The thinking on flavonoids

These plant chemicals, found in most fruits and vegetables, may play an important role in cognitive fitness and dementia prevention.

Science already touts the heart-health benefits of plant-based diets like the Mediterranean, MIND, and DASH diets. Now researchers have turned their attention to how plant-based eating also may prevent dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.

And one class of nutrients in plants continues to stand out: flavonoids. "The more we learn about flavonoids' role in health, the more we find that they may have far-reaching potential in helping to protect an aging brain," says Dr. Tian-Shin Yeh, a researcher in the area of diet and cognitive function with Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health.