Green leafy vegetables and cognitive decline

Eating vegetables slows down the rate of cognitive decline in older s, according to a study published in the October 24, 2006, issue of Neurology. “Compared to people who consumed less than one serving of vegetables a day, people who ate at least 2.8 servings of vegetables a day saw their rate of cognitive change slow by roughly 40 percent, said author Martha Clare Morris, ScD, associate professor at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. “This decrease is equivalent to about 5 years of younger age.”

Green leafy vegetables had the strongest effect on slowing the rate of cognitive decline. The older the person, the slower the cognitive decline was — if that person consumed more than two servings of vegetables a day.

Per calorie, green leafy vegetables are the critical mainstays of a powerful restorative diet. Kale, collard, mustard greens, dandelions, watercress, brocolli rabe — these are excellent steamed and accompanied by a cup of thick dal (see my “standardal” recipe in an earlier post), topped with finely ground (for better absorption) high protein seeds like sunflower and sesame. This is one of my typical easy-to-fix dinners, btw.

You can really feel the energy difference, if you try this regularly. Very good habit to develop.