Leafy green vegetables could help boost mental ability in older adults, new evidence suggests.
Research found that adults who consume more than two portions of vegetables each day - particularly leafy green types such as lettuce and spinach - had 35-40 per cent less decline in thinking ability - the equivalent of being five years younger.
However, increased fruit consumption did not produce the same effect.
Conducting the study, Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago analysed 3,718 mixed-race adults aged 65 or over.
The team asked participants about their intake of over 139 foods and conducted at least two cognitive tests that measured their memory and thinking speed during a six-year study.
The results showed a significant association between slower rates of mental decline and those eating high amounts of green, leafy vegetables.
It also showed that a reduced decline in cognitive ability was greatest in older people consuming two or more portions of veg daily.
A spokesman for the research team said the benefits of eating vegetables might make everyday tasks such as remembering phone numbers and names, easier.
The results could be attributed to the amount of vitamin E found in the vegetables, which helps to control damage caused by free radicals to the brain, researchers said.
Also, salad dressings containing ‘good fats’, such as olive oil, could help. Such fats are also beneficial to the brain and help the absorption of vitamin E in vegetables when eaten together, scientists said.
In a separate study, researchers found people with renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer, consumed fewer vegetables than those without the cancer.
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