Brain Awareness Week - The MIND Diet

THINK WELL
Written By Guest User

This year, Brain Awareness Week falls between 13th and 19th of March. Brain Awareness Week is a global campaign aimed to increase public knowledge about the progress and benefits of brain research. With that in mind, we wanted to investigate the link between our diet and brain health and unravel whether a particular diet may hold the answers to better cognition.

The MIND Diet – What is it?

The Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet is a relatively new diet that combines the Mediterranean diet and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. It was developed with the aim of improving brain function, based on previous research that associated both the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet with improved brain health (1-4).

The Mediterranean diet involves eating plenty of fruit, vegetables, fish, grains, nuts and olive oil. It encompasses the traditional eating habits from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea including Italy, Spain, France and Greece. Research has previously found various benefits associated with this way of eating, such as improved cognitive function, heart health, metabolic health, and a decreased risk of death (1, 2).

The DASH diet was originally created to help individuals with high blood pressure (5) but has also been found to improve cognitive function. However, by comparison to the Mediterranean diet, it promotes a reduced intake of healthy fats, and it also has an emphasises on reduced salt intake.

As a combination of the two above diets, the MIND diet involves (6):

Limiting the consumption the following foods:

  • Red meat

  • Cheese

  • Butter and margarine

  • Fried foods

  • Pastries and sweets

Eating more of the following foods:

  • Green leafy vegetables – at least 1 serving daily

  • Vegetables – at least 2 servings daily

  • Wholegrains – at least 3 servings daily

  • Beans – least 4 servings per week

  • Berries – at least 2 servings per week

  • Poultry – at least 2 servings per week

  • Fish – at least 1 serving per week

  • Nuts – as a snack most days

  • Olive oil

 

What’s the evidence?

The earliest studies on the effects of the MIND diet were published in 2015 (7, 8). These studies found individuals who followed the MIND diet had a significant rate reduction of cognitive decline. One of these studies also found that individuals with the highest adherence to the MIND diet had a 53% decreased risk of developing Alzheimer disease (7). In more recent times, a study published in 2022 reviewed 13 previous studies on the association between MIND diet and cognitive performance in older adults (9). It was concluded that the MIND diet was associated with improvements in various areas of cognitive function, including improved memory, attention, learning scores and reduced cognitive decline.

By contrast, another new study published in October 2022 focussed on the association between dietary habits and dementia incidence over a 20-year period (10). This study concluded that adherence to either the conventional dietary recommendations or the Mediterranean diet was not associated with a lower incidence in all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or Vascular dementia. This perfectly illustrates how new research on this topic is still emerging, and that more studies are needed to further examine these associations.

 

What can we take from this?

It’s safe to say that research has found that the MIND diet could have positive effects on brain health and should be encouraged particularly for those at higher risk of developing Dementia. While some people may easily take to this diet with the hope of improving their brain health, others may not want to fully commit to the MIND diet (which is okay!). Finding small ways to incorporate more of the food items listed above into your diet is still encouraged, as following the MIND diet even to a mild or moderate degree could be beneficial.

 

References:

  1. Loughrey DG, Lavecchia S, Brennan S, Lawlor BA, Kelly ME. The Impact of the Mediterranean Diet on the Cognitive Functioning of Healthy Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Adv Nutr. 2017;8(4):571-586. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.117.015495.

  2. Schwingshackl L, Morze J, Hoffmann G. Mediterranean diet and health status: Active ingredients and pharmacological mechanisms. Br J Pharmacol. 2020;177(6):1241-1257. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31243760/.

  3. Berendsen AAM, Kang JH, van de Rest O, Feskens EJM, de Groot LCPGM, Grodstein F. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet, Cognitive Function, and Cognitive Decline in American Older Women. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2017;18(5):427-432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2016.11.026.

  4. Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, Sacks FM, Bennett DA, Aggarwal NT. MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2015;11(9):1007-1014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2014.11.009.

  5. Filippou CD, Tsioufis CP, Thomopoulos CG, et al. Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet and Blood Pressure Reduction in Adults with and without Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Adv Nutr. 2020;11(5):1150-1160. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7490167/.

  6. Marcason W. What Are the Components to the MIND Diet?. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015;115(10):1744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2015.08.002.

  7. Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, Sacks FM, Bennett DA, Aggarwal NT. MIND diet associated with reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2015;11(9):1007-1014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2014.11.009.

  8. Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, et al. MIND diet slows cognitive decline with aging. Alzheimers Dement. 2015;11(9):1015-1022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2015.04.011.

  9. Kheirouri S, Alizadeh M. MIND diet and cognitive performance in older adults: a systematic review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2022;62(29):8059-8077. https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2021.1925220.

  10. Glans I, Sonestedt E, Nägga K, et al. Association Between Dietary Habits in Midlife With Dementia Incidence Over a 20-Year Period [published online ahead of print, 2022 Oct 12]. Neurology. 2022;10.1212/WNL.0000000000201336. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000201336.

  11. Van den Brink AC, Brouwer-Brolsma EM, Berendsen AAM, van de Rest O. The Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) Diets Are Associated with Less Cognitive Decline and a Lower Risk of Alzheimer's Disease-A Review. Adv Nutr. 2019;10(6):1040-1065. https://doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmz054.

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