Ditching popular food could stave off Alzheimer’s, experts claim

DITCHING junk food could stave off dementia, experts have claimed.

They found over-60s who eat healthily are less likely to get Alzheimer’s.

Playing card games and meeting friends or family twice a week also helps.

Researchers tracked lifestyles of 29,000 adults for ten years and checked for the APOE gene associated with Alzheimer’s.

Fruit, veg, fish, meat, dairy, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts and tea had the strongest effect on slowing the disease.

That was followed by writing, reading, playing games and physical exercise.

People with the APOE gene who had healthy lives experienced a slower rate of decline.

Jianping Jia, of China’s Capital Medical University in Beijing, said: “These results might offer important information for initiatives to protect older adults against decline.”