By Blake Brittain and Katie Paul A group of writers including Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon sued Meta

The biological age of our brains is a health factor that many people neglect – but as young people these days are expected to live longer than ever, it’s getting more and more important. It turns out that switching to a diet full of fresh vegetables and low in processed foods could do wonders for what’s going on up there, new research has found. According to a team of scientists from universities in Israel, Germany and the US, eating a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, seafood and whole grains can slow the signs of accelerated brain ageing which are typically seen in obese patients. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Scans taken after 18 months showed the participants’ brain age appeared almost nine months younger than expected, compared to estimates of their brain’s chronological age. The study involved imaging the brains of 102 people who were taking part in a larger clinical trial. Scans were taken at the beginning, and again after 18 months, along with tests of liver function, cholesterol levels and body weight. Groups ate one of three diets: a Meditterranean diet of nuts, fish and chicken instead of red meat, a similar diet but with a few added extras like green tea, or a diet based on healthy dietary guidelines. Brain age estimates were based on an algorithm that had been trained using brain scans from a separate group of nearly 300 people. People in the trial lost an average of about 2.3kg. For every 1 percent of body weight lost after following a set diet, the participants’ brains appeared about nine months younger than their chronological age. However, it is still unknown whether changes in brain age actually translates to improvements in brain function. "Our study highlights the importance of a healthy lifestyle, including lower consumption of processed food, sweets, and beverages, in maintaining brain health," said neuroscientist Gidon Levakov of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. The study was published in eLife. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Irish Booker prize winner Paul Lynch has said he was “astonished” by violent disturbances on the streets of Dublin this week, but this kind of behaviour is “always under the surface”. The author, who lives in Dublin, spoke at a Sunday press conference after he received the award during a ceremony at Old Billingsgate, London His dystopian novel Prophet Song explores what happens when his home country slides into authoritarianism. When asked what he thought about the riots in Ireland, which involved right-wing elements, Lynch said: “Like everybody else, I was astonished by it. “And at the same time, I recognise the truth that this kind of energy is always there under the surface and, I didn’t write this book to specifically say, ‘here’s a warning’, I wrote the book to articulate the message that the things that are in this book are occurring timelessly throughout the ages. “And maybe we need to deepen our own responses to that kind of idea. But at the same time, what was happening in Dublin? Well, you know, we can see it as a warning, I think we should see it was a warning.” Lynch also said he was “distinctly not a political novelist” and his book is really about “grief”, as it tells the story of a woman who has her husband taken away by the newly formed Irish secret police. He also said that “Ireland is an extraordinary country to live in” and a welcoming country. Lynch added: “It’s a great place for writers, any country that supports writers in the way that the Arts Council has supported me and many other really truly worthy Irish writers can only be a great place to live. “So I could not be more proud to be an Irish writer right now, it’s really something. “Well, you know, I think that if any of us were to look at the state of affairs from the point of view of 20 years ago, we couldn’t quite believe the modern world that we find ourselves in. “And I do think that you looked at things objectively, there is a sense of unravelling of a kind. “The question is, is what are we going to do about it and can anything be done about it? “I mean, Prophet Song is a counterfactual novel, it’s not a prophetic statement but there are resonances in it that are there for the taking for readers who want to think about these things.” He also said that “there’s layers and layers at work in my writing” and novels are complex. Lynch added: “To reduce the book down to one single message is actually pointless to a certain extent and goes against, the reason why I wrote the book, the book is actually its own answer.” He also said he was most likely to spend half of the prize, worth £50,000, on his mortgage. Lynch also said that before writing full time he had reached a point in his life where he had “exhausted all the possibilities”. He added: “There was a moment writing this book during lockdown, it was hugely challenging. I had long Covid for periods, and I’d wake up many days and I would have had just like, brain fog, and I had just, like, just fatigue, and I couldn’t work.” Read More Rishi Sunak slams Elon Musk’s ‘wrong’ remarks as antisemitism row deepens Former England footballer Ian Wright among those to collect honours What the papers say – November 27 Covid inquiry kicks off key week with Khan and Burnham giving evidence AI image generators ‘being used by children to create indecent images’ Bill to ban creation of new leasehold houses to be introduced to Parliament

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