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Assessment of Social Transmission of Food Preferences Behaviors
Published on: January 25, 2018
Diet Quality and Dementia Risk in Older Adults With Alzheimer Pathology
Anja Mrhar1,2, Adrián Carballo-Casla1,3, Giulia Grande1,4
1Aging Research Center, Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
JAMA Network Open
|June 25, 2026
Summary
A healthy diet, particularly one with low inflammatory potential, may lower dementia risk in older adults with Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology or neurobiological risk. This highlights targeted dietary strategies for dementia prevention in at-risk individuals.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gerontology
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Higher diet quality is linked to reduced dementia incidence.
- The protective effect of diet on dementia risk in individuals with existing Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology or neurobiological risk is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between diet quality and dementia risk in older adults stratified by biomarker levels of AD pathology and neurodegeneration.
- To examine adherence to specific dietary patterns (Alternate Mediterranean Diet [AMED], Alternative Healthy Eating Index [AHEI], and reversed Empirical Dietary Inflammatory Index [rEDII]) in relation to dementia risk.
Main Methods:
- A prospective cohort study of 1865 cognitively unimpaired adults aged 60+ from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen.
- Assessed baseline serum biomarkers for AD pathology (p-tau217) and neurodegeneration (NFL, GFAP).
- Tracked adherence to AMED, AHEI, and rEDII over 6 years, analyzing dementia incidence over a mean follow-up of 8.4 years.
Main Results:
- Higher adherence to healthier dietary patterns, especially rEDII (lower inflammatory potential), was associated with significantly lower dementia risk in participants with elevated p-tau217, NFL, and GFAP levels.
- Hazard ratios for dementia risk decreased with increased rEDII adherence among those with elevated biomarkers (e.g., 0.71 for p-tau217).
- AMED and AHEI showed similar protective associations primarily in participants with lower biomarker levels.
Conclusions:
- Adherence to a diet with lower inflammatory potential is associated with reduced dementia risk in older adults with underlying AD pathology and neurobiological risk.
- These findings support the development of targeted dietary interventions for dementia prevention, particularly for individuals at elevated biological risk.
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