A new study suggests that people who follow the MIND diet may have a lower risk of developing memory and thinking problems later in life.
The study, published in Neurology, shows that people whose eating habits closely follow the MIND diet experience slower cognitive decline.
However, the results only show a link between the diet and memory health—they don’t prove that the MIND diet prevents cognitive problems.
The MIND diet is a blend of two well-known healthy eating plans: the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet.
It focuses on eating foods like green leafy vegetables (such as spinach and kale), other vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and berries.
The diet also encourages limiting red meat, fried foods, sweets, and butter while recommending a glass of wine per day.
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati, led by Dr. Russell P. Sawyer, wanted to see if the MIND diet affected memory problems in both Black and white participants.
The study followed 14,145 people, with an average age of 64, for 10 years. Seventy percent of the participants were white, and 30% were Black.
Participants completed a diet questionnaire, and their eating habits were compared to the MIND diet.
They earned points for eating certain foods: three servings of whole grains per day, six servings of leafy greens per week, two servings of berries per week, and one serving of fish per week, among other recommendations. The highest possible score was 12.
The participants were divided into three groups based on their diet scores: low, middle, and high. Memory and thinking skills were tested at the beginning and end of the study.
During the study, 532 people in the low diet group (12%) developed memory problems, compared to 617 people (11%) in the middle group, and 402 people (10%) in the high group.
After adjusting for factors like age and health conditions, researchers found that people who followed the MIND diet most closely had a 4% lower risk of cognitive impairment. Women had a 6% reduced risk, while no significant reduction was seen in men.
The study also found that Black participants who followed the diet saw a slower decline in thinking skills compared to white participants.
Dr. Sawyer emphasized that while more research is needed, these findings suggest that making simple changes to your diet could potentially help delay memory issues. However, the study only included older Black and white people, so the results may not apply to other groups.
If you care about brain health ,please read studies about Vitamin B9 deficiency linked to higher dementia risk, and cranberries could help boost memory.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies about heartburn drugs that could increase risk of dementia, and results showing this MIND diet may protect your cognitive function, prevent dementia.
