Maintaining a healthy diet can potentially stop your brain from shrinking!...Over the years countless studies on vitamin deficiencies and cognitive decline have proven that there are very clear links between nutrition and brain health.
In recent times an even more in-depth study has taken this research to the next level. In the latest study into understanding the connection between good nutrition and a healthy brain; researchers used biomarkers in the blood to correlate vitamins with brain health, both good and bad. These biomarkers were used to measure the vitamin levels in 104 subjects. The subjects also participated in various tests to measure thinking and memory function and 42 of these subjects had MRI scans to measure their brain volume. The results of the research showed some very interesting connections between nutrition and brain health. Subjects who had higher levels of B vitamins, as well as vitamins C, D and E in their blood scored higher on the cognitive tests than subjects with lower levels of these vitamins. The same was true of the subjects who had higher levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in the blood. The study also found that subjects with higher levels of trans-fats in their blood exhibited a definite 'poorer' performance in the thinking and memory test; their MRI scans revealed more brain shrinkage than people who had lower trans-fats levels...just to clarify; trans-fats are found in a variety of junk foods, e.g. fried, packaged and fast foods, such as McDonalds (hope you are taking note Weight Watchers!).
Scientists continue to conduct more and more research in this area to provide even more concrete evidence; but for now this study should be enough for you to see the potential effects that maintaining a healthy diet can have on cognitive performance.