Green leafy vegetables slow brain aging by helping to maintain memory and other cognitive functions. This is the conclusion reached by American experts from the Rush University Medical Center. The article of scientists was published in the journal Neurology. This was announced in a press release on the Phys.org website.
The study involved 960 elderly people with an average age of 81 years. They passed a questionnaire, indicating what they usually eat. Volunteers also performed cognitive tests (attention, memory, thinking) annually. The researchers divided the subjects into five groups according to how often they ate vegetables and compared those who ate 1.3 servings of greens a day with those who ate the least (0.1 servings).
Overall, each year the mental capacity of all participants as a whole decreased by 0.08 standard units. However, those who ate a lot of greens every day showed less signs of brain aging. They were 11 years younger than those who didn't eat vegetables, the researchers said.