Importance of individual dietary factors for cognitive performance in the Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability, FINGER

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundFinnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) is a randomized trial that showed beneficial effect on cognition with a 2‐year multidomain lifestyle intervention. One of the four multidomain intervention components was diet and we have earlier shown that overall adherence to the FINGER dietary intervention goals was associated with better cognition. Here our aim is to investigate how the individual components of the dietary adherence score are associated with cognitive performance during the 2‐year period.MethodThe FINGER cohort included 1259 individuals at risk of dementia aged 60‐77 years at baseline, randomized into the multidomain intervention (n = 631) or the control group (n = 628). They underwent extensive data collection annually (total of 3 assessments), including detailed neuropsychological test battery (NTB) and a 3‐day food record. Adherence to dietary intervention was evaluated on 9 items based on dietary recommendations: intake of saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat, sucrose, fiber, protein, alcohol, vegetables, fruits, and fish. Data analyses were completed with mixed‐effects regression.ResultThe goal for low alcohol intake was inversely associated with cognition at baseline, but no other dietary items showed cross‐sectional associations. Reaching the goal for saturated fat, fiber, vegetables, fruits, and fish predicted better cognitive change at two years (p <0.05 for goal*time each). Results were similar when continuous variables rather than dichotomized goals were investigated. Intake of polyunsaturated fats additionally predicted better cognitive change and vegetable intake showed positive cross‐sectional association with cognition. There were no significant interactions with the study group.ConclusionSix out of nine FINGER dietary goals predicted a favorable cognitive change over time, indicating that a dietary pattern adherence with general dietary recommendations is beneficial for brain health. However, alcohol intake goal, i.e. lower alcohol intake, was associated with worse cognition; and cut‐offs for polyunsaturated fats based on the recommendations appeared suboptimal. The FINGER dietary adherence score should be compared with food‐based dietary patterns like Mediterranean Diet to investigate if nutrient intakes should be better taken into account when analyzing diet in relation to cognitive performance.