While the process of creating cocoa and chocolate can often reduce the flavanol content, flavanol-rich cocoa or chocolate may improve cognitive function for elderly people. The benefits, however, are very small and specific. Whether it can protect against dementia is even less clear.
It's not uncommon for a person with dementia to experience an increase in cravings for sugary foods, leading to consumption of excessive quantities of sweets, chocolate and cakes. According to Alzheimer's Association, taste buds can diminish when the disease takes hold.
Foods to Avoid
Red meat. Desserts, sweets and sugary beverages. Refined grains. Processed, fried and fast foods.
A new study has found that eating just a small amount of dark chocolate each day could help to improve cognitive function in people with mild dementia.
Consuming too much sugar can cause delayed cognitive performance and even memory difficulties. It also weakens and destroys the blood vessels, resulting in a decline in mental capacity which can lead to dementia and Alzheimer's.
Many foods in the Western diet have been identified as risk factors for dementia and Alzheimer's, including red and processed meats, refined grains, sweets, and desserts. Excess alcohol intake, saturated fatty acids, and foods with a high number of calories are also risk factors for Alzheimer's.
Over time, the disease causing the dementia spreads to other parts of the brain. This leads to more symptoms because more of the brain is unable to work properly. At the same time, already-damaged areas of the brain become even more affected, causing symptoms the person already has to get worse.
Berries, fish, and leafy green vegetables are 3 of the best foods that fight memory loss. There's a mountain of evidence showing they support and protect brain health.
Anxiety and depression can make symptoms of dementia worse — particularly symptoms that affect a person's attention, short-term memory, planning, problem-solving, and decision-making. Depression may also change behaviors, with patients becoming agitated and aggressive or experiencing problems sleeping and eating.
Moreover, a prospective cohort of community old people living in China observed an inverse relation between egg consumption and cognitive decline (11). However, in a prospective Finish cohort, no association between egg consumption and risk of incident dementia was found (12).
Phytochemicals
Phytochemicals found in bananas help preserve nerve tissue against neurotoxins, which deteriorate nervous tissue when exposed to its substance. This may also help in preventing neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.
There is currently no cure for most types of dementia – including the dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease. These types of dementia are what we call “neurodegenerative.” The progression of these dementias cannot be reversed right now; symptoms gradually get worse.
Playing music, having objects to touch and interact with, and hand massage can all help people with dementia in the later stages. Playlist for Life is a music and dementia charity. It promotes how music with personal meaning can help people with dementia.
Jelly Drops are an innovative sugar-free treat, made of 95% water, designed to increase fluid intake. Popular with people with dementia, the elderly & others who struggle to stay hydrated.
Ice cream brings people with dementia to happier, warmer times when the treat was shared with friends and loved ones at special, joyous occa- sions. Ice cream has the power to immediately elicit soothing feelings at the very first taste of a single spoon-full.
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease causes a type of dementia that gets worse unusually fast. More common causes of dementia, such as Alzheimer's, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia, typically progress more slowly.
Of these, 69% drank tea on a frequent basis. After a five-year period, the researchers found that the tea drinkers had a 50% lower risk of dementia.
There have also been other suggestions as to how coffee can help against dementia. Research has shown that caffeinated coffee increases production of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, which helps the brain in several ways.
Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia.
There is currently no "cure" for dementia. In fact, because dementia is caused by different diseases it is unlikely that there will be a single cure for dementia.
The average life expectancy figures for the most common types of dementia are as follows: Alzheimer's disease – around eight to 10 years. Life expectancy is less if the person is diagnosed in their 80s or 90s. A few people with Alzheimer's live for longer, sometimes for 15 or even 20 years.