Wholemeal flour and dementia in a Pakistani population
What it found
In a questionnaire study in Pakistan, people with dementia were far less likely to report using wholemeal flour than cognitively healthy people.
The study was in people, and it cannot show cause and effect.
What they found
Studies in people
Flour choice and dementia
All 30 cognitively healthy participants reported using whole wheat flour for chapati, while 73% of the dementia group reported long-term use of refined white flour and 27% used diet atta. The authors say this difference between the groups was highly significant.
Wholemeal flour in the survey
Whole grain wheat flour was the main flour choice for 77% of the 144 adults surveyed, white flour for 21%, and diet atta and multigrain flour for 1% each. Health benefits were the main reason given by 72% of them.
Other brain foods
The healthy group reported eating more coffee, broccoli, fatty fish, turmeric, blueberries, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, green leafy vegetables and whole grain atta each day than the dementia group. No differences were seen for nuts, yogurt or green tea.
Activity and health
96.7% of the healthy group did regular physical activity, compared with 36.7% of the dementia group. High blood pressure was also more common in the dementia group (53.3%) than in the healthy group (16.7%).
Social belonging
87% of the healthy group described a very strong sense of belonging to their community, compared with 17% of the dementia group. The dementia group also ate out far less often.
Awareness of whole grains
Awareness of the helpful compounds in whole grains was high in both groups, at 97% of the healthy group and 93% of the dementia group, with no significant difference between them.
What the authors conclude
“Although causal relationships cannot be inferred due to the cross-sectional design, the findings suggest that whole wheat flour consumption may be associated with broader dietary patterns linked to cognitive health.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the findings suggest that whole wheat flour consumption may be associated with broader dietary patterns linked to cognitive health.
- They write that promoting whole wheat flour as a staple food choice may be a culturally feasible strategy within dietary approaches aimed at supporting healthy brain aging.
- They call for prospective cohort studies and randomized dietary interventions in South Asian populations to clarify whether such dietary habits play a direct role in dementia prevention.
How it was done
Whole grains are increasingly seen as part of diets linked to healthy aging, but little research has looked at whole wheat flour and brain health in South Asian populations, where wheat foods are a daily staple.
In the first phase, 144 adults in Pakistan answered interviewer-led questions about their diet and wheat product use. In the second phase, 30 people with clinically diagnosed dementia and 30 cognitively healthy people matched for age and sex answered the same questions, with extra questions on long-term whole wheat flour intake.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a cross-sectional study, so it can show a link between reported flour use and dementia status but not that one caused the other.
- People with dementia may not remember their past diet accurately, even with help from family members.
- The study was small and recruited from one private hospital, so the results may not apply to other groups.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Molise, Italy; Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Pakistan; Federal Government PolyClinic Hospital, Pakistan
The paper
- Title
- Dietary Whole Wheat Flour Intake in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Insight into Long-Term Dementia Prevention
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Masood F, Minò A, Sadiq F, Mahmood R, Di Costanzo A, Angiolillo A (2026). Dietary Whole Wheat Flour Intake in Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Insight into Long-Term Dementia Prevention. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu18071135Free full textPubMed 41978185DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error