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Every row of the evidence table
One row per finding: what was tested, which way the result went, and how the study was built. The answer by area, and where the studies disagree, are on the main page.
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Showing 14 of 382 rows. One row per study per exposure: a study that tested two different things appears twice, once for each.
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| Exposure | Question | Direction | Outcome measured | Design | People | Effect size, as the source reported it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coffee, tea and flavonoid-rich foods Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyThe association was strongest at moderate intake rather than the highest. |
Incident dementia over a median 36.8 years | cohort study | 131,821 | HR 0.82 (95% CI 0.76-0.89) for highest vs lowest quartile of caffeinated coffee |
JAMA
2026 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 41661604 |
| Coffee, tea and flavonoid-rich foods Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
why882 cases across five quintiles and several interaction strata, so the subgroup estimates rest on small numbers. |
Incident dementia over a mean 9.2 years | cohort study | 121,986 | AHR 0.72 (95% CI 0.57-0.89) for highest vs lowest flavodiet quintile |
JAMA Network Open
2024 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 39292460 |
| Dietary pattern (general) Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyThe association is reported in people who already have elevated Alzheimer's blood markers, which is the point of the study. |
Incident dementia over a mean 8.4 years | cohort study | 1,865 | Dementia HR 0.71 (95% CI 0.58-0.88) per SD of anti-inflammatory diet adherence among participants with elevated p-tau217 |
JAMA Network Open
2026 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 42348207 |
| Dietary pattern (general) Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyDirection is for a healthier plant-based diet: higher overall and healthful plant-based diet scores were associated with lower dementia risk, while a higher unhealthful plant-based diet score was associated with higher risk (pooled HR 1.42). |
Incident dementia by plant-based diet index (overall, healthful and unhealthful) | meta-analysis | 207,981 | higher scores in PDI and hPDI were associated with lower risk of dementia (highest vs. lowest tertile: pooled HR for PDI = 0.70, 95% CI, 0.53-0.92, p for trend <0.001; pooled HR for hPDI = 0.71, 0.48-1.06, p for trend = 0.03) ... higher uPDI was associated with higher dementia risk (highest vs. lowest tertile: pooled HR = 1.42, 1.19-1.70, p for trend <0.001). In the meta-analysis, individuals in the highest hPDI tertile had 21% lower dementia risk, and those in the highest uPDI tertile had 24% higher risk |
The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease
2026 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 41564649 |
| Dietary pattern (general) Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyIndependent of overall diet quality. Substituting olive oil for margarine or mayonnaise was also associated with lower risk; substituting for butter or other vegetable oils was not. |
Dementia-related death over 28 years | cohort study | 92,383 | HR 0.72 (95% CI 0.64-0.81) for dementia-related death with ≥7 g/day olive oil vs never/rarely |
JAMA Network Open
2024 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 38709531 |
| Dietary pattern (general) Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyPooled observational studies only. |
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease | meta-analysis | 65,955 | Pooled OR 0.89 (95% CI 0.84-0.94) for dementia; cohort HR 0.84 (0.76-0.94); Alzheimer's OR 0.73 (0.62-0.85) |
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research
2024 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 38519775 |
| Dietary pattern (general) Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyObservational. Points the opposite way to the randomised MIND diet trial. |
Incident dementia | meta-analysis | 224,049 | HR 0.83 per 3-point MIND-score increment (95% CI 0.72-0.95); highest vs lowest tertile HR 0.83 (0.76-0.90) |
JAMA Psychiatry
2023 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 37133875 |
| Dietary pattern (general) Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whySignificant on one adherence score (MEDAS, HR 0.77) but not the other (PYRAMID, HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.73-1.02). |
Incident dementia over a mean 9.1 years | cohort study | 60,298 | HR 0.77 (95% CI 0.65-0.91) for highest vs lowest MEDAS tertile |
BMC Medicine
2023 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 36915130 |
| Dietary pattern (general) Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyControls declined while the olive-oil arm held steady; the nut arm fell between the two. Cognitive follow-up was available for 334 of 447 enrolled. |
Global cognition composite at median 4.1 years | randomised trial | 447 | Global cognition composite: +0.05 (95% CI -0.11 to 0.21) olive-oil arm vs -0.38 (-0.57 to -0.18) control; P=0.005 |
JAMA Internal Medicine
2015 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 25961184 |
| MIND diet Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyObservational. Points the opposite way to the randomised MIND diet trial. |
Incident dementia | meta-analysis | 224,049 | HR 0.83 per 3-point MIND-score increment (95% CI 0.72-0.95); highest vs lowest tertile HR 0.83 (0.76-0.90) |
JAMA Psychiatry
2023 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 37133875 |
| Mediterranean diet Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyPooled observational studies only. |
Dementia and Alzheimer's disease | meta-analysis | 65,955 | Pooled OR 0.89 (95% CI 0.84-0.94) for dementia; cohort HR 0.84 (0.76-0.94); Alzheimer's OR 0.73 (0.62-0.85) |
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research
2024 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 38519775 |
| Mediterranean diet Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whySignificant on one adherence score (MEDAS, HR 0.77) but not the other (PYRAMID, HR 0.86, 95% CI 0.73-1.02). |
Incident dementia over a mean 9.1 years | cohort study | 60,298 | HR 0.77 (95% CI 0.65-0.91) for highest vs lowest MEDAS tertile |
BMC Medicine
2023 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 36915130 |
| Mediterranean diet Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyControls declined while the olive-oil arm held steady; the nut arm fell between the two. Cognitive follow-up was available for 334 of 447 enrolled. |
Global cognition composite at median 4.1 years | randomised trial | 447 | Global cognition composite: +0.05 (95% CI -0.11 to 0.21) olive-oil arm vs -0.38 (-0.57 to -0.18) control; P=0.005 |
JAMA Internal Medicine
2015 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 25961184 |
| Omega-3 / fish and fish oil Diet and supplements | Prevention |
Benefit
whyDietary intake and blood levels, pooled from observational cohorts. The much larger supplement estimate (HR 0.36) comes from one cohort's self-selected supplement users, not from a trial. |
All-cause dementia or cognitive decline | meta-analysis | 103,651 | Dietary DHA intake RR 0.82 for dementia or cognitive decline; ADNI supplement users HR 0.36 (95% CI 0.18-0.72) for Alzheimer's |
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
2023 ✓ Peer-reviewed PMID 37028557 |