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High-quality Indo-Mediterranean foods are characterised with unrefined, unprocessed foods, whole grains such as dry millets and beans and porridge. Vegetables such as leaves and gourds, nuts and fruits such as apples, grapes, papaya, guava, etc are major components of this diet. It seems that healthy vegetable oils such as olive, mustard, rape seed oil and protein sources that are beneficial; beans, pulses, cottage cheese are crucial in this diet. Among animal sources, white meats; such as sea foods should also be part of this diet. Vegetables and spices with medicinal properties; gourds, turmeric, fenugreek, coriander and cumin may also be called high quality nutraceutical foods, respectively. There is a need to find out traditional foods from all other countries which may be protective and healthy. There is evidence that calories have tremendous role in weight gain and weight loss. It seems that emphasis on food quality is crucial for prevention of oxidative stress and inflammation in the adipocytes, which predispose obesity and risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes. There are gaps in knowledge about the qualities of traditional foods, which prompt authors to present this communication.

Background/Aim: Dementia has become a public health problem due to its association with biological risk factors; obesity, diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolaemia. Most of these risk factors, appear to be associated with dementia as well as with risk of coronary artery diseases (CADs) and stroke. This study aimed to find out the association of biological risk factors with cognitive impairment and dementia. Methods: Cross-sectional survey in a hospital was performed. After written informed consent and approval from hospital ethic committee, all subjects (n = 2002) above 25 years of age (1016 males and 986 females) were randomly selected and recruited from urban population of Moradabad, North India. Clinical data and risk factors were recorded with the help of case record form and validated questionnaires. Assessment of cognitive decline and dementia was made by Singh's memory function rating scale and biological risk factors by physical examination, sphygmomanometer and electrocardiography. The association of biological risk factors with dementia was calculated by multivariate logistic regression analysis after adjustment of age and sex. Results: Obesity, diabetes, hypertension, CAD and hypercholesterolemia were highly prevalent independent risk factors among patients with dementia. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that regardless of age and body mass index, diabetes mellitus and CAD were highly significant (p < 0.001) risk factors of dementia. Hypertension and family history of dementia were weakly but significantly(p < 0.05) associated with dementia. Conclusion: It is possible that increased frequency of obesity, diabetes, hypertension and CAD may increase the risk of dementia in an ageing population. Prevention and control of these biological risk factors may cause decline in the risk of dementia.