Eating spinach once a day could halt mental decline by 11 years

Adults who ate vegetables such as kale and spinach suffered considerably less cognitive decline than those who did not

Spinach (David Paul Morris/Getty Images)

Popeye may have eaten spinach to get his bulging muscles, but a new study has found that one portion of leafy greens a day could also be good for your brain.

Researchers at Rush University in Chicago discovered that adults who ate vegetables such as kale and spinach one or twice a day suffered considerably less cognitive decline than those who did not, regardless of other factors such as education, exercise and family medical history.

The findings were presented at the Experimental Biology Conference in Boston. Researchers evaluated 950 people with an average age of 81 years, who participated in 19 different tests to assess their mental function.

On average, it was found that participants who ate greens once or twice a day halted their mental decline by 11 years.

Lead study author Martha Clare Morris said the brain benefits associated with dark leafy greens likely stemmed from key nutrients such as vitamin K.

"Since declining cognitive ability is central to Alzheimer’s disease and dementias, increasing consumption of green leafy vegetables could offer a very simple, affordable and non-invasive way of potentially protecting your brain," she said.