Study of 90,000 Americans seems to show which foods we should eat and avoid to drastically reduce our risk of developing dementias such as Alzheimer’s
Improving our diet as we get older has been shown to slash our risk of dementia by as much as a quarter, according to a huge US study.
Scientists analysing a special diet known to improve brain health say it shows it is never too late to start improving how we eat. The study tracking 90,000 Americans looked at the so-called MIND diet which combines the traditional Mediterranean diet with the blood pressure-lowering DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet.
It includes “brain-healthy” foods such as leafy green vegetables, berries, nuts, olive oil as well as fish and chicken.
Dr Song-Yi Park, Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said: “Our study findings confirm that healthy dietary patterns in mid to late life and their improvement over time may prevent Alzheimer’s and related dementias. This suggests that it is never too late to adopt a healthy diet to prevent dementia.”
Participants were aged between 45 and 75 at the start of the study in the 1990s and more than 21,000 developed Alzheimer’s or related dementias in the years that followed.
Overall participants who scored higher for eating foods closest to the MIND diet had a 9% lower risk of dementia, with an even greater reduction, of around 13%, among those who identified as white and African American.
People who improved their adherence to MIND over 10 years – including those who didn’t follow the diet closely at first- had a 25% lower risk of dementia compared to those whose adherence declined.
What is the MIND diet?
MIND stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. It combines the Mediterranean diet with the blood pressure-lowering DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. It’s a hybrid of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, with additional emphasis on brain-healthy foods.
Key components of the MIND diet include:
- Emphasis on green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, berries, whole grains, beans, nuts, and fish.
- Restriction of red meat, butter and margarine, cheese, pastries and sweets, and fried foods.
- Focus on plant-based foods that are minimally processed, with limits on animal-based foods high in saturated fats and added sugars.
Adherents are advised to aim for at least six servings per week of green leafy vegetables and at least one daily serving of other vegetables. At least two servings a week of berries are advised.
Whole grain foods are a key component and should be sought out ahead of refined grains because they provide more fiber, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Whole grain foods contain all three parts of the grain kernel – the bran, germ and endosperm. Examples include whole wheat bread, brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa, and barley and at least three servings a week are advised.
The MIND diet also encourages each week to consume at least five servings of nuts, at least three servings of beans or lentils, at least two servings of poultry and at least one serving of fish.
Adherents should cut down on red meet and try and stick to fewer than four servings per week. It is also advised to cut right down on cheese and fried food and limit pastries and sweet treats to fewer than five servings each week.
Despite these guidelines, proponents of the MIND diet insist it is not a strict restrictive diet, but a flexible eating pattern. It has been designed to encourage “brain healthy” foods and cut down on foods linked to poorer brain health.
Dr Park presented the findings at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, Florida. Study is observational so cannot prove definitively the diet was responsible for all the 25% lower risk of dementia but it is well established that improving diet can boost cognitive health as we age.
Dr Park said: “We found that the protective relationship between a healthy diet and dementia was more pronounced among African Americans, Latinos and whites, while it was not as apparent among Asian Americans and showed a weaker trend in Native Hawaiians.”