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65/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 65 out of 100. Prevention and risk

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Background Regular consumption of fruit and vegetables has been considered to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia and age-associated cognitive decline, although the association is currently unsupported by a systematic review of the literature. Methods We searched Medline, Embase, Biosis, ALOIS, the Cochrane library, different publisher databases as well as bibliographies of retrieved articles. All cohort studies with a follow-up of 6 months or longer were included if they reported an association of Alzheimer's disease or cognitive decline in regard to the frequency of fruit and vegetables consumption. Findings Nine studies with a total of 44,004 participants met the inclusion criteria. Six studies analyzed fruit and vegetables separately and five of them found that higher consumption of vegetables, but not fruit is associated with a decreased risk of dementia or cognitive decline. The same association was found by three further studies for fruit and vegetable consumption analytically combined. Conclusion Increased intake of vegetables is associated with a lower risk of dementia and slower rates of cognitive decline in older age. Yet, evidence that this association is also valid for high fruit consumption is lacking.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Loef, M., & Walach, H. (2012). Fruit, vegetables and prevention of cognitive decline or dementia: a systematic review of cohort studies. The journal of nutrition, health & aging. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-012-0097-x

Vancouver

Loef M, Walach H. Fruit, vegetables and prevention of cognitive decline or dementia: a systematic review of cohort studies. The journal of nutrition, health & aging. 2012. doi:10.1007/s12603-012-0097-x. PMID: 22836704.

BibTeX

@article{loef2012-22836704,
  author  = {Loef, M. and Walach, H.},
  title   = {{Fruit, vegetables and prevention of cognitive decline or dementia: a systematic review of cohort studies}},
  journal = {The journal of nutrition, health \& aging},
  year    = {2012},
  doi     = {10.1007/s12603-012-0097-x},
  pmid    = {22836704},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-012-0097-x}
}

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Key findings

Background Regular consumption of fruit and vegetables has been considered to be associated with a reduced risk of dementia and age-associated cognitive decline, although the association is currently unsupported by a systematic review of the literature.
Six studies analyzed fruit and vegetables separately and five of them found that higher consumption of vegetables, but not fruit is associated with a decreased risk of dementia or cognitive decline.
Conclusion Increased intake of vegetables is associated with a lower risk of dementia and slower rates of cognitive decline in older age.

Why it matters

This systematic review of cohort studies found that higher vegetable consumption, but not fruit, was associated with lower risk of dementia or cognitive decline. It reports an association only and does not show that eating vegetables prevents dementia.

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Study details

Study designsystematic review
Participants44,004
Evidence strengthHigh

How this study scored 65/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a systematic review of all the studies on the question. Scored zero for effect reported because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (The journal of nutrition, health & aging)
Journal's citation record	1 / 4	The journal of nutrition health & aging: journal h-index 122 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	12 / 12	A systematic review of all the studies on the question
Strength of evidence	5 / 5	Rated “high” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2012 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	4 / 4	44,004 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	A review of other studies — randomization is not credited here
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 225 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	14.1 citations a year over 16 year(s) since 2012
Impact for its field and year	2 / 6	Cited 1.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 10 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 34 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	3 / 4	Last-listed author Harald Walach: h-index 56 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	0 / 3	European University Viadrina: institution h-index 127 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	0 / 3	OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete)
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 22836704)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	65 / 100	—

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