Want to cut dementia risk? Commit to a high-fiber diet

Your doctor doesn’t have to tell you to eat well, sleep enough, and exercise regularly. You already know this. We all do. But our doctors tell us anyway. And we may or may not listen.
 
Why? Because knowing and doing are two very different things. As an executive, you are busy. You’re working long hours, eating on the run, taking clients out to restaurants.
 
A home-cooked meal made with fresh ingredients can be difficult to pull off.
I get it. My wife and I have been having this conversation for years. Why don’t I exercise more? I know it’s important, but it’s not as much of a priority as it should be.
 
I’m not here to judge (I’ll leave that to your spouse!). I am here with the first of a two-part series on some fascinating findings that may help you in your quest for better health.
 
The first tip: If you don’t want dementia, eat more Brussels sprouts.

You probably know fiber is good for you. Soluble fiber softens your stools and helps with regular bowel movements. It also helps you feel full, which can limit unhealthy snacking. But, as we are learning with so many of nature’s simple fixes, soluble fiber is good for you in ways we never expected — like reducing your risk of dementia!
 
You may have read in the news about a study out of University of Tsukuba in Japan showing a link between increased fiber intake and a lower risk for dementia. The study has been 20 years in the making. The idea was to look for dietary trends that might contribute to dementia later in life. Researchers had 3,700 healthy adults complete surveys on their dietary routines and tracked them for 20 years. The one trend that emerged most dramatically was fiber intake. People who had a diet with high fiber had the lowest dementia rates, and people with less fiber in their diet had higher rates of dementia.

Why a person does or does not develop dementia is certainly more complex than one isolated thing. In this study, for example, it would be interesting to look at other lifestyle habits of the high-fiber eaters to see if there were other factors that contributed to their low dementia rates, such as exercise. But what we can say for sure is that soluble fiber is very good for you for more than one reason. So, eat your beans and Brussels sprouts—doctor’s orders!
 
Watch for part two of this series in the November issue of Legatus magazine.

RICHARD H. CARTABUKE, M.D., 
works in primary care, hospital medicine, and executive health at the Cleveland Clinic. He has served as Healthnetwork Foundation’s 
medical director since 2020.