来源：《今日心理学》
原文刊登日期：2021年3月13日
When more than 500 adults in their late 70s were tested on their memory and thinking skills, those that had been closely following a Mediterranean-style diet scored higher than those who did not, according to a study performed by researchers at the University of Edinburgh. The participants—none of whom had dementia—were tested on their problem-solving abilities, memory, thinking speed, and vocabulary. They were also asked to fill out food frequency questionnaires, indicating how often they eat 130 different food items, if at all.
爱丁堡大学研究人员进行的一项研究显示，当对500多名70多岁的老年人进行记忆力和思维能力测试时，那些严格遵循地中海式饮食的人得分高于那些没有遵循地中海式饮食的人。这些参与者都没有痴呆症，他们接受了问题解决能力、记忆力、思维速度和词汇量的测试。他们还被要求填写食物频率调查问卷，表明他们吃130种不同食物的频率，如果有吃的话。
From the food questionnaires, the researchers were able to identify those participants who followed Mediterranean-style dietary patterns and those who followed a more typical American diet abundant in processed foods, allowing them to look for associations between diet, thinking skills, and brain health. The differences in cognitive scores weren’t huge, but they were statistically significant.
从食物调查问卷中，研究人员能够识别出那些遵循地中海式饮食模式的参与者和那些遵循更多加工食品的更典型的美国饮食模式的参与者，从而使研究者能够寻找饮食、思维能力和大脑健康之间的联系。认知得分的差异不大，但在统计学上有显著性。
The research team also performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on 358 of the study participants to assess brain volume and white matter structure. From these brain scans, however, they could see that there was no difference in the physical structure of the brains of those who follow a Mediterranean diet pattern and those who don’t. Though specific areas of the brain that weren’t tested here may be involved, the results of this study indicate the positive association between the Mediterranean diet and better cognition has little or nothing to do with an overall healthier brain.
研究小组还对358名参与者进行了核磁共振成像(MRI)，以评估他们的脑容量和白质结构。然而，通过这些脑部扫描，他们可以看到，遵循地中海饮食模式的人和不遵循地中海饮食模式的人的大脑的物理结构没有区别。虽然没有在这里测试的大脑特定区域可能与上述结果有关，但这项研究的结果表明，地中海饮食和更好的认知能力之间的正向联系，与大脑整体健康几乎没有关系。
Again and again, over decades, studies have shown that a consistent, plant-heavy Mediterranean diet pattern appears to help protect against obesity, heart disease, some types of cancer, depression, and the physiological effects of stress, among other health conditions. The components of this diet that are most often linked to better health include an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables and limited amounts of meat. In this study, the researchers found that eating more leafy green vegetables and less red meat were strongly associated with better thinking skills, whereas a diet high in processed foods was associated with poorer cognitive function, in part due to lower IQ.
几十年来，研究一次又一次地表明，持续的、以植物为主的地中海饮食模式似乎有助于预防肥胖、心脏病、某些类型的癌症、抑郁症和压力带来的生理影响以及其他健康问题。这种饮食的组成部分通常与更好的健康有关，包括丰富的新鲜水果和蔬菜和少量的肉类。在这项研究中，研究人员发现，多吃绿叶蔬菜和少吃红肉与更好的思维能力密切相关，而多吃加工食品与较差的认知功能有关，部分原因是智商较低。
Many different factors, such as weight, overall health status, and earlier dietary habits, can affect just how well a Mediterranean diet can help prevent or delay physical and mental decline as you age. But other studies have shown that following a Mediterranean diet for at least one year is linked to positive changes in the gut microbiome, the diverse community of beneficial bacteria living in your body that is essential for a well-functioning digestive system. A healthy microbiome and digestive system, in turn, is also associated with protection against disease and healthier aging, including improved brain function.
许多不同的因素，如体重、整体健康状况和早期的饮食习惯，都会影响地中海饮食有助于预防或延缓身体和智力随着年龄增长而衰退的程度。但其他研究表明，遵循地中海饮食至少一年，与肠道微生物群的积极变化有关。肠道微生物群是生活在你体内的多种有益菌群，对正常运转的消化系统至关重要。健康的微生物群和消化系统反过来也与预防疾病和更健康的衰老有关，包括改善大脑功能。