Dietary Strategies and Supplements for the Prevention of Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Abstract Cognitive decline and dementia are increasing and will continue to do so in parallel with aging of the world population. Because effective pharmaceutical treatments for age-related cognitive decline are lacking, alternative strategies comprising dietary approaches have been proposed. Several dietary components and supplements have been studied regarding their association with cognitive decline. Dietary patterns combine foods and nutrients that may act synergistically and may provide stronger benefit than those conferred by individual dietary components. Higher adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern has been associated with decreased cognitive decline and incident Alzheimer’s disease. Another dietary pattern with neuroprotective actions is the dietary approach to stop hypertension. The combination of these two dietary patterns also has been associated with significant reduction of cognitive decline outcomes. This chapter reviews the evidence for some dietary components, supplements, and dietary patterns as neuroprotective, with potential to delay cognitive decline and the onset of dementia.