The federally funded food stamp program is really delivering for brain health, a new study finds.
Over 41 million people participated last year in the US Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which helps low-income families purchase nutritious food.
We’ve long known that healthy foods — especially those rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and vitamins — can support brain function, memory and cognitive performance.
Now, new research reports that older SNAP recipients have a better chance of staving off cognitive decline than their peers who do not partake in the program.
“Research has shown that food insecurity can negatively impact cognitive function, and this is one of the first long-term studies to show that food assistance programs can positively impact cognition,” said Maria C. Carrillo, chief science officer and medical affairs lead for the Alzheimer’s Association.
The study, out of the University of Georgia, tracked 1,100 people 50 and older who were enrolled in SNAP in 2010 and 1,200 older adults who were eligible for SNAP but did not participate.
Researchers interviewed participants every two years between 2010 and 2020 to assess their memory and ability to plan and carry out tasks.
They determined that SNAP participants had a 0.10% slower decline in overall cognitive function, affording them two to three additional years of good brain health in the 10-year study period.
“For someone starting at a healthy cognitive score, this slower decline could delay reaching the threshold for mild cognitive impairment by nearly a decade,” said Linlin Da, lead study author and a Ph.D. candidate in health services research at UGA.
People with mild cognitive impairment face a significantly higher risk of developing dementia, a decline in memory, thinking, language, judgment and behavior that is so severe that it interferes with daily life.
While all SNAP participants seemed to benefit brain-wise, Da’s team noticed that white SNAP recipients exhibited even slower cognitive decline than black and Hispanic participants.
The researchers are calling for further exploration into the racial and ethnic disparities in the relationship between SNAP and cognitive health.
Their findings were presented Wednesday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto.
The study results come weeks after President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” introduced steep cuts to SNAP, making it harder for people to qualify and decreasing benefits for eligible recipients.
SNAP participants averaged about $187 in monthly benefits before the legislation was approved. The program — which dates back to 1939, during the Great Depression — cost about $100 billion in federal funding last year.
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