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Study: Nutrition could help older adults stave off memory loss

By Mallika Marshall, MD

November 10, 2022 / 5:36 PM EST / CBS Boston

BOSTON – A new study found that improved nutrition could help older adults stave off memory loss. One problem, however, is that healthy foods like fresh produce and lean proteins can be expensive.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a government program that helps families in need afford healthy foods.

Researchers at Columbia University looked at more than 3,500 people 50 and older and found that those who participated in SNAP had slower rates of memory decline compared to those not enrolled in the program.

In fact, the SNAP participants had about two fewer years of cognitive aging over a 10-year period, suggesting that providing nutrition benefits to low-income adults could help slow age-related memory loss.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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