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Antioxidants in diet failed to reduce risk for stroke, dementia
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Researchers reported that the total level of antioxidants in a person’s diet did not protect against major neurological diseases, contrary to results from previous research.
“These results are interesting because other studies have suggested that antioxidants may help protect against stroke and dementia,” study researcher Elizabeth E. Devore, ScD, of Harvard Medical School, said in a press release. “It’s possible that individual antioxidants, or the main foods that contribute those antioxidants — rather than the total antioxidant level in the diet — contribute to the lower risk of dementia and stroke found in earlier studies.”
Devore and colleagues prospectively studied 5,395 dementia-free adults aged 55 years and older who were followed for an average of almost 14 years. Study participants completed questionnaires about the frequency with which they consumed 170 different food items during the past year. The researchers measured the total antioxidant capacity of each participant’s diet using the dietary ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Participants were screened at baseline and during follow-ups for stroke and dementia.
Approximately 600 cases of dementia and 600 cases of stroke were identified during follow-up. Devore and colleagues observed no associations between dietary FRAP scores and dementia risk (RR=1.12; 95% CI, 0.91-1.38) or stroke risk (RR=0.91; 95% CI, 0.75-1.11).
According to the researchers, approximately 90% of the variation in antioxidant levels in the entire cohort was attributable to coffee and tea intake.
“This differed from an Italian study that found the higher total antioxidant levels were associated with a lower risk of stroke, where the variation from coffee and tea was lower, and the contribution from alcoholic beverages, fruits and vegetables was higher,” Devore said.
Participants in that study were also younger, the researchers noted.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.