Adherence to nutritional recommendations and subsequent cognitive performance: findings from the prospective Supplementation with Antioxidant Vitamins and Minerals 2 (SU.VI.MAX 2) study

• Published in: The American journal of clinical nutrition Vol. 93; no. 1; pp. 200 - 210
• Main Authors: Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle, Amieva, Hélène, Castetbon, Katia, Henegar, Adina, Ferry, Monique, Jeandel, Claude, Hercberg, Serge, Galan, Pilar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD American Society for Clinical Nutrition 2011; American Society for Nutrition; American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc
• Subjects: Aged; Alzheimer's disease; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - administration & dosage; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition; Cognition & reasoning; communication (human); diet; Dietary Guidelines; Dietary minerals; Dietary Supplements; Double-Blind Method; elderly; Feeding. Feeding behavior; Female; food choices; food intake; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Guideline Adherence; Humans; long term experiments; Male; memory; Middle age; Middle Aged; middle-aged adults; Minerals - administration & dosage; neuroprotective effect; Nutrition; Prospective Studies; Regression analysis; Supplementation with Antioxidant Vitamins and Minerals 2 Study; Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems; vitamin-mineral supplements; Vitamins; France; Performance evaluation; Human; Nutrition; Vitamin; Cognition; Minerals; Supplementation; Antioxidant; Performance; Adhesion; Recommendation
• DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29761
• EISSN: 1938-3207
• ISSN: 0002-9165

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the long-term effect of overall nutritional recommendations on cognition. OBJECTIVE: In a French cohort of middle-aged adults, we evaluated the association between the French National Nutrition and Health Program (Program National Nutrition Santé) Guideline Score (PNNS-GS) assessed at baseline and cognitive performance evaluated 13 y later. DESIGN: The PNNS-GS was estimated at baseline (1994-1996) (maximum score: 15 points) in 2135 subjects in the SU.VI.MAX (Supplementation with Antioxidant Vitamins and Minerals) study. We assessed cognitive performance of subjects in 2007-2009 via a battery of 4 neuropsychologic tests that included phonemic and semantic fluency, the RI-48 (rappel indicé-48 item) cued-recall test, the trail-making test, and forward and backward digit spans. A principal components analysis was performed to account for correlations in test scores. Multivariate linear regression models or analyses of covariance were also performed. RESULTS: In a multivariate model, we observed a positive association between the PNNS-GS and the cued-recall test and semantic and phonemic fluency tasks, whereas no association was observed with digit spans. The principal components analysis revealed 2 factors interpreted as reflecting verbal memory and executive functioning. Better adherence to nutritional recommendations was significantly associated with the verbal memory factor (β = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.17, 0.64), whereas no association was shown with the executive functioning factor. Removing specific components from the PNNS-GS did not modify the findings. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that strong compliance with nutritional recommendations in midlife is associated in elderly individuals with better verbal memory, which is a cognitive domain that is particularly vulnerable to pathologic aging and Alzheimer disease. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00272428.