Let’s break down what the researchers found.
Reviewed by Dietitian Madeline Peck, RDN, CDN
Key Points
- Regular physical activity has been linked with a lower risk of dementia.
- Walking faster may reduce your risk of dementia by 50%.
- What you eat, stress, sleep and socialization also influence dementia risk.
As we age, our ability to go through life independently becomes more important—and it involves both physical and cognitive health. Unfortunately, the rate of dementia seems to be increasing in the U.S.(Dementia is an umbrella term for progressive brain conditions that worsen over time, and Alzheimer’s is one kind of dementia.) People with dementia lose the ability to think, remember and reason at levels that affect daily life and activities.
But there are ways to prevent or slow the progression of dementia and cognitive decline, including what you eat and how you move your body. And while many kinds of exercise can have benefits for your brain, one of the most common ways to get moving is a simple one: walking.
Researchers from several New York universities examined data from three long-term studies to see if there was any connection between walking speed and dementia risk among older adults. Let’s dive deeper into how they conducted this study and what they found.
How Was This Study Conducted?
Data were drawn from three long-term studies that followed people who were at least 80 years old at baseline with no clinical diagnosis of dementia: the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS-INS), the LongGenity study and the RUSH MAP study. Between the three studies, there were a total of about 4,000 participants. Each study collected various data, including walking speed, results of cognitive tests, brain imaging and brain autopsies, in addition to demographic data, family history, parental longevity, education level and dementia-related diagnoses.
Based on timed walking tests, these researchers defined “super movers” as people with a walking speed of at least 1.5 standard deviations above the average walking speed of people their own age. Researchers compared data from these super movers to data from non-super movers to see if the groups had a different risk of dementia.
What Did This Study Find?
The overarching finding of this study was that super movers had about a 50% lower risk of cognitive impairment compared to non-super movers.
Super movers also showed slower rates of memory- and non-memory-related cognitive decline and had more brain matter in the hippocampus (the part of the brain that plays a pivotal role in memory). In addition, super movers also had lower rates of Alzheimer’s, though the brain autopsies showed no major differences between the super movers and non-super movers regarding dementia-related pathologies.
The study authors point out a few limitations of their study, including potential confounding factors that they didn’t take into consideration. Additionally, the subset of individuals who had brain imaging data was relatively small and, therefore, limited some of the measurements. Lastly, one of the studies was made up of a higher proportion of super movers, which may have skewed the results.
How Does This Apply to Real Life?
We’ve reported numerous times in the past about the connection between physical activity and dementia risk. And while studies differ in how much physical activity—including duration, frequency and intensity—many agree that being physically active lowers the risk of dementia.
This study suggests that increasing the intensity of your walk, by walking faster, may decrease dementia risk more than walking slower. There could be several reasons why. For starters, moving your muscles increases blood flow, including to the brain. Moving faster can help get your blood pumping faster. Movement also increases BDNF, a brain protein essential for healthy cognition.
In addition, being intentional about arm swing while walking may help engage more parts of the brain—and it’s natural to increase arm movement when you pick the speed up. Interestingly, one of the signs of cognitive decline is a change in gait (walking posture and technique), including reduced arm movement.
Walking is a great form of exercise. It strengthens the heart and lungs, improves mood and strengthens muscles. Plus, it’s free and can be done just about anywhere. If you’re not currently a regular walker, start by going for short jaunts several times a week. Base your intensity and duration on your current fitness level and progressively increase the length of the walk, frequency and intensity over time.
If you’re already a regular walker, maybe it’s time to kick it up a notch. Your speed doesn’t have to increase for the entire walk. Try increasing it in spurts, turning your walk into an interval workout. You could also increase the intensity of your walk by mixing up the terrain and including hills—just make sure you’re steady on your feet and in some secure shoes.
How you eat, your stress levels and your sleep also have links to dementia. This is why it’s important to take a holistic approach to your health and keep the big picture in mind—and that includes relaxing and spending time with loved ones. Some research has also linked loneliness with an increased risk of dementia.
Our Expert Take
This study suggests that super movers—people who walk faster than other people the same age—have a 50% lower risk of dementia. While any movement is better than none, bumping up the speed of your walk may yield greater benefits than a slow stroll. And if you want some more tips for lowering dementia risk, aim for seven or eight hours of quality sleep a night, work on managing your stress, spend time socializing and eat anti-inflammatory foods, like what you’ll find in the MIND diet. Ready to get started? Try our 30-Day MIND Diet Meal Plan for Cognitive Health.
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