Substituting carbohydrates with protein/fat intake at breakfast helps prevent cognitive decline

Older adults who have higher intakes of protein and fat and lower consumption of carbohydrates at breakfast appear to have a lower rate of cognitive decline, a study has found.

The investigators included 2,935 participants aged 55–93 years at baseline from the China Health and Nutrition Survey to examine the associations between energy and macronutrient intakes at breakfast and cognitive declines. Cognition was evaluated in 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, and 2015. Weighing methods combined with 24-h food records were used to assess dietary intake.

Breakfast contributed to 25.9 percent of total energy intake of the day; percentages of breakfast energy intake were 12.8 percent from protein, 11.5 percent from fat, and 75.7 percent from carbohydrates.

During a median follow-up of 9 years, the β values for changes in global cognitive z-scores for quintile 5 of protein and fat intakes at breakfast, relative to quintile 1, were 0.13 (95 percent CI, 0.01–0.25) and 0.17 (95 percent CI, 0.04–0.30), respectively.

Replacing 5-percent energy from carbohydrates with equivalent energy from protein (β, 0.06, 95 percent CI, 0.01–0.11) or fat (β, 0.05, 95 percent CI, 0.02–0.08) at breakfast positively correlated with change in the global cognitive z-score. Energy intake at breakfast did not significantly correlate with the global cognitive z-score. Similar results were noted for the verbal memory z-score.

The positive association of breakfast fat intake and the inverse association of breakfast carbohydrate intake with cognitive declines were more robust in individuals living in urban areas.

“Substitution of carbohydrates with protein or fat intake at breakfast may help to delay or prevent cognitive declines,” the investigators said.