Eat for your MIND

A “diet” – as in lifelong way of eating – that significantly reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s? A non-trendy eating plan that does not depend on drinking the milk of raw cashews dripping from a muslin bag or consuming fruit grown only on the western slopes of inaccessible mountains in a faraway land? A, you know, research-based plan?

Could be. Listen up.

It’s called the MIND diet, a clever (and necessary) acronym given its lengthy, tongue-tying moniker: Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. It is a combination of the NIH-endorsed DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) and the much-heralded Mediterranean diet with a few nice tweaks. Developed by a university-based nutritional epidemiologist, it focuses on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts. Fish: good; red meat: not so much. Butter: nope. Olive oil: yes and more of it than you use unless you happen to be Greek or Italian. It goes without saying that the MIND diet, like DASH and Mediterranean is anti- that crap you know you shouldn’t be eating even if you weren’t terrified of getting Alzheimer’s (fried and fast food, pastries, etc.)

What separates the MIND diet from its well known antecedents is its particular focus on leafy green vegetables (more than other vegetables) and berries – particularly blueberries and strawberries – above other fruits. These particular foods have been hailed for their brain benefits in past research.

Okay…so what happens if you eat the MIND diet?

That’s the question researchers at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center asked as they followed almost 1000 participants, aged 58 to 98 for an average of 4.5 years, tracking their eating habits and incidence of Alzheimer’s. The study
found that strict adherence to any of the three diets – DASH, Mediterranean or MIND — lessened the chances of getting Alzheimer’s. But only the MIND diet seemed to help counter the disease even when people followed only some of the diet’s recommendations. The research was observational, not randomized or controlled, and therefore isn’t evidence the MIND diet caused a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s. Instead, the research shows there is an association between the two.

Subjects whose diet choices adhered closely to the MIND diet had a 53% reduced risk for developing Alzheimer’s. Risk was reduced by 54% with the Mediterranean diet and 39% with the DASH diet. But here’s the deal: Even moderate adherence to the MIND diet helped lessen the risk for Alzheimer’s by 35% while moderate adherence to the other diets didn’t seem to affect the chances of getting the disease.

The study controlled for genetic predisposition, physical activity, cognitive activity, education and various chronic medical conditions. The researchers also analyzed consumption of green leafy vegetables in particular in relation to cognitive decline and found that participants who ate one to two servings of greens a day had a “dramatic decrease in the rate of cognitive decline” compared with people who ate fewer greens. The “dramatic decrease” was the equivalent, noted one of the researchers, of “being 11 years younger in age.” Wow.

This study is one of many – and many to come – that look at Alzheimer’s and controllable lifestyle choices. Positive and empowering news…stay tuned.