There is a group of Seventh-day Adventists in Loma Linda, California, who tend to live and thrive up to 10 years longer than their American brethren. Not all of them live to be 100, but they tend to enjoy relatively good health longer than most people in the United States. That’s why it’s known as the “Blue Zone.”
A big part of the winning Adventist strategy seems to be food. Adventists prioritize plants like beans, vegetables, and whole grains in their diets, and they generally don’t eat a ton of meat or junk food.
But a new study of more than 88,000 Adventists in North America adds a caveat. The new research suggests that while vegetarian diets are generally good for a person’s overall health, they may not be the best deal for an aging brain.
“While the vegetarian diet does a lot of good things, once you get people into their 80s, it seems like there’s some improvement possible,” Gary Fraser, an Adventist cardiologist and public health researcher based in Loma Linda, told Business Insider. “It might not be meat, of course, but it could be.”
Fraser’s new research found that vegetarian Adventists who live into their 80s and beyond have slightly higher rates of diseases such as stroke, dementia and Parkinson’s disease than other Adventists who eat meat.
Based on her own research, she developed a two-part weekly plan for brain health: one daily supplement and one repeat menu item.
Being a vegetarian is good for you in your early years
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Vegetarian and vegan diets, especially those that emphasize beans and whole grains, are highly effective in reducing the risk of life-threatening diseases.
“We’re used to vegetarians being good at everything,” Fraser said. “We have very good evidence that vegetarian diets in general are very good at preventing a significant proportion of what we would call ‘premature deaths’ in the ’50s, ’60s, perhaps early ’70s.”
According to Fraser’s latest research, even in old age, a good anti-inflammatory vegetarian diet can reduce the risk of kidney failure, infectious disease, type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
So eating overly processed red meat or poultry every day isn’t the answer to longevity. Research shows that for most of us, the opposite is true: substituting beans and whole grains for a few servings of bacon or the regular hot dog every now and then will boost our cognitive health.
Fraser suspects that the data on aging brains and meat consumption is at least partly down to an absorption problem. As we age, our bodies become less efficient at converting essential nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids from nuts and oils we consume, into the brain food we need to thrive.
“Long-chain omega-3 deficiency in the very old may be part of the problem,” he hypothesized.
That doesn’t mean the average meat-eater’s diet is a boon for brain health. Fraser’s team looked only at Adventists, people who (generally) have a healthier, more nutrient-dense diet than most people.
Overall, it’s still hard to argue against the available evidence that suggests that leaning toward vegan foods like leafy greens, lots of colorful vegetables, and generous amounts of olive oil is great for brain health—and certainly better than what researchers call the SAD, the “standard American diet” that’s rich in overly processed cakes, snacks, and sugary drinks but low in nutrients.
This doctor’s successful weekly routine includes fish and a supplement – the pill longevity enthusiasts love
Many longevity doctors take vitamin D. Science Photo Library/Getty Images
Fraser, who is in her late 70s and describes herself as an Adventist, follows a fairly simple weekly routine from her home in California. She generally doesn’t include red meat or dairy, but points to two key ingredients that are aimed at maintaining brain health.
First, there’s fish. Fraser recommends aiming for about two servings of oily fish per week, which contains plenty of omega-3s. His personal favorite?
“I like salmon best,” he said, but sardines, herring, anchovies and trout are also good choices.
Salmon is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for keeping our brains healthy. Previous research has already suggested strong links between omega-3 consumption and better cognition. A 2022 study found that middle-aged adults who regularly consumed omega-3s tended to have better abstract reasoning and that the areas of their brains responsible for learning and memory were physically larger.
Oily fish, meat and eggs are also rich in the nutrient choline. Choline keeps our cells healthy and helps with memory, mood and overall brain function. It’s found in good amounts in soybeans and potatoes, but tends to be more abundant in meatier foods like chicken, beef, eggs and fish.
“Choline is another very important chemical in brain tissue,” he said. “And again, vegetarians don’t get much of it.”
In addition to her regular servings of fish, Fraser takes a whopping 4,000-5,000 IU of vitamin D a day—more than five times the recommended daily dose for her age group (800 IU). Many longevity doctors and public health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, also say they take large doses of vitamin D. Fraser says she’s happy with such a large dose because we know that our ability to absorb vitamin D from the sun decreases with age. There’s also some evidence that vitamin D is good for bone health, as well as for maintaining brain function.
But Fraser says that, generally speaking, people under 70 don’t need to worry too much about all this. As we age, the way the body works and absorbs nutrients changes.
The reason for this is still not entirely clear, but Fraser says: “Let’s say when you turn 75, it would be wise to add some fish until we know better.”