Healthy habits for brain health: JADE Health promotes dementia prevention this summer
As part of its summer campaign, JADE Health is sharing a new educational resource focused on healthy habits to help prevent cognitive decline and promote brain health.
The material highlights the importance of acting on modifiable risk factors, which are characteristics or habits that can increase the likelihood of developing cognitive decline. While some risk factors, such as age, cannot be changed, many others can be addressed through everyday decisions and healthier routines.
The JADE Health booklet focuses on four key modifiable risk factors: diet, exercise, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. These factors do not act in isolation. They can reinforce each other and contribute to cardiovascular, metabolic and brain health problems. For this reason, improving one habit can have a positive chain reaction on overall health and cognitive well-being.
Diet plays an important role in maintaining cognitive function and reducing associated cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. A healthy and balanced diet, based on fresh and varied foods, can support brain health. The booklet especially highlights healthy eating patterns associated with the Mediterranean diet, including eating fruits and vegetables daily, reducing salt intake, limiting sugar and avoiding ultra-processed foods.
Physical activity is another essential pillar. Staying active helps improve memory, mood and brain function, while also contributing to the control of hypertension, diabetes and obesity. JADE Health encourages simple and accessible forms of movement, such as walking, dancing or cycling, as well as muscle-strengthening, balance and stretching exercises.
The material also addresses alcohol and tobacco use. Reducing alcohol consumption and avoiding harmful drinking patterns can help protect cognitive health. Quitting smoking is also presented as a key step, as tobacco increases the risk of cognitive decline and is linked to several diseases. The booklet reminds readers that stopping smoking brings benefits from day one and that professional support can make the process easier.
The recommendations included in this educational material are based on World Health Organization guidance on risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia. JADE Health also encourages people to seek advice from doctors and nurses, who can provide personalised guidance according to individual needs and health conditions.
Through this resource, JADE Health aims to promote accessible, evidence-based information and empower citizens to take small, practical steps towards healthier ageing and better brain health.