Adding a bag of POPCORN to your daily diet may reduce risk of dementia

Research shows that people who eat a pack of popcorn every day have a lower risk of dementia.

Researchers at Rush University in Chicago made the discovery after following 3,300 people for six years and testing their cognition.

They found that those who ate three ounces or more of whole grains – such as lightly salted popcorn, quinoa or breakfast cereal – had a smaller reduction in their cognitive scores compared to those who barely ate the food.

Researchers observed the effect only in black participants, who made up 60 percent of the study participants.

They may not have seen the same in white participants, either because there were too few participants in the study or because they were much less likely to eat whole grains than their peers.

Whole grains are high in fiber, which slows the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream.

This prevents sugar spikes, which can cause plaque in the arteries and inflammation, increasing the risk of dementia.

It comes after researchers also found that eating just one bowl of frozen flakes a day could increase the risk of mouth and throat cancer by as much as 25 percent.

More than six million Americans suffer from dementia, but this figure is expected to more than double over the next twenty years.

Older black adults are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed, which experts say may be linked to the group having higher rates of heart disease.

For the study, published today in Neurologyscientists analyzed data from 3,300 adults who were on average 75 years old and did not have dementia.

They had all participated in the Chicago Health and Aging Project, which followed 10,000 people between 1993 and 2012.

They were surveyed every three years about how often they ate whole grains and were also asked to complete cognitive and memory tests.

These include tasks such as having to remember a list of words, remembering numbers and putting them back in the correct order.

Participants were then divided into five groups based on the number of whole grains they consumed and their cognitive scores were compared.

This was from a group where adults consumed less than half a serving (or half an ounce) of whole grains per day, down to those who consumed three servings or more.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend at least three servings of whole-grain foods per day, with one serving equal to one ounce – such as a slice of bread or half a cup of cooked pasta or rice.

After adjusting for factors such as age, gender, education and smoking, researchers found that those who ate three or more whole grains per day had a slower rate of cognitive decline than those who ate the least.

Cognitive decline is an early feature of dementia.

They also found that black participants were more likely to eat more whole grains than white participants.

Among black participants, 68 percent reported eating more than one serving of whole grains per day. By comparison, this dropped to 38 percent among white participants.

Researchers weren’t sure why eating whole grains reduced the risk of dementia, but they said it could be related to how it helps regulate blood sugar levels or promote a healthy gut.

This would help reduce the risk of inflammation and damage to blood vessels, they said, which could increase the risk of developing dementia.

People who eat whole grains are also more likely to have healthy lifestyle habits, such as sleeping or exercising more, which also helps reduce the risk of dementia.

The study was observational and could not prove that eating popcorn alone reduced the risk of dementia.

It also did not take into account toppings on popcorn, such as butter and sugar, which can increase the risk of dementia by increasing the risk of obesity.

Limitations of the study include that diets were self-reported, with participants not required to provide evidence about which whole grains they consumed.

Dr. Xiaoran Liu, an epidemiologist who led the study, said: ‘With Alzheimer’s disease and dementia affecting millions of Americans, finding ways to prevent the disease is a high public health priority.

“It’s exciting to see that people may be able to lower their risk of dementia by increasing their whole grain diet by a few servings per day.”