There’s more good news about leafy greens! New research shows that eating more greens like spinach, kale, collards, and mustard greens could help slow the rate of age-related cognitive decline in older folks.

Dr. Martha Clare Morris presented her team’s findings at the Experimental Biology Meeting in Boston in March and explained their importance: “Losing’s one’s memory or cognitive abilities is one of the biggest fears for people at they get older…increasing your consumption of green leafy vegetables could offer a very simple, affordable and non-invasive way of potentially protecting your brain…”

Researchers tracked 954 seniors (average age 81) who were taking part in the Memory and Aging Project. They followed them for an average of five years and found that those who consumed leafy greens daily were considerably sharper than those who skimped on these nutrient-packed veggies.