Policy Actions Required to Improve Nutrition for Brain Health

Suzanne Higgs; Kristien Aarts; Roger A H Adan; Jan K Buitelaar; Francesca Cirulli; John F Cryan; Suzanne L Dickson; Aniko Korosi; Eline M van der Beek; Louise Dye

doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuae160

Policy Actions Required to Improve Nutrition for Brain Health

Nutr Rev. 2024 Oct 29:nuae160. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuae160. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Suzanne Higgs¹, Kristien Aarts², Roger A H Adan³, Jan K Buitelaar⁴, Francesca Cirulli⁵, John F Cryan⁶, Suzanne L Dickson^{2

7}, Aniko Korosi⁸, Eline M van der Beek⁹, Louise Dye¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B152TT, United Kingdom.
² European Brain Council, Brussels 1000, Belgium.
³ Department of Translational Neuroscience, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, Utrecht University, Utrecht 3584 CG, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Radboudumc, Nijmegen 6500HB, The Netherlands.
⁵ Center for Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome 00161, Italy.
⁶ Department of Anatomy & Neuroscience and APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork T12YT20, Ireland.
⁷ Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg 41135, Sweden.
⁸ Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Center for Neuroscience, Brain Plasticity Group, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1090, The Netherlands.
⁹ Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen 9700, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ Institute for Sustainable Food, School of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 4DP, United Kingdom.

PMID: 39471498
DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuae160

Abstract

Brain health is a pressing global concern. Poor diet quality is a recognized major environmental risk factor for brain disorders and one of the few that is modifiable. There is substantial evidence that nutrition impacts brain development and brain health across the life course. So why then is the full potential of nutrition not utilized to improve brain function? This commentary, which is based on discussions of the European Brain Research Area BRAINFOOD cluster, aims to highlight the most urgent research priorities concerning the evidence base in the area of nutrition and brain health and identifies 3 major issues that need to be addressed: (1) increase causal and mechanistic evidence on the link between nutrition and brain health, (2) produce effective messages/education concerning the role of food for brain health, and (3) provide funding to support collaborative working across diverse stakeholders.

Keywords: brain health; health policy; nutrition.

Abstract

Grants and funding