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Cognitive function in a middle aged cohort is related to higher quality dietary pattern 5 and 25 years earlier: The cardia study

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The journal of nutrition, health & aging

Abstract

Background

Preserving cognitive function is an important public health issue. We investigated whether dietary pattern associates with cognitive function in middle-age.

Methods

We studied 2435 participants in the community-based Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) study of black and white men and women aged 18–30 in 1985–86 (year 0, Y0). We hypothesized that a higher A Priori Diet Quality Score, measured at Y0 and Y20, is associated with better cognitive function measured at Y25. The diet score incorporated 46 food groups (each in servings/day) as the sum of quintile ranks of food groups rated beneficial, 0 for food groups rated neutral, and reversed quintile ranks for food groups rated adverse; higher score indicated better diet quality. Y25 cognitive testing included verbal memory (Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT)), psychomotor speed (Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST)) and executive function (Stroop).

Results

Per 10-unit higher diet score at Y20, the RAVLT was 0.32 words recalled higher, the DSST was 1.76 digits higher, and the Stroop was 1.00 seconds+errors lower (better performance) after adjusting for race, sex, age, clinic, and energy intake. Further adjustment for physical activity, smoking, education, and body mass index attenuated the association slightly. Diet score at Y0 and increase in diet score over 20 years were also positively associated with each cognitive test.

Conclusions

A higher quality dietary pattern was associated with better cognitive function 5 years and even 25 years later in apparently healthy middle-aged adults.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

    N. Zhu, David R. Jacobs & L. M. Steffen

  2. Nutrition Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA

    K. A. Meyer

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Indiana University, Indiana, USA

    K. He

  4. Neuroepidemiology Section, National Institute on Aging, San Francisco, USA

    L. Launer

  5. Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, San Francisco, USA

    J. P. Reis

  6. University of California, San Francisco, USA

    K. Yaffe

  7. Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, San Francisco, USA

    S. Sidney & R. A. Whitmer

  8. 1300 South 2nd Street, Ste 300, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA

    David R. Jacobs

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  1. N. Zhu
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  2. David R. Jacobs
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Correspondence to David R. Jacobs.

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Zhu, N., Jacobs, D.R., Meyer, K.A. et al. Cognitive function in a middle aged cohort is related to higher quality dietary pattern 5 and 25 years earlier: The cardia study. J Nutr Health Aging 19, 33–38 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-014-0491-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-014-0491-7

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