When Grandma said that I should eat fish because fish is brain food, she was closer to the truth than I ever realized. Scientists and doctors have also been telling us for years that diet and exercise play a huge part in our overall health. It just makes sense that a healthier lifestyle including an abundance of fruits and vegetables with plenty of exercise results in a longer and more active life on into retirement.

But testing this theory has proven difficult. In the past, studies on healthy lifestyle choices as related to diseases including Alzheimer’s have always been large epidemiological studies based on surveys and, ironically, memory of previous diet and exercise patterns.