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Beware, they may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s
disease, especially in older women, a new study has
claimed.
Researchers linked to Harvard University have found
that older women who ate too much red meat, butter and
other foods that contain high levels of saturated fats
had worse memories than others.
But, those who ate more monounsaturated fats — found
in olive oil, sunflower oil, seeds, nuts and avocados —
had better memories, the researchers said.
“When looking at changes in cognitive function, what
we found is that the total amount of fat intake did not
really matter, but the type of fat did,” lead researcher
Oliva Okereke was quoted as saying by the Daily
Telegraph.
Okereke, who is from the Brigham and Women’s
Hospital in Boston which is affiliated to Harvard
Medical School, and her fellow researchers made their
conclusions after looking at results from 6,000 women
aged over 65 years.
In the study, the participants subjected to a series
of mental tests over four years and answered
questionnaires about diet and lifestyle. “Substituting
in the good fat in place of the bad fat is a fairly
simple dietary modification that could help prevent
decline in memory,” he said. |
