Nutrition and supplementation of older persons in the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, are still incurable in the light of modern medicine. The etiology of these conditions remains unclear and their increasing occurrence is becoming a global public health problem. Therefore, their prophylaxis is extremely important in order to prevent or slow down the development of structural changes taking place in the brain tissues. One of the proposals to prevent these changes is diet modification. The aim of this study is to present the current knowledge about the diet and supplementation that may have a preventive effect against neurodegenerative diseases or slow down the progression of dementia symptoms. The MIND diet has the potential to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s syndrome. There are also presumptions that it reduces the occurring of depression and mental stress, so it seems reasonable to continue research into the positive health effects of following this diet, not only in the context of cognitive functions and dementia. Due to the lack of explicit pharmacological treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, preventive interventions based on nutritional patterns identified as beneficial to brain health should be introduced, both through nutritional education of elderly people and their families, and on a large scale, taking into account the health of the whole society