MIND What You Eat: A Healthy Diet May Significantly Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk

New research published in Alzheimer's and Dementia suggests that following the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet may cut Alzheimer's disease risk by 50 percent. As its name suggests, the MIND diet has substantial overlap with the Mediterranean and DASH diets. Its guidelines were developed by Martha Clare Morris, PhD, and colleagues at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago as an optimal diet for brain health. The MIND diet emphasizes leafy greens and other vegetables, nuts, berries, whole grains, beans, fish, poultry, olive oil, and wine while limiting consumption of red meat, saturated fats, and fast food.

The study—which collected nine years of detailed dietary information from over 900 senior citizens—determined that those who strictly adhered to the diet's guidelines saw their average risk for developing Alzheimer's disease cut by 53 percent. Even those who only partially followed this diet reduced their risk by 35 percent. People in the study with the poorest eating habits were also more likely to be obese, sedentary, poorly educated, diabetic, or depressed. Although the researchers controlled for most of these "confounding" factors in their analyses, there is still a possibility that they could have affected the observed outcomes. For example, it's possible that people who stuck with the diet were more likely to exercise.

Other recent studies have also tied diet to Alzheimer's risk. The randomized, controlled PREDIMED trial that tested Mediterranean-style diets rich in olive oil and nuts found improved cognition and lower incidence of cardiovascular disease in those who followed these diets compared to a low-fat diet. These results bolster a growing body of evidence that suggests what we eat strongly influences our risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Get the latest brain health news: