Enjoy Red Wine & Cheese For A Healthy Brain
There is some good news to start off the new year if you worry about cognitive decline there is a new study that might ease your mind.
. An Iowa State University published in the November 2020 Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease that red wine and cheese might be your ticket to cognitive health.
A UK-based study of 1,787 people ages 46 to 77 had participants complete a Fluid Intelligence Test, to see how well they were able to think on their feet, over the course of four years between 2006 and 2010 and then followed up with them between 2012 and 2013 and again between 2015 and 2016.
Researchers also took diet into account, measuring the kinds of foods and alcoholic beverages consumed over the course of the study, including red wine, white wine, beer, liquor or other beverages and foods like fruits, veggies, meat, and cheese, among other items.
Researchers determined that when it came to measuring a food’s impact on brain functioning, cheese was found to be the most likely to thwart cognitive decline as participants got older. The findings also showed that daily red wine consumption boosted brain function.
“I was pleasantly surprised that our results suggest that responsibly eating cheese and drinking red wine daily are not just good for helping us cope with our current COVID-19 pandemic, but perhaps also dealing with an increasingly complex world that never seems to slow down,” Dr. Auriel Willette, an assistant professor in food science and human nutrition and lead author on the study, said in a statement.
I have always heard that red wine is good for your heart, my grandfather used to say it. But being good for your brain is something new to me.
According to a 2018 study, drinking red wine in moderation has positive links with: The Key Word Is Moderation
- cardiovascular disease
- atherosclerosis
- hypertension
- certain types of cancer
- type 2 diabetes
- neurological disorders
- metabolic syndrome
Drinking red wine in moderation may have certain health benefits, including boosting heart, gut, and brain health. This is because it contains compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and lipid-improving effects.
What About Cheese?
Scientists have recently discovered properties found in cheese that can reduce LDL or low-density lipoproteins that cause “bad” cholesterol to form in the body. “Cheese, by far, was shown to be the most protective food against age-related cognitive problems, even late into life,” Iowa State explained,
In the end, researchers said they had four big takeaways, Cheese, alcohol, and lamb all proved beneficial, while salt was the only item flagged as problematic—and even then, only in certain situations.
“Cheese, by far, was shown to be the most protective food against age-related cognitive problems, even late into life,” Iowa State explained, listing the four findings. “The daily consumption of alcohol, particularly red wine, was related to improvements in cognitive function; weekly consumption of lamb, but not other red meats, was shown to improve long-term cognitive prowess; and excessive consumption of salt is bad, but only individuals already at risk for Alzheimer’s Disease may need to watch their intake to avoid cognitive problems over time.”
Now, this doesn’t give you a free pass to drink all the red wine and eat all the cheese you want, remember the word Moderation.
So, enjoy a glass of red wine and a piece of cheese along with your daily intake of fruits and vegetables and you’ll be a healthier person for it.
