We were all told as children to eat our vegetables, if not by our families, then by teachers and, if you are a younger Australian, the Life Education van. More than just growing up healthy, this was also meant to set up healthy habits for life, but what our visitors on Life Ed days didn't know was that regular consumption of leafy greens may also take at least a decade off our cognitive age later on.
Leafy Greens and a Youthful Brain
This study, published on the 20th of December, 2017, tracked the cognitive function and leafy green vegetable consumption of 960 adults (aged 58-99) over several years. This was adjusted for sex, age, alcohol consumption, smoking, physical and cognitive activity, and seafood consumption. Volunteers in the highest 20% of leafy green intake, 1.3 servings per day, had a much slower rate of cognitive decline than those who rarely or never ate such vegetables. They declined by 0.08 "standardised units" per year, while those eating about 1.3 serves a day had this issue slowed down by 0.05 standardised units, a bit over half. This is equivalent to being 11 years younger, at least in terms of neurological health. Think of all the things you can do with 11 extra years! The nutrients folate, vitamin K1, lutein (a carotenoid), kaempferol and the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E were linked with these benefits, but not beta-carotene. Research has suggested that these may reduce inflammation and protect our brain and nerve cells against death.
Vegetable consumption is therefore likely to be a main reason why dementia rates are actually falling. From 2000 to 2012, the proportion of US adults over 65 with dementia fell from 11.6% to 8.8%, similar to data from Europe and the UK. People are more health conscious now, unlike in the 1930s Agatha Christie novels where described meals often do not seem to contain vegetables.
Are Organic Leafy Greens Better?
How our vegetables are grown may also affect how youth-promoting they are. Research has found that organic produce provides greater amounts of vitamin C, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and some antioxidant phytochemicals. Organic animal products are linked with higher omega-3 levels, and this has been found to reduce the risk of eczema in children given organic dairy. Children given organic dairy in their second year of life had a 36% lower risk of developing eczema, compared to those given conventional dairy foods. However, nutrient content of leafy green vegetables had not been covered in this review, and more research on human health is needed.
Organic foods are also lower in chemicals such as pesticides, but the only way to completely eliminate them from a food is to eliminate them from the earth - they are known to travel thousands of kilometres. These may have the unfortunate effect of neurological damage, among other problems, in people of all ages. Research on organic foods often do not account for how long the farmland has been organic, or methods used besides the lack of pesticides and other chemicals. It can take up to ten years for an organic farm to mature, and therefore perform at its best! But whether or not organic food is available to you, consuming leafy greens every day is far better than not having any of them.