Scientists from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences found that eating a MIND diet could help improve cognitive function in older people.
Cognitive decline can range from mild cognitive impairment to dementia, a form of decline in abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia.
Cognitive decline is a rapidly increasing public health concern. A healthy diet may help preserve the brain and maintain cognitive health.
Mediterranean-DASH diet intervention for neurodegenerative delay (MIND) diet targets the health of the aging brain.
In 2015, Dr. Martha Clare Morris and colleagues at Rush University Medical Center and the Harvard Chan School of Public Health published two papers introducing the MIND diet.
All three diets highlight plant-based foods and limit the intake of animal and high-saturated fat foods. The MIND diet recommends specific “brain healthy” foods to include, and five unhealthy food items to limit.
In the current study, researchers aimed to evaluate the link between the MIND diet and cognitive functioning in older people.
The team reviewed published findings that evaluated the association between the MIND diet and cognitive performance in older adults.
Of the 135 studies searched, 13 articles were included in the final review.
The team found most of the included studies showed that adherence to the MIND diet was associated with specific parts of cognition and global cognitive function in older adults.
In addition, the MIND diet was superior to other plant-rich diets including the Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, Pro-Vegetarian, and Baltic Sea diets, for improving cognition.
The researchers conclude that adherence to the MIND diet may possibly be associated with improved cognitive function in older adults.
MIND diet may be superior to other plant-rich diets for improving cognition.
The research was published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition and conducted by Sorayya Kheirouri et al.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies about how the Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and Vitamin B supplements could help reduce dementia risk.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies about antioxidants that could help reduce dementia risk, and Vitamin D deficiency linked to higher dementia risk.
Copyright © 2022 Scientific Diet. All rights reserved.
