A simple daily diet adjustment in your 20s and 30s “may reduce your risk of dementia as you age”

EAT greens to avoid dementia, scientists say.

One study found that eating lots of fruits and vegetables in your youth can protect your brain decades later.

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What you eat, even as a child and in your 20s and 30s, can prepare you to be smarter after retirement, as healthy young people have typically been eating well throughout their lives.

Data from 3,059 Brits revealed that just 8% of people on unhealthy diets still had “high cognitive ability” at age 60, compared to 36% on a good diet.

However, 58 percent of people in the low-ability group ate unhealthily, compared to just 8 percent in the high-ability group.

This shows that people with poor diets were significantly more likely to experience brain decline.

Adjusting our diet at any age is likely to improve our brain health

Dr Kelly CaraTufts University

This could mean that memory and thinking speed decline in old age, potentially leading to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Study author Kelly Cara of Tufts University said: “This suggests that diet early in life can influence our eating decisions later in life and that the cumulative effects of diet over time are linked to the progression of our cognitive abilities.

“Our findings also provide new evidence to suggest that improvements in eating patterns through midlife may help slow cognitive decline in later years.

“Adjusting dietary intake at any age is likely to improve our health in several ways, including brain health.”

Two thirds of adults in the UK cannot eat five meals a day.

We have some of the highest rates of fruit and vegetable consumption in the West, but millions still miss out on vital nutrients.

Cara added: “Diets rich in whole or less processed plant-based food groups, including green leafy vegetables, beans, whole fruits and whole grains, may be more protective.”

Dementia affects around a million people in Britain and is the leading cause of death.