Healthy Eating

Benefits of Healthy Eating

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Healthy eating means choosing foods and beverages that have the nutrients needed for health and wellbeing. Healthy eating can look different for each person. Tastes, culture, health, and goals affect food choices. Cooking and shopping abilities will also affect food choices.

Eating well can decrease risk of illness and improve energy levels and mood. Foods recommended within Canada’s Food Guide (click here to visit) are appropriate for all adults, including those living with dementia. Canada’s Food Guide recommends eating vegetables, fruits, low-fat protein foods, especially plant-based proteins (e.g., beans, lentils, tofu), and whole grains (e.g., whole grain bread, brown rice, oatmeal).

The Mediterranean diet and the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet have also been studied for their effect on thinking abilities and prevention of dementia. These diets may improve brain health and lower dementia risk. Just like Canada’s Food Guide, these diets suggest eating vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products. They also recommend regularly eating fish and seafood, lean meats, olive oil, and berries. The Brain Health Food Guide is another diet that is based on the research of specific foods that may improve thinking abilities.

There is no research yet about the effects of the Mediterranean diet, the MIND diet, or the Brain Health Food Guide in people living with dementia. Still, it is reasonable to think these diets may support thinking abilities in people living with dementia, too.

Combining the recommendations of Canada’s Food Guide with the Mediterranean diet, MIND diet, and Brain Health Food Guide may result in health benefits. Canada’s Food Guide recommends the proportion of your meal (or plate) that should be made up of different food groups. Specifically, it recommends making ½ of your plate vegetables and fruits, ¼ of your plate plant-based or lean, protein-rich foods (e.g., low-fat dairy, chicken, fish), and ¼ of your plate whole grains. It also recommends making water your beverage of choice.

This video titled “Eating Healthy Helps Me Live Well with Dementia” talks about some of the benefits of healthy eating experienced by people living with dementia. This video was produced by the DREAM Team.

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