Department of Health Promotion, National Institute of Public Health, 2-3-6 Minami, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351-0197, Japan.
Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan.
Nutr J. 2017 Sep 11;16(1):56. doi: 10.1186/s12937-017-0273-2.
An increasing number of studies in Western countries have shown that healthy dietary patterns may have a protective effect against cognitive decline and dementia. However, information on this relationship among non-Western populations with different cultural settings is extremely limited. We aim to examine the relationship between dietary patterns and cognitive function among older Japanese people.
This cross-sectional study included 635 community-dwelling people aged 69-71 years who participated in the prospective cohort study titled Septuagenarians, Octogenarians, Nonagenarians Investigation with Centenarians (SONIC). Diet was assessed over a one-month period with a validated, brief-type, self-administered diet history questionnaire. Dietary patterns from thirty-three predefined food groups [energy-adjusted food (g/d)] were extracted by factor analysis. Cognitive function was assessed using the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-J). Multivariate regression analysis was performed to examine the relationship between dietary patterns and cognitive function.
Three dietary patterns were identified: the 'Plant foods and fish', 'Rice and miso soup', and 'Animal food' patterns. The 'Plant foods and fish' pattern, characterized by high intakes of green and other vegetables, soy products, seaweeds, mushrooms, potatoes, fruit, fish, and green tea, was significantly associated with a higher MoCA-J score [MoCA-J score per one-quartile increase in dietary pattern: β = 0.56 (95% CI: 0.33, 0.79), P for trend <0.001]. This association was still evident after adjustment for potential confounding factors [β = 0.41 (95% CI: 0.17, 0.65), P for trend <0.001]. In contrast, neither the 'Rice and miso soup' nor the 'Animal food' pattern was related to cognitive function. To confirm the possibility of reverse causation we also conducted a sensitivity analysis excluding 186 subjects who reported substantial changes in their diet for any reason, but the results did not change materially.
This preliminary cross-sectional study suggests that a diet with high intakes of vegetables, soy products, fruit, and fish may have a beneficial effect on cognitive function in older Japanese people. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm this finding.
越来越多的西方国家研究表明，健康的饮食模式可能对认知能力下降和痴呆有保护作用。然而，在具有不同文化背景的非西方人群中，关于这种关系的信息极为有限。我们旨在研究饮食模式与老年日本人认知功能之间的关系。
这项横断面研究纳入了 635 名年龄在 69-71 岁之间、居住在社区的参与者，他们参加了名为“七十多岁、八十多岁、九十多岁和百岁老人研究（SONIC）”的前瞻性队列研究。通过验证过的、简短的、自我管理的饮食历史问卷，在一个月的时间内评估饮食。通过因子分析从 33 种预先定义的食物组（能量调整后的食物[g/d]）中提取饮食模式。使用日本版蒙特利尔认知评估（MoCA-J）评估认知功能。采用多元回归分析来检验饮食模式与认知功能之间的关系。
确定了三种饮食模式：“植物性食物和鱼类”、“米饭和味增汤”和“动物性食物”模式。“植物性食物和鱼类”模式的特点是大量摄入绿色和其他蔬菜、豆制品、海藻、蘑菇、土豆、水果、鱼类和绿茶，与更高的 MoCA-J 评分显著相关[MoCA-J 评分每增加一个四分位距的膳食模式得分：β=0.56（95%可信区间：0.33，0.79），趋势 P<0.001]。在调整了潜在混杂因素后，这种关联仍然存在[β=0.41（95%可信区间：0.17，0.65），趋势 P<0.001]。相反，“米饭和味增汤”和“动物性食物”模式与认知功能均无关。为了确认反向因果关系的可能性，我们还排除了 186 名因任何原因报告饮食发生实质性变化的受试者进行了敏感性分析，但结果没有实质性变化。
这项初步的横断面研究表明，摄入大量蔬菜、豆制品、水果和鱼类的饮食可能对老年日本人的认知功能有有益影响。需要进一步的前瞻性研究来证实这一发现。
