Does eating chocolate and drinking wine and tea reduce dementia risk?

A recent research study looking at diet and dementia risk has received a lot of attention in the media. What did the researchers examine and how did the media cover this?

The researchers, based at Queen’s University Belfast, analysed data from a very large database of over 500,000 participants. They looked at the relationship between food and drink high in flavonoids and dementia risk. Flavonoids are compounds found in plant-derived foods and include many fruits, vegetables, dark chocolate, tea and red wine. They found that those with a diet rich in flavonoids had a lower risk of dementia overall as a group. Researchers believe that flavonoids could have a protective effect on brain cells, helping to block the build up of plaques associated with dementia. The reduction in dementia risk was particularly in strong with people who had a high genetic risk of dementia, or who had hypertension or depression symptoms.

There were some very sensationalist headlines in the media coverage of this study including “increase your intake of red wine, tea, berries, and dark chocolate to reduce dementia risk, scientists say” , “why you should be enjoying red wine, berries and chocolate to stave off dementia” and “new study reasserts red wine helps reduce dementia risk”. This last headline was published in a alcohol business magazine. When we look at the published paper that reported this study it quickly becomes clear that it was one serving of red wine per day that was associated with a lower dementia risk. Over the years we have continually seen headlines written for clickbait like these including one about consuming cheese and wine and brain health and another that asserted that drinking a bottle of wine a day is better than not drinking alcohol at all.

What was really good to see in the reporting was many articles mention the strongest findings for those with a high genetic risk of dementia, or who had hypertension or depression symptoms. This is important information for those groups of people and such extensive and accurate coverage is very good to see. May of the media reports also included statements from the research team who conducted the study and some also included the views of other researchers. If you are a regular reader of our blogs you will be aware that including these statements is an important sign of identifying the accuracy of a media article. Our broader set of top tips are here!