention forward to middle age, help hundreds of millions of elderly people retain independent thinking and self-care capabilities, and steadily achieve the goal of healthy ageing.

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