Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2021 Jun 3;11(1):11786.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-91259-3.

Diet and general cognitive ability in the UK Biobank dataset

Piril Hepsomali  1   2 , John A Groeger  3
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Diet and general cognitive ability in the UK Biobank dataset

Piril Hepsomali et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that dietary interventions might have potential to be used as a strategy to protect against age-related cognitive decline and neurodegeneration, as there are associations between some nutrients, food groups, dietary patterns, and some domains of cognition. In this study, we aimed to conduct the largest investigation of diet and cognition to date, through systematically examining the UK Biobank (UKB) data to find out whether dietary quality and food groups play a role on general cognitive ability. This cross-sectional population-based study involved 48,749 participants. UKB data on food frequency questionnaire and cognitive function were used. Also, healthy diet, partial fibre intake, and milk intake scores were calculated. Adjusted models included age, sex, and BMI. We observed associations between better general cognitive ability and higher intakes of fish, and unprocessed red meat; and moderate intakes of fibre, and milk. Surprisingly, we found that diet quality, vegetable intake, high and low fibre and milk intake were inversely associated with general cognitive ability. Our results suggest that fish and unprocessed red meat and/or nutrients that are found in fish and unprocessed red meat might be beneficial for general cognitive ability. However, results should be interpreted in caution as the same food groups may affect other domains of cognition or mental health differently. These discrepancies in the current state of evidence invites further research to examine domain-specific effects of dietary patterns/food groups on a wide range of cognitive and affective outcomes with a special focus on potential covariates that may have an impact on diet and cognition relationship.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

PH was employed by Unilever UK Central Resources Limited until the end of April. Currently PH is affiliated with University of Roehampton. JAG, has received research funding, consultancy, travel support, and speaking fees from various industrial companies.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mean cognitive ability scores according to (a) healthy diet scores, (b) fibre intake groups, (c) milk intake groups (bars represent 95% CI).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Prince M, et al. The global prevalence of dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Alzheimers Dement. 2013;9(1):63–75.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2012.11.007. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ferri CP, et al. Global prevalence of dementia: A Delphi consensus study. Lancet. 2005;366(9503):2112–2117. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)67889-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alzheimer’s Disease International, World Alzheimer Report 2019: Attitudes to dementia (2019).
    1. US Burden of Disease Collaborators The State of US Health, 1990–2010: Burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors. JAMA. 2013;310(6):591–606. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.13805. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Angeloni C, Businaro R, Vauzour D. The role of diet in preventing and reducing cognitive decline. Curr. Opin. Psychiatry. 2020;33(4):432–438. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000605. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types