Diets rich in plant protein, dairy, omega-3 fatty acids, whole foods = lower Alzheimer's risk

 

Alzheimer's disease affects more than 55 million people worldwide, and that number is projected to nearly triple by 2050. It has long been thought of as something that happens in the brain: a slow accumulation of toxic proteins, a gradual loss of neurons, a tragedy that unfolds in the mind. But a new collaborative transdisciplinary study by the University of Technology Sydney and Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School is pointing somewhere else entirely: the gut.

In one of the largest multi-modal machine learning studies of its kind using artificial intelligence (AI) trained on data from nearly 10,000 people, a team of UTS researchers analysed more than 120 everyday factors, including diet, medical history, gut bacteria, and lifestyle, to identify which of them are most strongly associated with Alzheimer's risk. The outcome could lead to an AI framework that could be deployed as a low-cost, community-level screening tool.

Diet as a driver, not just a signal

Dietary patterns emerged as one of the strongest predictors of Alzheimer’s risk, highlighting the role of everyday habits in shaping brain health.

“Rather than individual nutrients, the study found that overall eating patterns were more informative,” said Khalilpour “Diets rich in plant protein, dairy, omega-3 fatty acids, and whole foods were consistently associated with lower Alzheimer's risk. Whereas diets dominated by processed food, refined sugars, and saturated fats pointed sharply in the other direction.

“Notably, overall dietary patterns outperformed individual nutrient measurements, meaning it is not a single vitamin or supplement that matters, but the cumulative, daily effect of how a person eats across years and decades.”

Higher dairy consumption emerged as a particularly striking individual signal, with higher dairy consumption associated with lower predicted risk, that may reflect the gut microbiome's response to fermented and dairy-rich foods, as well as calcium's known neuroprotective properties.

“The implication is significant: if diet contributes to neurodegeneration, it can also, potentially, help prevent it.”, said Ali Zomorrodi, Assistant Professor at Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School, and a collaborator of this ongoing project.

The appendix finding that changes the picture

“The most unexpected result in the study was perhaps also among the most revealing,” said Associate Professor Kaveh Khalilpour, co-lead of the project and a specialist in complex socio-technical systems at the UTS Visualisation Institute “People who had their appendix removed – one of the most routine surgical procedures in the world – showed substantially elevated Alzheimer's risk, emerging as one of the strongest contributors in the entire analysis.

“We speculate that it functions as a reservoir of beneficial gut bacteria. When it is removed, the microbiome loses a key recovery mechanism, its ability to replenish healthy microbial communities after illness, infection, or antibiotic use,” he said.

 Over decades, that disruption may compound, leaving the gut progressively less able to protect the brain from the inflammatory signals linked to neurodegeneration.

“This finding is particularly compelling, as it indicates that long-term brain health may be shaped by earlier life experiences through their enduring effects on the gut microbiome,” said PhD researcher Tallat Jabeen.

“It reframes how we think about Alzheimer's risk, not as something that arrives with old age, but as something quietly accumulating across a lifetime.”

A supine exercise program is associated with improved body balance and agility

A 10-minute daily exercise program done lying down improved participants' balance, flexibility and agility within just two weeks, per new clinical trial

 "Flexed their knee joints" means that individuals bent their knees, decreasing the angle between their thigh and lower leg. 

This motion is the opposite of straightening (extending) the knee.

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Caption

Exercise program protocols. The exercise program comprised the following three types of exercises.

 (A) This is an exercise of the abdominal muscles. Participants flexed their knee joints, placed their hands on their abdomens, and lightly compressed using their fingertips. They contracted the abdominal muscles in that area against the pressure for 5 s and subsequently relaxed. The inlet shows the abdominal region in the frontal plane (A’). The abdomen is divided into nine areas surrounding the lower end of the ribs, pubis, and both iliac crests. Participants performed the exercise in each area three times (Exercise 1). 

(B) This is an exercise that improves trunk and lower extremity linkages. Participants flexed their knee joints, with their hands placed on their abdomen. They tilted their pelvis backward while keeping their abdomen contracted and subsequently contracted their hip extensors as in a bridge exercise. The arrow indicates the direction of pelvic movement. They contracted for 5 s with their hips slightly off the floor and subsequently relaxed, repeating ten times (Exercise 2). (

C) This is an exercise that improves lower extremity muscle coordination. Participants started in a supine position with both lower extremities extended, then they flexed one knee to 90°, and placed the sole on the floor. Next, they maintained the flexed toe and dorsiflexed ankle joint positions. Subsequently, their hip and knee joints were extended while slightly scraping their heels on the floor while maintaining the angle of the ankle joint as much as possible. The arrow indicates the direction of leg movement. Finally, their lower extremities, with their knees fully extended, were exerted for 5 s by pushing their heels out caudally and subsequently relaxed. Both lower extremities were exercised three times alternately (Exercise 3). 

(D) From left to right, with both lower extremities in extension, rock-paper-scissors training was performed with the toes: rock (clenching the toes), scissors (raising the thumb), scissors (behind the thumb), and paper (keeping toes apart). This exercise was repeated five times. The figure shows the right toes (Exercise 3).

Credit

Atomi et al., 2026, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Study shows your favorite playlist can help you train harder and longer

New research from the University of Jyväskylä (JYU) shows that letting exercisers choose their own music can boost endurance by nearly 20 % - without making the workout feel any tougher. The findings have practical benefits for both athletes and everyday exercisers.

Participants who pedalled to their own self-selected tracks (around 120-140 beats per minute) lasted an average of nearly 6 minutes longer before reaching exhaustion compared to riding in silence. That’s the key finding from a new study now available online in the journal Psychology of Sport & Exercise. Lead researcher Andrew Danso from JYU’s Centre of Excellence in Music, Mind, Body and Brain explains the real-world impact:

“Self-selected music doesn’t change your fitness level or make your heart work dramatically harder in the moment - it simply helps you tolerate sustained effort for longer. It may be an incredibly simple, zero-cost tool that lets people push further in training without feeling extra strain at the end. Our findings suggest that the right playlist may make tough sessions feel more doable and more enjoyable.”

In the study, 29 recreationally active adults completed two identical high-intensity cycling tests (at about 80 % of their peak power). One test had no music; the other let participants pick their own songs. With music they cycled for 35.6 minutes on average versus 29.8 minutes without (a clear 20 % improvement).

Favourite music boosts quality training time

Importantly, even though they exercised longer and burned more total energy, their heart-rate, and lactate levels at the finish line were the same in both conditions. In other words, the music helped them “stay in the pain zone” longer without making the pain feel worse.

The findings have clear practical applications for athletes, coaches and everyday exercisers.

“Many people struggle to stick with hard training because it feels exhausting too quickly,” says Danso.

“Our research shows that letting people choose their own motivating music may help them accumulate more quality training time, which could translate to better fitness gains, improved adherence to exercise programmes, and possibly more people staying active.”

From a broader societal perspective, the study highlights how music could play a role in tackling inactivity-related health challenges. Longer, more tolerable exercise sessions may help reduce risks linked to low fitness.

The publication is open access and available now at Psychology of Sport and Exercise: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029226000579 

Brain health shaped by lifetime mental, physical, environmental and lifestyle factors

Statement Highlights:

• An individual’s brain health is influenced by their psychological health, environment, sleep quality, social conditions and chronic health conditions over a lifetime. Life events and experiences even in early life also affect long-term brain development and brain health.
• Healthy lifestyle habits, such as eating a healthy diet; getting adequate physical activity and sleep; avoiding smoking, heavy alcohol or illicit substance use; and reducing stress, can improve brain health throughout life.
• The new scientific statement identifies opportunities to protect brain health and reduce the risk of stroke, cognitive decline and dementia by promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors, improving environmental conditions, expanding health care access and increasing social support for mental health and well-being.

Embargoed until 4:00 a.m. CT / 5:00 a.m. ET Tuesday, April 28, 2026

DALLAS, April 28, 2026 — Brain health isn’t determined only by genetics or what happens later in life. A growing body of research shows that a range of factors—from mental health and sleep to environment, lifestyle and social conditions—play a powerful role in shaping how the brain functions and ages. A new American Heart Association scientific statement highlights how experiences starting early in life and continuing through life may influence brain health and affect the risk of stroke, cognitive decline or dementia in later years, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement, published today in the Association’s peer-reviewed scientific journal Stroke.

The new scientific statement, “Brain Health Across the Life Span: A Framework for Future Studies,” highlights opportunities for early detection, prevention and intervention to protect brain health and support healthy aging.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of U.S. adults ages 65 and older is projected to increase from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million by 2050, a 42% increase, and the 65-and-older age group’s share of the total population is projected to rise from 17% to 23%. The aging of the U.S. population is expected to increase the prevalence of brain conditions that affect memory, thinking, communication skills and mental health.

“As medical and scientific advancements have extended life expectancies, brain health has become increasingly important,” said the Chair of the scientific statement’s writing group Elisabeth Marsh, M.D., FAHA, a professor of neurology and associate director of the neurology residency program at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Stroke Center at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. “The number of people with age-related cognitive impairment is rising rapidly, creating significant personal, emotional, and health care system burdens.”

According to the American Heart Association’s 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, stroke is now the #4 leading cause of death in the U.S. A 2023 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association scientific statement on cognitive impairment after stroke highlighted that more than half of people who survive a stroke develop cognitive impairment within the first year after their stroke, and as many as 1 in 3 may develop dementia within 5 years.

Previous research about brain health has considered factors that damage blood vessels and reduce blood flow to the brain, which can increase the risk of developing stroke, cognitive decline and/or dementia. Recent research has also focused on the role of psychological, environmental, lifestyle and social factors, that affect brain health over a lifetime.

“We’ve long focused on managing risk factors like blood pressure and cholesterol, which remain critical for heart and brain health, however, this statement spotlights research on external factors like sleep quality, the gut microbiome and social conditions that are also linked to brain health,” said Marsh.

“One of the most important messages in this scientific statement is that brain health is shaped across the entire life span. What happens early in life can matter decades later, which also means there are opportunities at every life stage to support healthier brain aging,” she added.

What factors affect brain health?

Recent research shows that numerous mental, physical, environmental and social factors influence brain health across the life span.

• Mental Health: A 2021 American Heart Association scientific statement on the mind-heart-body connection stated that negative psychological factors and mental health disorders can negatively impact cardiovascular health. Over time, chronic stress, depression and anxiety may change the brain in ways that increase the risk of memory loss, dementia and stroke. These physiological and structural changes may include inflammation, stress-related damage, and loss of brain cells and connections. Long-term psychological stress that keeps stress hormones elevated contributes to atherosclerosis (buildup of plaque in arteries) and impaired glucose metabolism, both of which can have damaging effects on brain health over time.

• Adverse Childhood Experiences: Children who experience abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence, or parental separation or divorce, incarceration or illicit substance use or dependence, may be at increased risk for learning and attention difficulties in childhood, as well as mental health conditions and cognitive decline and dementia as they age.  

• Chronic Inflammation: Long-term inflammation can damage brain cells and blood vessels over time. When inflammation begins early in life, it may interfere with healthy brain development. It can be triggered by infection during pregnancy or ongoing stress. Over time, this may increase the risk of learning, thinking and mental health challenges. In adulthood, persistent inflammation is linked to memory loss and neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

• Gut Microbiome: The gut and brain are closely connected and communicate through nerves, immune signals and hormones. Healthy gut bacteria produce substances that help protect the brain and regulate inflammation. When this balance is disrupted, inflammation can increase and place stress on the brain. Gut health may be especially important at certain stages of life, including early development, adolescence and older age, when changes in gut bacteria may have lasting effects on brain health. In later life, altered gut microbes have been linked to conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

• Obesity: Excess body weight can be harmful to overall health and is an important risk factor for brain health across the life span. Obesity can increase inflammation, disrupt hormones and damage blood vessels, which, over time, can harm brain structure and cognitive function at all stages of life.

• Sleep: Healthy sleep is essential to keeping the brain balanced and functioning well at every age. Some research has described sleep as an investment in brain health that builds over time. In children, sleep supports brain growth and long-term memory formation. In teens and adults, consistent, high-quality sleep supports memory, attention, decision-making, work performance, and long-term physical and mental health, making it an integral component in healthy development and aging. Inadequate sleep and sleep disorders like sleep apnea may increase inflammation and increase the risk of memory loss and cognitive decline.

• Social drivers of health: Current research confirms that lower socioeconomic status, including fewer years of education and lower income, is linked with a higher risk of health conditions like Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, both of which can contribute to memory loss, cognitive decline and dementia. Limited access to healthy foods, health care and stable housing can also increase the risk of cognitive decline over time.

• Environmental Exposures: Current research suggests that exposure to air pollution, heavy metals, microplastics and other environmental pollutants such as particulate matter from wildfires can slowly damage the brain by triggering inflammation, stressing brain cells and harming the blood vessels that supply it. Over time, this makes it harder to repair damage and may increase the risk of memory loss, dementia and stroke.

What are ways to improve brain health?

“Together, the evidence underscores that brain health is shaped throughout a person’s lifetime and that healthy lifestyle behaviors can make a difference. Addressing modifiable factors such as mental health, environmental exposures, sleep and social conditions may support brain development and healthy aging,“ Marsh said.

Research suggests that healthy lifestyle habits such as those outlined in the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 may support brain health. Getting regular physical activity, controlling blood pressure and cholesterol, practicing healthy sleep habits, avoiding smoking and managing stress have shown consistent benefits. Healthy eating patterns such as those detailed in the Association’s 2026 Dietary Guidance are also a key factor in shaping gut and brain health. Following a Mediterranean-style diet and eating fiber-rich, plant-based foods and fermented foods, like yogurt and kefir, support beneficial gut bacteria, while diets high in processed foods and added sugars can disrupt the gut microbiome. Avoiding heavy alcohol or substance use, increasing social support , and reducing financial stress  may also improve mental health.

What should health care professionals and other leaders do to support brain health?

The statement urges health care professionals and policymakers to protect and promote optimal brain health from before birth through adulthood across all communities. Prioritizing mental health screening and support and expanding access to timely, effective health care that supports Life’s Essential 8 can help to improve brain health across the life span. More research is needed to understand the approaches that may work best in different communities.

To address the growing burden of age-related cognitive impairment, the American Heart Association and the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group have created the AHA-Allen Initiative in Brain Health and Cognitive Impairment. The two organizations, along with additional contributors, have committed more than $43 million toward research to advance the understanding of brain health and improve lives. More information about the awards given to fund brain health research is available here. In addition, the Association’s Strategically Focused Research Network on Inflammation in Cardiac and Neurovascular Disease awarded $15 million to researchers to study inflammation’s impact on heart and brain health.

“Brain health is a lifelong journey, influenced by our mental well-being, environment and lifestyle choices from childhood through late adulthood,” according to Mitchell Elkind, M.D., M.S., FAHA, the American Heart Association’s Chief Science Officer for Brain Health and Stroke and a past volunteer president of the Association (2020-2021). “This scientific statement comes at a timely moment, just as the American Heart Association is increasing its focus, research and programming in brain health. The exciting science in this area reminds us that every stage of life offers a new opportunity to nurture our brains and minds, supporting healthier aging and reducing the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, stroke, depression and other brain disorders.”

 

Strenuous exercise and soreness is not needed to improve muscle size, strength, or performance

 If you think you need to ‘go hard’ at the gym to make your muscles stronger, think again!  

New research at ECU has revealed strenuous exercise and soreness is not needed to improve muscle size, strength, or performance. 

“The idea that exercise must be exhausting or painful is holding people back,” ECU’s Director of Exercise and Sports Science, Professor Ken Nosaka, said. 

“Instead, we should be focussing on eccentric exercises which can deliver stronger results with far less effort than traditional exercise - and you don’t even need a gym!” 

Eccentric exercise is when muscles work as they lengthen, usually during the ‘lowering’ part of the movement such as lowering a dumbbell, walking downstairs or slowly sitting down in a chair. 

The study showed muscles generate more force during these movements - while using less energy than they would by lifting or pulling an object and walking upstairs. 

“You can gain strength without feeling as exhausted. So, you get more benefit for less effort. That makes eccentric exercise appealing for a wide range of people,” Professor Nosaka said. 

While eccentric exercises might leave you sore the next day, especially if they’re not done regularly, you definitely don’t need any pain to get the gain.  

Simple home‑based eccentric exercises, such as chair squats, heel drops, and wall push‑ups, have been shown to deliver meaningful health improvements in as little as five minutes a day. 

And because eccentric exercise places less strain on the heart and lungs, it is ideal for older people and those with chronic health conditions.  

“These movements mirror what we already do in daily life. That makes them practical, realistic and easier to stick with,” Professor Nosaka said.  

“When exercise feels achievable, people keep doing it.” 

Ultra-processed foods damage your focus even if you eat healthy

New research from Monash University, the University of São Paulo and Deakin University shows a diet high in heavily processed foods can negatively impact the brain’s ability to focus and increases the risk of developing dementia.

The study published today in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, a journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, examined the diets and cognitive health of more than 2,100 Australian dementia-free adults middle-aged and older.

The findings demonstrate that a slight daily increase in a person’s intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is linked to a measurable drop in attention span – even if someone otherwise eats healthy.

Lead author Dr Barbara Cardoso, from the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food and the Victorian Heart Institute at Monash University, said the study reinforces a clear connection between industrial food manufacturing and cognitive decline.

“To put our findings in perspective, a 10 per cent increase in UPFs is roughly equivalent to adding a standard packet of chips to your daily diet,” Dr Cardoso said.

“For every 10 per cent increase in ultra-processed food a person consumed, we saw a distinct and measurable drop in a person’s ability to focus. 

“In clinical terms, this translated to consistently lower scores on standardised cognitive tests measuring visual attention and processing speed.”

The participants of the study consumed roughly 41 per cent of their daily energy from UPFs, closely mirroring the national Australian average of 42 per cent.

UPFs include everyday products like soft drinks, packaged salty snacks and ready-made meals – essentially anything that’s not fresh whole foods.

Because the negative effects of UPFs take place regardless of a person’s overall diet quality, even for people following a healthy Mediterranean diet, researchers say the degree of food processing plays a critical role in the damage.

“Food ultra-processing often destroys the natural structure of food and introduces potentially harmful substances like artificial additives or processing chemicals,” Dr Cardoso said.

“These additives suggest the link between diet and cognitive function extends beyond just missing out on foods known as healthy, pointing to mechanisms linked to the degree of food processing itself.”

Eating more UPFs was linked to an increase in dementia risk factors, which include health conditions such as high blood pressure or obesity that can actively be managed to protect the brain.

While the study did not find a direct association between UPFs and memory loss, attention span is the foundation for many important brain operations, such as learning and problem-solving.

Read the research paper: doi.org/10.1002

Prostate cancer overdiagnosis rises sharply with age

 

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have found that the likelihood of prostate cancer overdiagnosis – the detection of a cancer that would never have been diagnosed during a patient’s lifetime but for PSA screening – is low in younger men but rises substantially with old age.

In a new study, published on 21 April in the International Journal of Cancer, researchers from Queen Mary University of London found that overdiagnosis of prostate cancer through prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening is low in younger men, but it rises sharply with age. 

The study, which aimed to estimate the impact of age on overdiagnosis of prostate cancer 15 years after screening stops, analysed long-term follow-up data from the UK CAP (Cluster Randomised Trial of PSA Testing for Prostate cancer) trial, alongside English male mortality rates.

Analysing data from more than 400,000 men randomised as part of the CAP trial, the team compared the prostate cancer detection rate at screening (1.17%) with the difference in incidence 15 years post-screening (0.14%). They found that 11.7% of prostate cancers diagnosed at the one-off PSA screen would have remained undiagnosed for 15 years if they had been randomised to the control arm (not invited for screening), and importantly, if they would not die from other causes. 

However, when competing mortality (ie, the risk of dying from something other than prostate cancer) was factored in, the team found that the picture changed markedly by age:

• Men diagnosed at age 50 had a 16% chance that their cancer would never have been detected within 15 years 
• This rose to 32% for men diagnosed aged 70

And rose further to 58% for men diagnosed at age 80.

The findings suggest that prostate cancer screening and PSA testing is more appropriate for men in their 50s and early 60s, as there are likely to be low levels of overdiagnosis in this group.

Dr Adam Brentnall, a Reader in Biostatistics at Queen Mary’s Wolfson Institute of Population Health and lead author of the study said: “These findings suggest the need for more targeted, age-informed PSA testing or prostate cancer screening policies, including reexamining PSA testing policies in settings where they have led to high rates of opportunistic screening in older men, like the UK.

“This is because the current `PSA tests on demand' healthcare policy has led to high rates of opportunistic PSA testing in older men, who are at high risk of harms from overdiagnosis. These harms include unnecessary treatment – including surgery and radiotherapy – which carries significant side effects and can have a negative impact on the quality of life of men whose cancers would never have harmed them. In addition, screening men older than 70 years is also unlikely to confer benefit in terms of mortality reduction.” 

The authors note that there are some limitations to their analysis, including the fact that screening in the CAP trial was done before the use of magnetic resonance imaging targeted biopsy, which is expected to reduce overdiagnosis. Ongoing trials, including TRANSFORM, co-led by Professor Rhian Gabe from Queen Mary and IMProVE co-led by Queen Mary’s Professor Peter Sasieni in the UK, will help to provide additional evidence on overdiagnosis using contemporary screening protocols.